MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes gridiron warriors have waited a week longer than most, but now they're ready to kick off their 2021 season and end a very long action drought.
The Alouettes will meet the Edmonton Elks on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium, no less than 642 days after the Alberta team played spoilsport in Montreal in the Eastern Association semi-finals.
When Edmonton came to Percival Molson Stadium and eliminated the Alouettes with a 37-29 victory on November 10, 2019, the Elks accomplished what the Als have been trying to do for several years now.
The Alouettes have not won at the Elks' home since October 5, 2013 and have lost their last six outings in Edmonton.
That streak may be coming to an end this season, as Alouettes head coach Khari Jones said he was very happy to see his players hungry, focused and ready to finally play a real game in the Canadian Football League.
"The guys are so ready to play. I was very pleased with the practices this week and I let them know that. It was special to see how focused they were because it's hard to stay focused for that long," he said. "They were eager to block other players or cover other receivers. We had the opportunity to see a first week of CFL football and now it's our turn."
As is often the case in sports, long periods of inactivity can diminish timing and skill for a period of time or worse, result in serious injuries.
However, Jones has established a good rhythm in the last few weeks of training and has found that his players responded well. It remains to be seen if they can follow through on everything for 60 minutes.
"The guys have stayed in very good shape during the pandemic. We had a few minor injuries, but the first week off helped us get healthy," said Jones. "I hope we come out as strong as we did in practice. There will be challenges during the game, but I'm fine with that. Our team is capable of handling them."
The Elks didn't have a bad game last week, although they lost 16-12 to the Ottawa Redblacks. Their inability to capitalize on their red zone opportunities cost them dearly.
Quarterback Trevor Harris got picked three times, including two interceptions in the fourth quarter. One of those interceptions was made by Abdul Kanneh on the Redblacks' 15-yard-line. Kanneh then ran the ball 102 yards to score the only touchdown of the game.
"I hope we don't get any rust on our side and they don't have a better game than they did last week," said Jones with a laugh. "They played well except for a few plays here and there. They limited the Redblacks to about 100 yards of offence. We know they are a good team and we expect them to play a good game."
If they needed any extra motivation, the Elks can thank Alouettes defensive lineman Almondo Sewell for the helping hand.
Sewell spent nine years in Edmonton before joining the Montrealers and said earlier this week that Harris fell apart when he was hit hard.
Not trying to defend his player's words any more than necessary, Jones said he didn't expect any outbursts on the field Saturday.
"He said what he thought and we don't care," said Jones. "I'm not too worried about that. When the game starts, nobody's going to think about that. The players are just going to play and react to what's going to happen."
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 13, 2021.
