Roughriders soar past Alouettes 34-6 in CFL power clash

Saskatchewan Roughriders' A.J. Ouellette, left, gets by Montreal Alouettes' Wesley Sutton (37) during first half CFL football action in Montreal, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

It was billed as a clash between the CFL’s top two teams, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders proved a class above defeating the Montreal Alouettes 34-6 on Saturday.

Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against one of his former teams and Dohnte Meyers had 182 all-purpose yards as the Riders improved to 7-1, four points up on the 5-3 Calgary Stampeders.

The Roughrider defence was also great, holding the Alouettes (5-3) to under 170 yards and no touchdowns, while forcing three turnovers. The Riders had 412 yards of offence.

A crowd of 21,654 at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal witnessed the West Division-leading Riders move to 4-0 on the road. It was the Roughriders first win in Montreal since Oct. 30, 2021, snapping a two-game losing streak in Quebec and three games against the Alouettes overall.

Saskatchewan opened the scoring with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens’ one-yard touchdown run on an opening drive aided by a 46-yard return on the opening kickoff by Meyers and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Alouettes. They also had two third-down conversions by Tommy Stevens on the drive. It was the only scoring in the first quarter.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

The Alouettes had more yards of defensive penalties (30) than offensive yards (28) in the opening quarter. The loss drops them to second place in the East Division, two points behind the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Roughriders doubled their lead on their first drive of the second quarter, a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending with a Harris touchdown pass to Tommy Nield with 8:35 remaining.

Montreal finally got on the board with 5:15 remaining in the first half when Jose Maltos hit a 56-yard field goal to make it 14-3. Saskatchewan answered right back with a field goal of their own, set up after a long 58-yard pass and catch from Harris to Meyers.

The Alouettes had a promising drive to open the third quarter, but it stalled just into Saskatchewan territory setting up another 54-yard field goal from Maltos to make it an 18-6 game. It could have been worse for Montreal as the second down play was initially ruled as a fumble before the call was overturned into an incomplete pass.

After another Saskatchewan field goal by Brett Lauther, Montreal turned the ball over on downs setting up Harris’s second touchdown pass of the night to KeeSean Johnson to open up a 28-6 lead late in the third quarter.

The game’s second half was delayed close to 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm in the area, and the rain continued to start the third quarter.

Montreal was playing its fourth game of the season without starting quarterback Davis Alexander. They are 1-3 in those games. McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Alexander’s replacement, went 15 for 26 for 126 yards and an interception and was briefly replaced in the third quarter by Caleb Evans.

Both teams were dealing with key players missing. Saskatchewan was missing receiver Samuel Emilus. In addition to Alexander, Montreal was without receivers Austin Mack and Tyler Philpot, while defensive back Kabion Ento was a late scratch and safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy left the game with an injury.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.