By The Canadian Press

Bell leads the way as Ticats topple Alouettes 26-9 to snap three-game losing streak

Sep 6, 2025 | 1:14 PM

MONTREAL — Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Greg Bell looked at the skies opening up on Saturday afternoon and thought to himself that it just might be his day.

Bell ran for 156 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Montreal Alouettes 26-9. With 234 total yards on the ground, it was not only Hamilton’s best rushing performance of the season, but their first game over 100 yards as a team.

“The (offensive) line opening up holes, great play calling, and the running backs and the quarterback doing what we did,” Bell said about the reason behind the team’s success.

“I get a lot of questions about why we don’t run more, and the reason is because we’re good at the pass game,” Hamilton head coach and offensive coordinator Scott Milanovich said. “We go with whatever’s working, obviously with the weather early in the game, the run was working, it was the right way to go.”

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell ran for another touchdown as Hamilton (7-5) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved four points ahead of Montreal (5-7) for top spot in the CFL’s East Division.

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Meanwhile, the Alouettes lost their fifth consecutive game in front of a home crowd of 20,612 at Percival Molson Stadium.

Although it was Bell’s day, it couldn’t have started much worse.

Hamilton’s promising opening drive ended abruptly when Ciante Evans forced a Bell fumble at the Montreal one-yard line that was recovered by the Alouettes, keeping the Ticats off the board.

“I know I had to make up for that, and I did and we got the victory,” the second-year running back said.

“He was upset about the fumble on the first drive,” Milanovich said. “But everybody picked him up. We knew he was going to have a lot more opportunities.”

Mitchell scored the game’s first touchdown when he ran in from 14 yards out to cap an eight-play, 70-yard drive and give the Ticats a 13-6 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The Alouettes managed to cut into the lead before the end of the half, when a 47-yard kickoff return by James Letcher Jr. led to a 48-yard field goal by Jose Maltos-Diaz to make it 13-9.

The Ticats extended their lead with 10:49 remaining in the third quarter with Marc Liegghio’s third field goal of the game, from 48 yards, to make it a 16-9 game.

In the fourth quarter, Montreal made a change at quarterback. Cameron Dukes replaced James Morgan for one drive, throwing one pass, before Morgan returned to finish the game.

In Morgan’s first drive back in the game, he was hit as he threw a pass that was intercepted by Jamal Peters. A return and two Montreal penalties on the play moved the ball to the two-yard line leading to a Bell touchdown to make the score 23-9 in favour of the visitors with 4:40 remaining.

Morgan, making his second start, finished the game 17-of-27 passing for 138 yards and one interception, most of it coming late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. A fumble with just over two minutes remaining ended all hope for the Alouettes.

Liegghio added his fourth field goal from 33 yards out with 46 seconds left in the game after the turnover.

“Not good enough,” Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said about his quarterback’s play. “But offensively, we did not play good enough. I will never put it on one guy.

“Everybody will look at the quarterback, but it’s not always his fault. Are there things that he should clean up? No question but we collectively can be better and that’s what we’ll focus on.”

Morgan is the fourth quarterback to start for the Alouettes this season. The team is 1-7 without injured starting quarterback Davis Alexander, but the team remains steadfast that they will not rush him back.

The Ticats defence held strong throughout the game, and Hamilton outgained the Alouettes 419-220 in net yards. For Montreal, 75 of those yards came in the final 3:58 of the fourth quarter when it was already a two-possession game.

It was the first win in Montreal for Hamilton since Aug. 27, 2021, and the visitors swept the two-game season series.

UP NEXT

Tiger-Cats: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday.

Alouettes: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders next Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2025.

Jared Book, The Canadian Press