Alexander breaks CFL record as Alouettes down Stampeders 38-32

Montreal (5-1) downed Calgary a second straight game after beating the Stampeders 37-30 at home a week earlier.

Saturday’s game at McMahon Stadium, played in a sweltering 33 degrees Celsius, followed a similar script with the Alouettes starting fast for a big lead. The Stampeders chipped away for a chance to win, only to falter within reach of the end zone on the second-last play of the game again.

In Montreal, it was a Vernon Adams Jr., pass to Erik Brooks from the Alouettes’ 15-yard line that was knocked down. On Saturday, Brooks couldn’t hang on to an Adams throw and turned the ball over on Montreal’s nine-yard line to seal the win for the visitors.

Calgary (2-4) has lost three games in the final minute and another in overtime this season.

Travis Theis and Dustin Crum rushed for touchdowns and Cole Spieker, Tyler Snead and Kaseem Ferdinand caught touchdown passes for Montreal, which extended its unbeaten steak against the Stampeders to eight (7-0-1) dating back to 2022. The teams tied 19-19 in September, 2024.

Theis finished with 123 rushing yards and Snead totalled 113 passing yards.

“Just competitive across the board,” Alexander said. “It sounds dumb and simple, but we just feel like we’re kind of built for those tough moments.

“There is no moment too big for this team, and we’re going to have each other’s back regardless.”

Montreal’s Jose Maltos Diaz contributed eight kicking points in the win, including a 35-yard field goal. He was wide on a convert attempt with just over a minute remaining in the game, however, to open the door for Calgary to win with a converted touchdown.

Dedrick Mills scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and ran for a two-point convert, while Brooks and Jalen Philpot caught touchdown passes for the Stampeders in front of an announced 19,228 at McMahon Stadium.

Jude McAtamney kicked six points and Mills compiled 130 rushing yards.

Adams was 23-for-37 in passing for 271 yards and three touchdown passes. Like Alexander, he has yet to throw an interception this season and owns a pick-free streak of 243 pass attempts dating back to last October.

But Alexander and the Alouettes sprinted to a quick 15-point lead in the first quarter and were up 22-0 early in the second. Calgary’s only points of the first half were a McAtamney field goal in the last minute.

“Good fight at the end, but it’s just getting old from me, not being able to put points up early to help the defence out, just too many two-and-outs,” Adams said. “Everybody’s going to look in the mirror, but I’m my biggest critic.

“I’ve got to just start faster. I don’t know what that is, my routine, whatever it is, I need to get it right and help this team out and stop letting the organization down. All this hero stuff at the end, it doesn’t have to be like that.”

The Stampeders scored their first touchdown of the game on their first possession of the second half. Calgary went on to outscore the Alouettes 22-10 and knot the score 32-32 with three minutes to play.

After a Diaz Maltos’ field goal made it a two-touchdown game, Adams threw to an all-alone Philpot in the end zone with five minutes remaining in the game.

Calgary’s defence then made a pivotal stop on a Theis attempted short-yardage plunge for a first down, and Montreal turned the ball over on their own 15-yard line.

Mills’ second touchdown of the game and a McAtamney convert tied the contest, but the Alouettes pulled ahead again on Alexander’s 27-yard throw to an undefended Ferdinand with just over a minute to play.

The 27-year-old Alexander soldiered through a pair of sacks and escaped pressure to get a 40-yard running pass away in Saturday’s first half despite the hamstring issue.

“He did a great job hydrating all week because when you’re dehydrated at times, muscles tend to have issues, but he was hydrated great,” Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said. “We put a lot of work into our strength and conditioning with him this week to where he could get his hamstring back and feeling good.

“Today he had no issues and I don’t expect there to be any more issues. But I’ll say this, it takes a lot of work for him throughout the week, because there’s massages, there’s treatment, there’s everything he needs to do to be ready, and he’s a pro about it.”

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday, July 26.

Stampeders: Visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Alexander breaks CFL record as Alouettes down Stampeders 38-32

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