MontrealAlouettes.com
LENNOXVILLE – The Alouettes held their annual intra-squad scrimmage under sunny skies in front of 300-plus fans at Bishop’s University on Saturday.
PHOTOS: 2014 INTRA-SQUAD SCRIMMAGE »
While no points were at stake in the standings, it had all the makings of a regular-season Alouettes game, from having CFL officials working the game and TV timeouts allowing the players to take a breather, to cheerleaders on the sidelines. The Alouettes coaching staff even used headsets throughout the mock game, adding to the authenticity.
The Alouettes offence started the day off with a bang when Troy Smith connected with S.J. Green, who made a spectacular catch on a long play to get things going.
WATCH: TROY SMITH POST-SCRIMMAGE REACTION »
But the defence followed up by forcing a few two and outs, leaving Head Coach Tom Higgins hard-pressed to pick a winner.
“The beautiful thing is that I don’t have to chose because we are still trying to evaluate the talent that we have out on the field and there is some great competition,” said Higgins.
WATCH: TOM HIGGINS POST-SCRIMMAGE REACTION »
“The defence was good there, the offence was good here and we thought some of the things on special teams were good too, but there is always room for improvement, so I don’t have to take any sides. The one bright light to all of this is the fact that no one got hurt.”
Quick hits
Kenny Stafford gave the offence some life when he made a great diving catch on the one-yard line… Preston Cleckley continues to impress as he scored a touchdown in the second half when Tanner Marsh threw a 24-yard pass his way… Collin Klein connected with S.J. Green in the end zone on a 35-yard play… After both scoring plays, quarterback Troy Smith was the first to congratulate the younger quarterbacks… Running back Brandon Rutley also ran the ball into the end zone for a two-point conversion.
Officials on site
Following the scrimmage, the CFL officials on hand were introduced to the Alouettes players. On the players’ behalf, centre Luc Brodeur-Jourdain thanked the referees for their time while head referee André Proulx did the same on the officials’ behalf. Chad Johnson meanwhile, told the officials in near perfect French that he loved them all, getting a rise out of both sides at the end of the day.
