Alouettes hold off Argonauts to win regular-season finale

Cole Spieker is certain to be a speaking level among the many Montreal Alouettes teaching employees as they put together for the playoffs.

It was the primary profession begin for the 26-year-old from Brainerd, Minn., who had spent many of the season on the Alouettes follow squad.

“Oh, it is going to be a subject of dialog come tomorrow after we get to the workplace,” Alouettes normal supervisor and interim head coach Danny Maciocia stated. “You bought to issue within the [Canadian-American] ratio, whether or not we will gown an additional American receiver.”

Spieker snatched a 53-yard first-quarter landing and caught a essential first-down go to preserve a late-game drive alive.

WATCH | Montreal’s particular groups ship:

The Argos (11-7) and Alouettes (9-9) already had locked up first and second place within the East Division.

Montreal and Toronto rested a number of starters. The Alouettes didn’t play beginning quarterback Trevor Harris in addition to receivers Eugene Lewis and Jake Wieneke. The Argos additionally sat No. 1 pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson amongst others.

Spieker shines

With the exception of some downs on particular groups in a earlier outing in opposition to the Ottawa Redblacks, Spieker spent the season on the Alouettes follow squad getting acquainted with the Canadian sport.

“We put in lots of work in follow, so when the time got here to get this chance, we’re prepared to end it off,” Spieker stated.

Spieker, a religious fan of Minnesota Vikings professional bowl wideout Randy Moss as a child, performed Division III soccer on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

“Funny story, once I first met him, I assumed he stated he performed lacrosse at Wisconsin,” Maciocia recalled.

Maciocia seen Spieker at a professional camp in Dallas in April. Since captaining Wisconsin-La Crosse in his ultimate yr in 2019, Spieker has attended numerous tryout camps within the United States and performed a season of spring soccer.

“He could find yourself being on this league for a number of years,” Maciocia stated.

‘We wished to go into post-season play on a successful word’

Montreal backup quarterbacks Dominique Davis and Davis Alexander regarded to be in good kind. Davis accomplished 13 of 14 passes for 166 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and rushed for a rating earlier than being relieved by Alexander late within the first half.

Alexander additionally rushed for a landing whereas finishing 8 of his 13 passes for 89 yards and throwing one interception.

After constructing leads of 14-0 and 21-7, the Alouettes took a 28-21 benefit into halftime.

Toronto pulled even when Jeremiah Haydel ran the opening second-half kickoff 87 yards down the sideline in entrance of the Argos’ bench for a serious.

However, Montreal’s Jabari Ellis blocked and recovered John Haggerty’s punt try for a landing slightly below 4 minutes later.

Toronto compelled an Alouettes security 2:10 into the fourth quarter to pull inside 5 factors.

“We had too many penalties, and we have been sloppy within the first half,” Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie stated. “We fought again within the second half. But I anticipated us to play higher than we did.”

In place of Bethel-Thompson, Chad Kelly performed a complete sport for the primary time since 2016, when the youthful brother of Hall of Famer Jim Kelly was a senior at Ole Miss.

Kelly accomplished 23 of 35 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He additionally scored as soon as on the bottom.

Davis breaks franchise file

Davis set an Alouettes franchise file for dashing touchdowns for a quarterback in a season, rumbling in for his thirteenth within the first quarter.

Vernon Adams Jr. set the earlier mark of 12 in 2019.

The Alouettes meet the Hamilton Tiger-Cats within the East semifinal in Montreal on Nov. 6. The winner travels to Toronto to face the Argos within the East ultimate on Nov. 13.