Player of the Game

By general consensus, the folks in Section W will choose one Alouette player as the PLAYER OF THE GAME based on his performance, impact and effort on that game day.

Archived Players of the Game: 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Grey Cup 2009 - Sunday Nov. 29, Montreal 28 vs. Saskatchewan 27

CALGARY -- It took a lucky break on the final play of the game, but the Montreal Alouettes' run of Grey Cup futility is over. Damon Duval, given another try due to a penalty after missing what could have been the game-winning kick, made good on his second chance from 33 yards to lift the Alouettes to a stunning 28-27 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a classic CFL championship game on Sunday. It was a shock ending for most the sell-out crowd of 46,020 at McMahon Stadium, where the seats looked to be tinted Roughriders green from fans who had spent most of the game watching their underdog team outperform the Alouettes on a mild evening. But quarterback Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes, both shaking off a reputation for coming up short in the big game, battled back to erase a 16-point deficit in the final 10:52 of play and end a four-game Grey Cup losing streak over the past seven years. They posted their sixth Cup win overall despite not leading until the final play. "Heartbreaking, happy, sad, suspenseful - it was everything wrapped into one," said Montreal's veteran centre Bryan Chiu. "I guess that's what the CFL's about - a game like that." The Roughriders fell short in a bid for a second Grey Cup in three years and are now 3-14 all-time in championship games. Duval's first fluttering attempt from the 43 was nullified by a penalty against Saskatchewan for too many men on the field, which immediately drew comparisons to the Montreal Canadiens' notorious Game 7 NHL semifinal win in 1979 when Don Cherry's Boston Bruins were called for too many men late in the game and the Habs went on to win. The Roughriders were tossing their helmets in the air in celebration and starting to invade the field, only for the play to be called back. The second attempt sailed through and this time, it was the Montreal bench that erupted. "I just rushed it," Duval said of the first try. "It took off like a bullet out of the gate and I knew before I kicked the ball there was no way I was getting my hips around to get it through. "But luckily before the ball was even going I saw the flag and thought, OK, the man upstairs has given us another opportunity and we're walking out with a win now." It was only their second win in seven CFL championship games since 2000, when they were beaten 28-26 by the B.C. Lions in Calgary after failing to make a two-point convert in the dying seconds. "It's sweet to come back and do this here," said Chiu. "It's come full circle." The Montreal comeback started just after Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant, the star of the game for much of the first 50 minutes but who had two second half interceptions, looked to have put the game away with a touchdown on a 16-yard run at 4:08 of the fourth quarter. But running back Avon Cobourne, named most valuable player of the game for his 85 yards on 16 carries and 64 more on six catches, ran in from the three at 7:55. Six minutes later, veteran slotback Ben Cahoon, named top Canadian, snagged an 11-yard Calvillo pass, but Montreal missed a two-point conversion attempt to leave Saskatchewan with a two-point lead with 1:45 left to play. Then, with 10 seconds left, Calvillo hit Kerry Watkins with a pass to put Montreal in range of a field goal and the unlikely win. "There was ebb and flow in this game, but in the end, Lady Luck came into play for a moment and we were able to take advantage of it," said Marc Trestman, a champion in his second year as coach after losing a Grey Cup to Calgary last year in Montreal. Saskatchewan coach Ken Miller looked to be in a state of disbelief after the game. He would not name the culprit, saying only that a player on the field for Duval's first kick should have come off but didn't. "It was a situation that should have been recognized by what we were doing," said Miller, whose club was the least penalized in the league this season. "It's just total, 100 per cent disappointment." Jamel Richardson also had a touchdown for Montreal and, for a second straight year, had more than 100 receiving yards in a Grey Cup game with 113 on eight catches. Andy Fantuz also scored a TD for the Roughriders while Luca Congi had four field goals and Louie Sakoda a single. Montreal was expected to win easily after a team-record 15-3 season, but 10-7-1 Saskatchewan's defence countered their every move early on, holding them to just three points in the first quarter - their