Montreal Alouettes’ defensive tackle Almondo Sewell didn’t mince words after beating his former team by a score of 30-13 at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night.
“[Trevor Harris] folded,” said Sewell via videoconference. “We should have had more picks than that. You just throw it up, you know. I owe Tyquwan Glass at least a dinner — he had that pick-six. I gotta do better than that. Yeah, [Harris] did fold.”
Sewell made headlines earlier this week when he claimed that Harris “starts folding” after taking one hit. Harris dismissed the comments, calling them “gamesmanship” from a player he considers a friend.
“I forgot to say earlier in the week that I do respect Trevor Harris, but I also said too that if you get to him early in a game, he will fold,” said Sewell. “I don’t make fake statements. When I say something, I do my homework, I do my research, and that’s what it is.”
The 34-year-old played nine seasons with Edmonton (2011-19) during which he recorded 60 sacks and was named an all-star seven times. He had an impressive performance in his Montreal debut, recording two tackles and a sack as part of a front-seven that made life miserable for Trevor Harris.
“I think that (the defensive line) was a big difference in the game,” said head coach Khari Jones. “We made it uncomfortable for [Harris] in the pocket and not only that, we got some key sacks at certain times and probably caused some errant throws because of it. That pressure was big. When you’re able to get pressure with four guys and five guys, sometimes you don’t have to go full blitz — it’s really nice. The front four played outstanding.”
Edmonton drove the football 72 yards on their opening drive, which ended in an 11-yard field goal from Sean Whyte. Harris was sacked by Antonio Simmons on the following possession and the offence sputtered until halftime, turning the ball over on downs on its only sustained drive. The Elks did not score again until Whyte connected on a 37-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter.
Harris posted respectable numbers on the night, completing 19-of-29 pass attempts for 233 yards and one touchdown. Edmonton averaged an impressive 13.7 yards on first down, but produced just 3.8 yards per play on second down.
Sewell was flagged for a costly roughing the passer penalty in the second quarter, which caused an interception return touchdown by Tyquwan Glass to be negated. He vehemently disagreed with the call, believing it was a clean hit.
“That was the most bulls*** call I ever had in my life,” he said with a laugh. “I barely touched him!”
Now that he’s beaten his former team, Sewell is ready to move on and focus on what he and his teammates are building in Montreal.
“It is special for me,” said Sewell. “But at the same time, business is business and I understand that perfectly. They wanted to move on and I wanted to keep playing football. I’m in a better situation right now that (Alouettes’ general manager) Danny Maciocia put me into, so I’m enjoying myself.”
Jake Wieneke, who made a remarkable 42-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, felt the number of former Elks on Montreal’s roster was a source of motivation for his team this week.
“We’ve got a couple guys that are from Edmonton — [Sewell], [Nick Usher], Tyquwan (Glass), Money (Hunter), all these guys,” said Wieneke. “They were pretty fired up all week, they were talking, they were excited. They were getting us going, so we were excited to just go and play for them.”
Vernon Adams Jr. echoed Wieneke’s sentiments, though he considered the recent passing of Alouettes’ co-owner Sid Spiegel an extra source of motivation.
“Obviously, we wanted to get that win for those Edmonton guys,” said the veteran quarterback. “I knew how much it meant to them, but also just for myself personally, our owner’s father-in-law had passed last week and it’s just a tough situation. I just wanted to send my condolences to them and he was on my mind — our owner Gary Stern — I really wanted to pull this win out for him and I’m glad we did.”
