Davis Alexander and the Montreal Alouettes continue to take care of business in the East Division.
Alexander threw two TD passes to power Montreal past the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-25 in the annual Hall of Fame game Friday night. The Alouettes (11-3) improved to 7-0 this season versus East rivals.
"As far as I know we're still playing for stuff," said Alexander. "We talk about it all the time, divisional opponents, no matter where we are - whether it's home or away - it's a massive, massive game.
"This is a tough place to play and that's a good football team over there. They're kind of going through what we went through a little bit last year with the quarterback situation but they're a heck of a football team … they battled to the end."
Alexander was 21-of-27 passing for 218 yards while Stevie Scott ran for 108 yards on 21 carries. Alexander earned his fifth win in as many meetings with Hamilton and is now 15-0 in East matchups.
Montreal was also coming off a 48-29 road loss to the B.C. Lions but stormed out to a 24-3 halftime lead Friday night. Hamilton, under quarterback Harrison Frost, scored 22 straight fourth-quarter points to pull to within 34-25 before Gemon Green's interception with 55 seconds remaining set up Jose Maltos Diaz's 33-yard field goal at 14:37.
"This was a big game coming off of a loss on the road, (having) about a half-day of practice and trying to figure out who was going to play for us," said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. "It's nice to have 11 wins on the season and kind of be in the driver's seat but we've put ourselves there by taking care of business.
"Hats off to (Hamilton) to fight all the way back in the fourth quarter but I'm glad our guys closed the door and came out of here with a victory. That's what we need to do, especially at this time of year."
Alexander has yet to lose consecutive games as a CFL starter. Montreal also earned a 3-0 season sweep of Hamilton but receiver Tyler Snead (knee) was hurt in the second half and didn't return after recording four catches for 40 yards.
Hamilton (4-10) came off a bye week but suffered a fourth straight loss. The Ticats committed six turnovers (four interceptions, fumble, downs) to fall to 1-5 within the East Division and remain third.
But the Toronto Argonauts (7-6) can clinch a post-season berth and home playoff game Saturday with a win over the Edmonton Elks (10-3). Hamilton also trails Winnipeg (7-6), B.C. (7-6) and Calgary (5-8) in the crossover scenario for the East Division's third and final playoff spot.
Frost completed 33-of-50 passes for 340 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions in his third start of the season (1-2). The Ticats also lost defensive back Jamal Peters (head).
Hamilton fell to 2-8 without starter Bo Levi Mitchell, who suffered a serious ankle injury July 5. Frost, Canadian Tre Ford and Jake Dolegala have all started games since then.
Montreal was 7-0 last year in games Alexander started but 3-8 when he was out with a nagging hamstring ailment. The Als finished second in the East behind Hamilton, then defeated the Ticats 19-16 in the division final before losing 25-17 to Saskatchewan in the Grey Cup.
Caleb Evans' two-yard TD run at 1:40 of the fourth pushed Montreal's lead to 34-3. Frost's 33-yard TD strike to Kiondre Smith at 4:48 cut the Als' advantage to 34-9 as the two-point convert was unsuccessful.
Frost threw a three-yard TD pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. at 9:46 then found Kenny Lawler for the two-point convert. Frost made it a nine-point game with an 18-yard TD pass to Keric Wheatfall at 13:01 and finding Smith for the two-point convert.
Hamilton regained possession at its 20-yard line with 1:19 remaining before Green's interception cemented the Montreal win.
"They didn't quit, they kept fighting, they kept playing hard but the score flattered us," Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich said matter of factly. "I thought we got whipped for three quarters.
"We made it something of a game there in the fourth quarter, which I appreciate, but I thought they handled us for most of the game there."
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class was honoured at halftime. The inductees included former players Brandon Banks, Sean Millington, Charleston Hughes, Calvin Tiggle and Jim Evenson and builder Frank (Pop) Ivy, the former Edmonton head coach.
Evenson and Ivy were enshrined posthumously.
Donny Ventrelli, Nate Beauchemin and Tyson Philpot had Montreal's other touchdowns. Maltos Diaz kicked four converts and three field goals.
Marc Liegghio had a field goal for Hamilton.
Liegghio's 13-yard field goal to end the second quarter cut Montreal's halftime lead to 24-3. It followed Alexander's 12-yard TD strike to Philpot at 13:54.
Philpot's CFL-high 12th touchdown grab capped Montreal's 14-play, 86-yard drive.
Beauchemin's 57-yard fumble return boosted Montreal's advantage to 17-0. Alouettes linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku forced Dolegala to fumble on third-and-inches as Beauchemin picked up the loose ball and scored at 5:43.
Maltos Diaz's 49-yard boot to end the first put Montreal ahead 10-0. Alexander opened the scoring with a 10-yard TD pass to Ventrelli, the Alouettes' starting right guard, at 10:05.