lowest total of the season. And a pair of Montreal fumbles in the first half helped the 'Riders take a 17-3 lead Durant mixed the pass and the run to move the ball consistently and set up points against the team that all season had the league's top defence, especially against the ground game. His first drive led to a Congi field goal attempt that sailed wide, but the second produced a three-pointer. Late in the first quarter, Marcus Adams stripped the ball from Calvillo and big Keith Shologan lumbered to the Montreal eight. On the next play, Durant found Fantuz open in the end zone on a slant pattern for a 10-0 lead. The Alouettes looked to have their offence back on track as a pair of passes to Cahoon set up a 28-yard Duval kick early in the second quarter. They were pressing again but missed a chance to add to their score when fullback Kerry Carter fumbled on the Saskatchewan 17. Then the usually reliable Duval shanked a second punt in a row - this one travelling only seven yards. Congi turned that into a 44-yard field goal and Sakoda followed with a single on the ensuing kickoff. "The ball slipped out of my hands, but in the second half I put a glove on my right hand and fixed that problem," Duval said. On the next-to-last play of the half, Durant found Fantuz on the Montreal two - a play that stood up after video review showed he stayed in bounds - and Congi closed the half with a nine-yard field goal. Calvillo, given the game ball by his teammates, led a nine-play drive early in the second half capped by an eight-yard TD toss to Richardson, but a Congi field goal and Durant's TD, when the Saskatchewan looked to be running the ball at will, looked to have sealed the win. "We were in the locker-room at half time and we regrouped," said Cobourne. "We didn't come out with the intensity we needed and it showed. "But then we got that feeling in our hearts. Once we started playing, we are the best team in the CFL for a reason - because we make plays." The Alouettes reached their seventh Grey Cup since 2000 with a 56-18 blowout win over B.C. last week, while the 10-7-1 Riders downed Calgary in the West final. Both teams were playing their 17th Grey Cup game. Notes: Cahoon got the 18 yards he needed to pass former Alouette Hal Patterson's record of 580 receiving yards in career Grey Cup games. He now has 620. The record had stood since 1964. . . . Montreal and Regina played in the 1931 Grey Cup, but it was Montreal A.A.A. and not the Alouettes who won 22-0. . . . Montreal special teams tackler Paul Waldu, a Regina native, was not in the lineup, while rookie J.P. Bekasiak dressed as a back-up offensive lineman in place of Shawn Mayne. . . . The 'Riders scratched Hugh Charles, Clifton Washburn, Kevin Scott and Joe Sykes.

Sunday November 22, 2009 - Montreal 56 vs. BC 18

MONTREAL -- Not even their nemesis the B.C. Lions could stop Anthony Calvillo and the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL East Division final. Calvillo equalled a league playoff record with five touchdown passes and the Alouettes defence stuffed hot quarterback Casey Printers and the Lions' running game in a 56-18 romp before 53,792 roaring fans at Olympic Stadium on Sunday afternoon. That put the Alouettes into their seventh Grey Cup game since 2000 next Sunday in Calgary. "No matter how many points we put up, the objective was to win," said the 37-year-old Calvillo. "It was exciting to do what we did today, I'll enjoy it, but we have to get ready for next week." Montreal had a dominant 15-3 season while B.C. was only 8-10, but the East final was widely seen as a toss-up because of the strong form Printers showed after joining the Lions in September and because the Alouettes have a history of struggles against their rival from Vancouver. Even with the loss, the Lions are 11-5 against Montreal since Wally Buono became coach in 2003. But this was no contest. The near-sellout crowd saw the Montreal defence force five turnovers and hold running back Martell Mallett, who had gained 213 yards in a win over the Alouettes this season, to five yards on six carries. The B.C. running game had only 12 total yards. Meanwhile the Montreal offence shredded B.C. for long gains as Calvillo needed only 19 completions for 312 yards. "We had a lot of plays designed to get a shot downfield," said Calvillo. "We felt that when they went into zone (defence), they sometimes get out of position and that's how it happened. "It was crazy, throwing the ball and finding guys wide open." The Lions, who made long trips across three time zones to the east in consecutive weeks, had no response. "They were better than us, that's it," said all-star defensive end Ricky Foley. "Up front, in the back end, offence, defence -- you don't get beat like that and have too many