For Montreal Alouettes, Chip Cox CFL record-tying fumble return TD with "assists" from Bear Woods and Aaron Lavarias sums up turnaround

Chip Cox tied a CFL record with his fifth career fumble-return touchdown, but really, it was an indicator of where the Montreal Alouettes were and where they might be headed.

Montreal became the first Eastern Division team win to hit the seemingly mythical five-win threshold by outlasting the hard-luck Ottawa Redblacks 15-7 at TD Place on Friday night. Fittingly, their only touchdown came via a big play created by their middle linebacker, Bear Woods, and defensive end Aaron Lavarias, who opened the year in that spot. Four minutes into the second half, with Ottawa on the 11-yard line and looking for the night's first points, Woods strip-sacked Henry Burris. Lavarias got the scoop and ran 35 yards before lateraling to Cox for the last 50, and the score.

That and stopping Ottawa cold five times when only a needed to gain a yard, helped the Als go to 4-3 since Woods came off the injured list on Aug. 14. The 27-year-old former Atlanta Falcon has battled injuries for much of the past three seasons, but seems to have imbued the Als with a new attitude.

"I think guys are comfortable with me and that's the biggest thing defensively," said Woods, who's coped with left foot, left quad and left hamstring ailments over the last three years. "We have a real tight-knit brotherhood out there and guys were excited that I was coming back and were endorsing the fact that I was coming back. It's been a long time coming, that I was going to be in this position. Guys have always hoped for this and now I'm finally there.

"Four and three? I ain't happy with the three losses since I came back."

The play and the earlier stand represented at least a 10-point swing. It also cancelled out two bad interceptions by Jonathan Crompton that would have hurt against anyone but Ottawa (1-11).

"When you have a chance on Burris, you have to come down and really pull those arms and go for the ball. I had a chance," Woods added in reference to the pivotal play. "Lavarias ran the stunt perfectly and it was a freebie for me [after being left unblocked]. I was so glad Aaron got the fumble recovery because he set the whole play up."

'Right call to give it to Chip'

Lavarias had a chance for his first touchdown since his NCAA days with the Idaho Vandals after picking the ball off up the carpet. Discretion won out over trying for a defensive lineman's dream.

"I was in the open field and I didn't know if there was anybody gaining on me. I saw one of the fastest — if not the fastest — guys on the team next to me with Chip," Lavarias explained. "It would have been great to take that touchdown to the house msyelf. At the end of the day, it's a smarter decision to hand it off to the speedster instead of for the defensive end to try to roll it all the way to the end zone.

"You're taught never to look back behind you when you're running with the ball. Maybe there was a speedster coming from behind me; I just thought it was the right call to give to Chip."

The Redblacks scored 32 points in a double-overtime loss in Saskatchewan last Sunday, but have now failed to crack double digits in four consecutive home games. Burris (25-of-32, 253 yards) still does not have a touchdown pass in six starts at TD Place.

Burris was stuffed on back-to-back quarterback sneaks from the one-yard line in the first quarter. Ottawa got a new set of downs back at the Als'  16 after an Als offside and a Redblacks unnecessary-roughness call on  third-down incompletion. When third-and-1 came up again, the Redblacks lined up in the shotgun and handed off to Williams, whom Winston Venable tackled for the turnover.

"In all my years in the CFL, I can't remember or recall a series of plays like that where you had to keep coming and stepping up and denying them to cross the goal line," Als coach Tom Higgins said. "It was a thing of beauty.

"Woods has done everything that we wanted our middle linebacker to do," Higgins added. "He's had challenges staying healthy, but this hasn't been a challenge for him. He's been our rock."

For Woods, that stand was a message sent to the rest of the league.

"They can't gain nothing and have to hope and pray that we're offsides so they can get a first down," he said. "Teams see that on film. We take real pride in that. That's everything about our defence."

Montreal inched ahead of Hamilton (4-7 going into Winnipeg) and Toronto (on its bye at 4-8). It kept the playoffs within reach for Montreal heading into a closing five-game stretch where they play Toronto twice and finish the regular season in Hamilton.

"I think most of the guys just realized we had a bye," Woods said. "We were so focused on this game. We knew we had to have this win. We knew Ottawa is a team that is so close to winning every football game. We're kind of the same type of team. We have just gelled a little better than they have."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.