The Montreal Alouettes will meet the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division semi-final, but where it will be played could be decided Friday night when the Alouettes host the Ottawa Redblacks.
The Alouetttes (7-6) could finish second in the East if they defeat the Redblacks (2-11) and the Tiger-Cats lose at home Saturday to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have clinched second place in the West Division.
The second-place finisher in the East will be the home team in the semi-final on Nov. 28.
“It’s on our mind quite a bit — we want to play here,” Alouettes coach Khari Jones said. “We want to play at home. We love playing here. We love our home crowd. This is where we want to be.”
The Alouettes stayed alive for second place with a 28-14 home victory Saturday over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who had clinched first in the West with a nine-game winning streak and rested their No. 1 quarterback Zach Collaros.
The Alouettes had a good day from their own new quarterback, Trevor Harris. He threw for 144 yards and three touchdowns in wet conditions.
Harris, a two-time Grey Cup winner, was acquired from the Edmonton Eskimos on Oct. 17 with starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (shoulder) on the injured list.
“Being here three weeks and learning the offense, learning what we’re doing, you could tell why he’s had the success he’s had over his career,” Jones said. “It’s been fun working with him. Hopefully we can continue.”
William Stanback will go into the game Friday with a league-leading 1,131 rushing yards on 186 carries (6.1-yard average) and three touchdowns.
Alouettes offensive tackle Tony Washington (calf) will not play Friday and leading receiver Eugene Lewis (hip) is doubtful.
Montreal has won all three games this season against Ottawa.
“We certainly want to play hard, play well and we want to finish with a win,” Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice said.
LaPolice was undecided who would start at quarterback, Devlin Hodges or Caleb Evans.
There could be other substitutions.
“We’ll have a roster change or two probably, but we’re still playing to win,” LaPolice said.
–Field Level Media