good parts of the game." Jamel Richardson and Brian Bratton, with two each, and Kerry Watkins had TD receptions while Richardson added another on a blocked punt return for Montreal. John Bowman added one more TD with a 41-yard interception return off backup Lions QB Travis Lulay, who replaced Printers late in the game. Damon Duval added two field goals and a single. Calvillo equalled the league mark for post-season TD passes held by five other players. Paris Jackson caught a TD throw from Printers, Ryan Grice-Mullen scored on a record 106-yard punt return and Paul McCallum had a field goal for B.C., which was attempting to be the first crossover team to reach the Grey Cup. They beat Hamilton in overtime in the East semifinal last week. It was a second year in a row the Alouettes defeated a crossover team from the West in the East Division final, having beat Edmonton 36-26 last year. They face another demon next week -- their record of success in the Grey Cup game. Montreal has lost its last four, including last year at home against Calgary, and have only one win in 2002 in six visits to the championship game. "We all know about our record in the Grey Cup, and that's something I'll have a chance to change," said Calvillo. "I've always said, I'll never quit and the team won't quit no matter what the record is. "I'm just glad to have another chance to correct that." The game turned only seven minutes in when, after the teams exchanged field goals, Mallett fumbled and Shea Emry recovered on the Lions' 22. On the next play, Calvillo found Richardson alone in the end zone. Then Billy Parker returned an interception 45 yards to set up a four-yard TD pass to Watkins and LaVar Glover's missed tackle let Watkins romp 91 yards to set up a seven-yard TD toss to Richardson to start the second quarter. The Lions got seven back after Larry Taylor dropped a punt and Tad Crawford recovered, which allowed Printers to find Jackson with a 14-yard throw. But Calvilo answered with a 45-yard scoring pass to Bratton. A late B.C. single made it 31-11 at halftime. Momentum could have switched 4:54 into the third quarter as Grice-Mullen raced around the left side for a 106-yard punt return TD, beating a league playoff record 103-yard return by Henry (Gizmo) Wiliams of Edmonton in 1992. But Montreal marched back for Bratton's 14-yard TD catch and Cory Huclack blocked a punt and Richardson ran it in at 11:20. "When they blocked that punt it was basically over," said Jackson. Duval added a field goal and then a point on a missed field goal to give the Alouettes a team-record 49 points, one more than they scored in a playoff game against Hamilton in 1956. The teams had split their last four meetings, with no game decided by more than a touchdown, and this one was also expected to go down to the wire. Instead, it was a blowout. "We all decided that it doesn't have to be close because we saw some things we could do defensively and offensively and we went out and played hard from the first kickoff," said Montreal rush end Anwar Stewart. "It was big play after big play. "It's our turn. We had a pick and a fumble early and scored off them, and when you do that, sometimes it takes the air out of their sails." Alouettes back-up receiver Andrew Hawkins was carried off favouring his right leg in the second half and coach Marc Trestman said he does not expect him to be available for the Grey Cup game. Notes: The Lions lost cornerback Dante Marsch to an injury early in the first quarter. . . The last QB with five TD tosses in a playoff game was Danny Barrett in 1991. . .Richardson tied a team record shared by three others with three TDs in a playoff game.. . It was Montreal's first game at the Big O since a loss to Calgary in last year's Grey Cup game.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 - Toronto 17 vs. Montreal 42

courtesy of cfl.ca TORONTO -- Should the unthinkable happen to starter Anthony Calvillo in the playoffs, Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman has a viable alternative in sophomore quarterback Adrian McPherson. McPherson threw two TD passes as Montreal dispatched the Toronto Argonauts 42-17 for their club-record 15th win of the year in the CFL regular-season finale for both clubs Saturday. With Montreal (league-best 15-3) having already cemented top spot in the East Division and home-field advantage for the conference final Nov. 22, Trestman gave McPherson the start with Calvillo serving as the No. 3 quarterback behind backup Chris Leak. McPherson looked very comfortable under centre, leading the Alouettes on a four-play, 62-yard scoring drive he capped with a one-yard TD strike to Brandon Whitaker on the club's opening possession. He finished 16-of-20 passing for 151 yards and ran for 55 yards before giving