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August 30, 2018

REDBLACKS look to sweep season-series versus Montreal

The Ottawa REDBLACKS will face their East Division rivals, the Montreal Alouettes, for the second time in three games Friday evening at TD Place Stadium. Ottawa is looking to sweep the three-game season series against the Alouettes, while Montreal is aiming for their third win of the year.

The REDBLACKS (6-3, 1st in East Division) beat the Als in Montreal 28-18 in early July, and then topped them 24-17 earlier this month in Johnny Manziel’s second career CFL star. Manziel’s status for Friday’s matchup is up in the air, however.

Rick Campbell’s team is coming off a bye and arguably their most impressive performance of the season. They dominated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers en route to a 44-21 decision two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Montreal (2-8, 4th in East) are also coming off a win – a last-second missed field goal by the Toronto Argonauts snapped a lengthy home losing streak for the Als on August 24.

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STORYLINES

On fire on both sides of the ball – Ottawa’s offence has been nothing short of stellar over their last two games, earning a total of 1,101 yards in the process. Not to be outdone, the defence held the opposition to 38 total points, and have conceded 30 or more points in a single game only once this year.

Hebert practicing Kyries Hebert has been practicing with the defence all week and is eyeing a return from the six-game injured list to face his former team. Hebert hasn’t played since July 28 against Hamilton.

Coming off a bye – The REDBLACKS are looking to reverse some history against Montreal. Ottawa are 1-3 in their last four games when coming off a bye week.


SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

There’s been some minor fanfare around the Alouettes quarterback situation this year. Johnny Manziel was acquired in a trade from the Tiger-Cats to take the reins of the franchise, but he was injured against the REDBLACKS three weeks ago and hasn’t seen the field since.

Unheralded rookie Antonio Pipkin has taken over and performed well enough to give his team the opportunity to win both of his starts. Who will start against the REDBLACKS remains to be seen, but Pipkin has been taking first-team reps at Alouettes practice this week.

Montreal was dealt a major blow when they lost running back Tyrell Sutton to a lower body injury two weeks ago. William Stanback has been filling in admirably, but simply doesn’t bring the same power running that Sutton does.

Defence has been inconsistent for the Alouettes. Some games they seem helpless and give up 50 and 40 points to Hamilton and Edmonton, respectively. In other contests, they look solid and hold the Saskatchewan Roughriders to 17 points. Montreal’s defence will have to be strong to stop a red-hot Ottawa offence.


GAME INFO

Ottawa REDBLACKS vs. Montreal Alouettes
Week 12 – August 31, 2018
Kickoff – 7:30 p.m. | TD Place Stadium

 

BROADCAST INFO

TV (EN): TSN | Web: TSN.ca/LIVE / TSN GO
TV (FR): RDS2
TV: (Int’l): ESPN+ | BT Sport (UK/Ireland)
Radio (EN): TSN 1200 | TSN1200.ca
Radio (FR): 104,7 FM Outaouais
Radio (Satellite): SiriusXM Canada Channel 167 (EN) and 174 (FR)