Tiger-Cats outlast Alouettes, vault to East lead

Emanuel Davis and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defence bought time for Zach Collaros to settle down, triggering a last-play 20-17 win over the sinking Montreal Alouettes on Friday.

Davis made an an interception and recovered two fumbles, helping the Tiger-Cats (6-6) get back to .500 by outlasting the Alouettes (3-9) in a physical divisional contest. Hamilton now has the East Division lead, although the Ottawa RedBlacks (5-4-1) have two games in hand.

Collaros, who has a 3-5 record as a starter against Montreal, let his frustrations show several times over the course of the night at Tim Hortons Field. Over the final three-and-a-half minutes, though, the 28-year-old quarterback methodically moved the Tiger-Cats 72 yards, teeing up Brett Maher to kick a game-winning 10-yard field goal with no time left.

Veteran slotback Andy Fantuz, who's been quiet recently, made a 31-yard reception to get Hamilton into scoring range on the decisive drive.

The Alouettes, who have lost four games in a row, did not manage an offensive touchdown after a tense week where QB Rakeem Cato and WR Duron Carter had a heated altercation at practice. Carter scored on special teams when he blocked a punt and ran it back 46 yards for a TD with 3:33 left in the first quarter.

Montreal's defence, which got a 10-tackle, one-interception night from linebacker Bear Woods, was unable to get a stop on the final drive. The unit barely had a breather early in the second half. Montreal ran only one play in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, thanks to a long Hamilton field-goal drive and veteran SB Nik Lewis fumbling on the first play of the ensuing Alouettes possession. Davis came up with the recovery and also grabbed a loose ball on Montreal's next possession after Larry Dean swiped the ball away from SB B.J. Cunningham.

Collaros was 25-of-36 for 292 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Fantuz made four receptions for 65 yards, while Luke Tasker (6-for-51) had his fifth TD catch in six games. Rookie RB Ross Scheuerman - filling in for injured C.J. Gable - scraped out 119 rushing-receiving yards in his first CFL start. Scheuerman had 16 rushes for 79 yards, and made five receptions for another 40.

Maher was 4-of-4 on field goals and also punted a 63-yard single, but also had a punt blocked for the third consecutive game.

The Alouettes' longest completion was only 18 yards. Cato was 19-of-27 for 168 yards, while Carter was kept in check in his primary capacity with only four receptions for 39 yards.

Anthony Fera was 2-of-3 on field goals with two singles, including one via a punt. Fera's miss was on a 37-yard attempt, marking the first time the rookie has missed from within 40 yards.

Tiger-Cats SB Chad Owens left the game with an injured foot early in the third quarter.