way to Leak to open the fourth. "My biggest focus was I wanted my teammates to feel comfortable and confident in me," said McPherson. "My biggest thing was not to put pressure on myself. "This game meant everything to us because we wanted to finish strong going into the playoffs." The start was McPherson's second in three weeks. With Calvillo out due to a calf injury, McPherson was 20-of-35 passing for 231 yards and a TD while rushing 11 times for 95 yards in a 41-24 loss to Winnipeg on Oct. 24. "I thought he played well in the first game," Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman said. "He protected the football well and if he does that, this team will be in a position to win. "I think we saw a team willing to give him the support he deserved." Montreal picked up its eighth win in nine games and swept the season series 3-0, outscoring Toronto 94-25. The Alouettes were 6-3 on the road and a perfect 9-0 at home. It was also a record-setting day for Montreal kicker Damon Duval. He had a club-record seven field goals and 24 points to boost his single-season points total to a league-record 242, breaking the mark of 236 set in 1991 by former Argo Lance Chomyc. "He's as good as there is," McPherson said of his kicker. "As soon as we cross the 50-yard line, we know he's in range." Leak finished 7-of-10 passing for 44 yards. He and McPherson did a nice job of distributing the ball as 10 different Alouettes had catches. "The thing about this offence is everyone is a valuable receiver," McPherson said. "Everyone is an option." Montreal won convincingly despite generously sprinkling backups in the lineup on both sides of the ball with the game having no bearing on the East Division standings. Calvillo did dress but such stalwarts as running back Avon Cobourne and kick-returner Larry Taylor did not. That was of little solace to or advantage for the sad-sack Argos (3-15), who were still overmatched before a surly Rogers Centre gathering of 28,293. "The whole season was disappointing," said veteran defensive lineman Jonathan Brown. "That game was even worse." The one-sided decision was the latest disappointment in what's been a disastrous year for first-year head coach Bart Andrus. Toronto finished the season on an eight-game losing streak and lost its last four home contests to drop to 1-8 overall at Rogers Centre. The 3-15 record is the franchise's worst since posting a similiar mark in '93. Toronto also fell to 0-6 against Montreal, its last win coming Oct. 20, 2007. Afterwards, Andrus only spoke about the game and not what steps the organization might take in the off-season. "Just the way the game unfolded was disappointing to me," said Andrus. "I see these guys doing better than this. "It was not acceptable to me and these guys." Andrus, who drew the ire of Argos fans all season for questionable coaching decisions, did so again to end the second quarter. Facing third-and-one from the Montreal 47-yard line on the half's final play, he opted to punt rather than throw deep for a touchdown. The result was Justin Medlock's 67-yard single, which cut the Als' half-time advantage to 26-4 and drew a sarcastic cheer from the disgruntled Toronto faithful. Andrus, also Toronto's offensive co-ordinator, raised eyebrows when trailing 39-14 in the fourth he had Medlock boot a 27-yard field goal at 8:24 instead of trying for a first down. The offence under first-year quarterback Stephen Reaves, 23-of-40 passing for 209 yards and four interceptions, struggled to muster 157 total yards against the Als' top-ranked defence. "A lot of good, a lot of bad," Andrus said of Reaves. "He got the baptism by fire against the toughest team in the CFL. "He made some good reads, two of his interceptions came when he was hit throwing the ball." Reaves stepped up and shouldered the blame for Toronto's offensive woes. "I made bad decisions and put the defence in a bind by giving them (Als) a short field," Reaves said. "I want to take a few of them back. "Hopefully I'll learn from it." It was Fan Appreciation Day at the Rogers Centre but the Argos didn't give their fans much to cheer about, committing six turnovers. Toronto's usually stout defence wasn't immuned either. While the unit registered three sacks, it didn't get much pressure on either McPherson or Leak and overall tackled poorly. Kerry Watkins and Paul Woldu had Montreal's other touchdowns. Duval added the converts. Jamal Robertson had Toronto's lone touchdown. Medlock had three field goals, a convert and single. NOTES -- Back judge Don Ellis worked in his 500th career game, making him just the sixth official in league history to reach that lofty plateau . . . Linebacker Jason Pottinger and safety James Green, both members of Toronto's special teams, didn't dress due to the flu.

Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009 - Montreal 48 vs. Winnipeg 13

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes' late-season slide looks to be over. Anthony Calvillo returned from a calf injury to throw two touchdown passes and Damon Duval kicked six field goals as the Alouettes pounded the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 48-13 on Sunday afternoon for a team record-tying 14th win of the season. The victory came a week after a 41-24 loss in Winnipeg with back-up Adrian McPherson at quarterback and gave the Alouettes a perfect 9-0 record at home for the season. Calvillo said the calf was completely healed and he'll be ready to play when the Alouettes (14-3) go after a 15th win as they close the regular season Saturday against the 3-14 Argonauts in Toronto. "Every team's goal is to be undefeated at home and have a winning record at home and that would get you to about 14-4, so we're right on target," the veteran pivot said. "We're excited about it because it's something we haven't done since I've been here. "And we didn't want to make them think they could beat us at home. Last week, they played well and give them credit for that, but we wanted to play the way we wanted, putting offence, defence and special teams together, and we did that and you saw the result." Marc Trestman's Alouettes equalled their win total set in 2004 under former coach Don Matthews, although that year Calvillo was injured in the East final and they were beaten by the Argonauts. Brian Bratton and Andrew Hawkins caught TD passes, Larry Taylor also scored on a 115-yard missed field goal return and Avon Cobourne ran in his 15th TD of the season for Montreal. Titus Ryan had a TD catch and Alexis Serna booted two field goals for the Blue Bombers (7-10), who can finish second in the East Division with a win over Hamilton (8-9) next weekend. The Bombers and Ticats split two games this season, both in Hamilton. If the Ticats win, they take second place outright and Winnipeg will be bumped from the playoffs by a crossover team from the West Division. If Winnipeg wins, they will tie Hamilton but get second place based on winning the season series. That may be why the Bombers, who beat Montreal 41-24 in Winnipeg last weekend, were never in the return match. But coach Mike Kelly was irate when it was suggested his team didn't show up, even though his offence was held to 197 net yards and only seven first downs, compared to 392 yards for Montreal. "We played hard," he said. "I never questioned the effort our players put in and if anyone questions it they're dead wrong. "We just couldn't seem to sustain anything today. We had too many drops. It was just one of those days where we didn't get any kind of rhythm." He said his team will have to forget the loss and concentrate on the Tiger-Cats, who downed Saskatchewan 24-6 on Saturday. "We have to," Kelly added. "They put us over their knee and gave us a little spanking and said 'We're the big dogs,' and we understand that and congratulations to them. "They're a good football team. It's hard to go 9-0 at home and they were able to do it. Ok, it's over, now all our thoughts are positive and getting ready for Hamilton." Kelly liked that his defence forced Montreal to kick field goals instead of score touchdowns six times, a problem with finishing drives that has dogged Montreal all season. "We got more field goals than we wanted, but we scored when we needed to," replied Calvillo. The Bombers got a break when Taylor fumbled the opening kickoff and Derrick Doggett recovered at the Montreal 18-yard line but they had to settle for a field goal. The Alouettes bounced back with a Duval field goal followed by a drive capped by a 24-yard TD pass to Bratton. Montreal got five more points off a safety and a 27-yard Duval field goal in the quarter. Hawkins caught a 19-yard scoring pass 11:01 into the second and Serna answered with a 40-yard field goal for a 25-6 Montreal half-time lead. It was a statement game for the struggling Montreal defence, which had allowed 79 points in its previous two games. Star tailback Fred Reid was held to one yard on six carries in the first half and ended up with 37 on 11 attempts, while Michael Bishop completed only 8-of-21 throws for 145 yards. Much of that