Former longtime NFL coach and assistant Mike Sherman has notched his first victory as a head coach in CFL, leading the Montreal Alouettes to a victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
“I thought our defence really stepped up when they had to step up,” Montreal head coach Mike Sherman said, according to CFL.ca. “They made plays when they had to make plays. We have a very talented secondary with their ability to get hands on balls… it didn’t surprise me that they caught the ball that well.”
The game was a defensive battle back-and-forth that didn’t see a lot of offensive action.
“It was a hard fought game. We lost a lot of guys but it was good to get our first win. It’s always good to get the first win of the season to kind of set it off,” Montreal defensive lineman Jamaal Westerman said. “We did a lot of good things. Some things we didn’t do as good, we got guys getting injured, but we kept battling, we kept fighting. That’s what the CFL is about… I think we did a good job of closing that game out.”
“I think we had a great week of preparation. We really practiced hard, we really worked on our technique.
We really worked on the fundamentals and that carried us throughout the game where at times if things weren’t going right, we fell back on our fundamentals, we fell back on our technique and I think that helped us get that W today,” Westerman said.
Now, Montreal heads to a homegame matchup against the Ottawa Redblacks.
“We have a big game next week against our rivals in Ottawa at home and that’s a big one for us,” said Westerman. “We’ve got to be prepared and get ready because we know they’re coming.”