MontrealAlouettes.com
The Alouettes aren’t the only ones scratching and clawing for every inch this season in the CFL.
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Anwar Stewart |
Parity might be a term that is tossed around a bit loosely at times, but it’s become the hallmark of the 2011 season so far.
Accustomed to having division rivals in their rear-view mirror by Thanksgiving in October, the Als will have to take a different route to claiming the Eastern Division this season. Winners of seven of the last nine division crowns dating back to 2002, Montreal is now in the middle of a rare and tight division fight.
“It’s a strong league all the way across the board right now and you can’t count anybody out,” warned veteran wideout Kerry Watkins. “Everybody’s fighting, there are tight games and every week it’s something different. It’s going to be one of those years where we have to stay in it until the end. It’s going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.”
With the Blue Bombers now at 8-3, the Alouettes hot on their heels at 6-5 and even the Tiger-Cats still in the mix at 5-6 with seven games still to play, the jockeying for position is anything but over in the East.
“It is close right now—really close. I’ve been here 10 years and it’s never really been this close, especially in the East,” recalled linebacker Anwar Stewart, now in his 10th season with the Als. “We’re used to dominating the East and being the ones that detail our work, not making a lot of mistakes, but now we’re the ones making the mistakes and as a result, have dropped some games this year.”
With plenty of football left to be played and boasting a veteran squad coming off consecutive Grey Cup triumphs, the Alouettes know it will take to get the job done in the campaign’s homestretch.
“What we’ve got to do is stick together and play the way we know we can,” prescribed Stewart. “If we can do that we’ll be just fine.”
