By Canadian Press

Dane Evans has four touchdowns to lead Tiger-Cats past Alouettes 38-26

Oct 26, 2019 | 1:25 PM

MONTREAL — Quarterback Dane Evans threw four touchdowns on 379 yards to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a 38-26 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday afternoon in a potential East final preview.

Brandon Banks caught three touchdowns on 201 yards and set a new franchise record for most receptions in a season (112). Bralon Addison added a rushing TD for Hamilton (14-3) for their fifth win in a row.

Anthony Combs also caught a touchdown while Simoni Lawrence and Cariel Brooks each had an interception for the visitors.

Vernon Adams Jr. went 11-for-14 for 142 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception for Montreal (9-8) before leaving the game in the second quarter. Matthew Shiltz, in relief, threw a touchdown and an interception on 142 yards.

Three different Als receivers caught TDs: Quan Bray, Chris Matthews and Jake Wieneke.

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The Alouettes removed Adams from the game to manage his workload ahead of the playoffs. Coach Khari Jones also rested regular starters Henoc Muamba, William Stanback, Tommie Campbell, DeVier Posey and Mario Alford.

Hamilton won the season series 2-1 over Montreal after each team won its home game earlier this year. The teams could face each other again in the East final if Montreal beats Edmonton in the semifinal on Nov. 10.

Trailing 21-14 at halftime, the Ticats outscored the Alouettes 24-5 in the second half for the come-from-behind victory.

After a good punt return for Hamilton, Evans took advantage of the field position and connected with Combs from six yards out to tie the game 21-21 early in the third quarter.

An interception by Brooks at Montreal’s 27-yard-line led to Banks’ second TD of the encounter at 7:16 of the third for the 28-21 lead. Banks has caught a TD in six straight games.

A safety and a Boris Bede field goal for the Alouettes reduced the deficit to 28-26 before Banks’ six-yard touchdown catch with 8:57 remaining on the clock sealed the victory for Hamilton.

Lirim Hajrullahu added a field goal with two minutes remaining as the Tiger-Cats improved to 9-1 in their last 10 games.

The home team started strong with Adams in the game.

The Alouettes took a 7-0 lead on a nine-yard touchdown toss down the middle from Adams to Bray at 13:30 of the first quarter. Receiver Eugene Lewis reached 1,000 yards on the season on the drive.

Hamilton responded on the very next drive when Evans found Banks, who twisted and turned his way around Montreal’s Jarnor Jones and into the end zone. A missed two-point convert gave the Alouettes a 7-6 lead.

Adams found paydirt again to start the second quarter before leaving the game. A toss in tight coverage to Wieneke from 22 yards out made it 14-6 at 3:52.

Addison tied the game 14-14 by capping off a six-play, 95-yard drive with an 18-yard run into the end zone. Hamilton successfully completed the two-point convert.

Montreal regained its lead on the very next drive when Shiltz found Matthews for the 15-yard score with 50 seconds remaining before halftime.

Notes: There were 17,264 in attendance at Percival Molson Stadium. … John Bowman ranks third in Alouettes history for games played with 230.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2019.

Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press