HAMILTON, Ont. — No matter the situation the Montreal Alouettes found themselves in, the belief within the group never wavered.
Needing their offence to convert on third-and-five with the game and season on the line, Cody Fajardo connected with Cole Spieker for a 31-yard completion to move the chains.
At that moment, Fajardo knew his team was going to come away victorious and on the next play, he made good that belief.
It was the 19-yard touchdown reception by Canadian Tyson Philpot that cemented a Cinderella season for Montreal, whose 28-24 victory ended a 13-year Grey Cup drought and sent the Winnipeg Blue Bombers home empty-handed once again.
“They were bringing zero and I said that if they were bringing zero I got a chance to throw a game-winning touchdown,” Fajardo said after throwing for 290 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. “They ended up bringing it in and Tyson made a hell of a catch. Honestly, I didn’t get to see it. I just threw it, got hit and I heard the roar of the crowd.”
There were several moments in this game where Montreal could have seen their chances of winning slip through their fingers, including a failed attempt to get over the goal line on third-and-short just before the first half ended.
However, the team didn’t let that moment deflate their confidence and went into halftime believing they could regroup.
“We talked about it at halftime that the play probably gave them a lot of momentum, but it didn’t kill us,” said head coach Jason Maas. “We knew we just had to go out and play another 30 minutes as hard as we can. It was important to regain our focus, then go out and compete.
“That gives us the best chance and I’m very proud of the group for sticking together, playing it to the end and believing in one another. That’s what this team has done all year.”
Getting to the end of the road was not easy for this Alouettes team.
Without knowing who would be the owner of the team in February, general manager Danny Maciocia had to find a way to build a roster that could compete which was easier said than done but he found the right mix to win in the end.
“It was a great group of guys that bought into a project that many didn’t want to buy into,” Macciocia explained. “There was no shortage of resiliency throughout the course of the year. We had our highs, we had our lows, but we stuck together and today we’re Grey Cup champions.”
What ended up being Macciocia’s best decision of all was bringing in head coach Jason Maas, someone he won two championships with during his time as assistant coach in Edmonton.
Facing a tough point in his coaching career after getting fired by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Maas wasn’t sure if he would ever get a chance to lead a team again.
“I feel appreciated by this organization. Very grateful more than anything that I was given a second opportunity from somebody that I truly trust, love, and admire in Danny, I would do anything for him,” said Maas. “I’m thankful and grateful he took a chance on me, and that’s all I ever wanted and I was gonna do everything I possibly could to make him proud and to make our team successful.”
Maciocia and Maas made their biggest gamble in free agency when they signed Fajardo.
The 31-year-old was left wondering if his football career was over with little interest until Montreal came calling.
What sold Fajardo was getting a two-year deal and continuing to work with Maas who was his offensive co-ordinator in Saskatchewan. Having the faith in those who brought him in was important but so was regaining his confidence in himself.
“When we signed Cody in February, I told him, ‘Look, it’s one thing for me to believe in you. I was with you for three years. I know what went on last year and I want you here. But more importantly, Danny Maciocia watched every single game of yours and he put the stamp on you,’” Maciocia said. “Anthony Calvillo watched all his film and said the same thing. So we had three guys on his side when he signed. But he also took the mindset to work and get better, and come into camp to win a job rather than just have anything being given to him.
“That’s what Cody is all about and that’s why I love that he gets everything he has every single day. He works for it and you love to see guys like him succeed.”
While it was the offence that came through in the end, it was the defence that set the stage.
Winnipeg had their opportunities to put the game out of reach especially late in the fourth quarter with a chance to run out the clock. However on second down, Bishop Sankey would sack Zach Collaros to force Winnipeg to punt before the game-winning touchdown.
The Alouettes defence held the Blue Bombers to just seven points in the second half and registered four sacks on the night while Winnipeg’s dominant defensive line only registered two sacks of their own.
For Winnipeg, getting back to the Grey Cup for the fourth year in a row gave them an opportunity for redemption after coming up short against the Toronto Argonauts.
“Sad. You play to win the game, play to win the last one and we came up short,” Collaros told reporters after throwing for 236 yards, one interception and no touchdowns in the game. “Montreal was a few plays better than us. Just really sad, because there’s a lot of good guys in the locker room.”
Another deciding factor in this game were the injuries to Dalton Schoen and Adam Bighill, big contributors on both sides of the ball. Neither one participated in practice during the week and head coach Mike O’Shea waited until the last possible minute to announce that they would be active.
Schoen finished with three catches for 36 yards after leading the Blue Bombers with 1,233 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Bighill registered one tackle and was beat on a touchdown by Spieker in the third quarter.
Winnipeg will once again be faced with some tough decisions with their roster in the off-season like most teams go through. An emotional Brady Oliveira couldn’t help but feel like it was a missed opportunity for his team.
“It’s not going to be the same going to work next year because I know it’s not going to be the same guys in this locker room,” he said. “I really wanted to win it for the guys that haven’t got a chance to experience it, my running backs coach in particular. I feel like I let him down.”
Montreal will now look to build off their season and believe this team will only get better, especially with the lack of experience they had as a group. Look no further than Philpot who in his second season has a Grey Cup title and a Most Valuable Canadian award.
“We’re all young guys this room of receivers,” said Mack, who finished the game with six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. “Tyson came a long way (after) missing half the season with a hamstring injury. It took him a while to get going but he’s of the best Canadian players in this league. He showed it tonight on the biggest stage in Canadian football.”
Winning a championship in the CFL is not easy, the Alouettes went 13 years without an appearance in the Grey Cup. But in the end, they believed they could get the job done and ended the season with eight-straight victories to bring the Grey Cup back to Quebec.
