The Montreal Alouettes shook off a listless first half to punch in 30 points in the second half in a 38-31 come-from-behind home win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Sunday afternoon.

The crowd was brought to life by some electrifying play in the second half, including a Duron Carter touchdown reception and an 82-yard punt return by James Rodgers for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The win allowed Montreal to move into a first-place tie in the East with the the Toronto Argonauts, as both teams have three wins.

Alouettes' quarterback Jonathan Crompton went 18 for 27 for 206 yards in a solid performance.

Zach Collaros tossed a touchdown pass to Andy Fantuz in the first and Rico Murray returned a 40-yard interception for a touchdown earlier in the opening quarter for Hamilton who had a 21-7 lead at halftime.

Justin Medlock hit three field goals for the Tiger-Cats.

Alouettes linebacker Winston Venable returned a Mossis Madu fumble for a touchdown to open the scoring.

Bear Woods had a team-leading10 tackles for the Alouettes, while Gabriel Knapton led with thee sacks.

Chad Johnson hauled in three completions, good for a team-leading 73 yards, followed by Carter’s four catches for 56 yards.

Brandon Whitaker rushed eight times for 28 yards, while Tyrell Sutton only managed seven yards on three carries.

Als QB in mourning

Crompton played Sunday with a heavy heart. The Als quarterback, who had been growing his hair for the Locks for Love campaign, divulged Sunday his former fiancee had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer earlier this season and died Friday. Crompton was planning to head home to Tennesse after the game to be with his ex-fiancee's family.

Hamilton's Zach Collaros was 30-of-43 passing for 345 yards and added 35 rushing yards.

Montreal trailed 24-10 when Montreal's Billy Parker intercepted Collaros and returned it 45 yards to Hamilton's four-yard line at 9:10 of the third quarter. Four plays and a pass interference penalty later, backup quarterback Tanner Marsh scored on a one-yard run.

That seemed to energize the Alouettes as three minutes later, Crompton put together his best drive of the game to make it 24-24. He had a 33-yard completion to Duron Carter and 42-yard toss to Chad Johnson, then finished the five-play, 98-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring strike to Carter.

Marsh added his second rushing TD of the game at 12:05 of the fourth.

Collaros had a TD pass to Andy Fantuz with 11 seconds remaining.

Linebacker Winston Venable put Montreal ahead in the first, returning Mossis Madu's fumble 59 yards for the TD. Hamilton responded with a turnover score of its own when cornerback Rico Murray returned a Crompton interception 40 yards for the touchdown.

Collaros then had a three-yard touchdown pass to Fantuz with time expiring in the first.

It was a disastrous opening quarter for Montreal, which had no first downs and one yard of total offence.

Justin Medlock added his second field goal of the game and a 53-yard single late in the second to put Hamilton ahead 21-7 at halftime. The two teams exchanged field goals in the third.

NOTES -- Montreal's Marc-Olivier Brouillette left in the second with an undisclosed injury and didn't return. The Als also lost defensive lineman John Bowman, their sacks leader, to injury . . . The attendance was 20,551 at Molson Stadium. . . . Hamilton and Montreal will meet again at Tim Hortons Field on Nov. 8 in the regular-season finale for both teams . . . Montreal's Kenny Stafford and Dominique Ellis did not dress for the game, neither did Hamilton's Emanuel Davis and Carson Rockhill . . . The Alouettes visit Edmonton on Friday while Hamilton is home to Saskatchewan next Sunday.

-With a file from The Canadian Press

Célébrations d'après-match! / post game celebration! VIDÉO-> http://t.co/yJiDhLyNFj