came only 21 seconds into the second half when he found Ryan behind the Montreal defence for a 65-yard TD pass. "We knew we were a better defence than that," said Rush end Anwar Stewart. "For us to go undefeated at home was great because we know that if we go out and do our thing, nobody can stop us and we did that today." The Alouettes hit back with a Duval kick and, when Serna's 46-yard attempt fell short, Taylor brought it back for the third-longest return TD in Alouettes history. "That's probably the most exciting play in football," said Taylor, who had 335 return yards on the day. Duval got his fifth and sixth field goals of the day in the fourth to give him 48 for the season, three short of his career high set in 2006. His 22 kicking points gave him a career-high 218, only two points short of Terry Baker's club record set in 2000. McPherson was at quarterback when Cobourne scored on a 14-yard run in the fourth. Bishop came out in favour of Casey Bramlet five minutes into the final quarter. He was picked off by Billy Parker to set up a Duval field goal. Kelly said Bishop had a hamstring problem. "It was bothering him a bit so why tweak it any more?" the coach said. "I looked at our playlist and we didn't have any 25-point plays, so I figured what the heck, let's go ahead and put the other guy in and get him some reps." Kick returner Jevon Johnson also hurt an ankle, but he said it was minor and he'll be ready to go next week. For Montreal, linebacker Walter Spencer had a hamstring problem and Hawkins hurt his ribs, but Trestman said it did not appear to be serious.

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2000 - Winnipeg 41 vs. Montreal 24

courtesy of cfl.ca WINNIPEG -- This time, quarterback Michael Bishop wanted to be sure his Blue Bombers didn't squander its chances. Bishop did his part, throwing for a season-high 411 yards and two touchdowns as Winnipeg (7-9) kept its playoff hopes alive with a 41-24 win over the Montreal Alouettes (13-3) Saturday. "We had some great opportunities today, we took advantage of it," said Bishop, who completed 17 of 33 pass attempts with only one interception that wasn't his fault. "The only thing I would say about that is, in the past we should have done that and today, against the best team in the league, we did a great job of taking advantage of it. "It says a lot about our character and our belief in one another trying to get a win." The victory came in front of a season-low crowd of 21,378 at Canad Inns Stadium and tied Winnipeg with Hamilton (7-9) for second place in the East Division. Montreal started second-year QB Adrian McPherson instead of league-leading pivot Anthony Calvillo (sore calf). In his first CFL start, McPherson ran in a nine-yard TD and completed 20 of 35 pass attempts for 232 yards and one TD. He carried the ball 11 times for 95 yards. "(McPherson) had to deal with some pressure at times and made some good throws for us and made things happen with his feet," Montreal head coach Marc Trestman said. "So it's a great job for him to go out there and do the things that he did today. It's just unfortunate that we didn't come away with a victory." The shine of the win isn't diminished because Calvillo wasn't playing, Bombers head coach Mike Kelly said. "I knew that question was going to get asked, and Anthony doesn't play defence," Kelly said. "Our offence beat their defence and that's what it comes down to . . . (Calvillo) is one guy. We beat them as a team." The two clubs play again next Sunday in Montreal, and Calvillo will likely play. "(Calvillo) is arguably the best player in the CFL right now so we take this with a grain of salt, but they've got 11 other starters and 12 on defence that they were playing with," Bombers defensive tackle Doug Brown said. "We understand they're a more dynamic and explosive offence when he's out there, but it's a stepping stone for us." Winnipeg's defence won the battle at the line of scrimmage. While the teams went into the game tied for the league lead in fewest QB sacks allowed (25). McPherson was sacked four times - twice by Odell Willis and twice by Phillip Hunt. Winnipeg's offensive line didn't allow a sack. "It was probably one of our best games of the year as far as pass protection went," Bombers centre Obby Khan said. "We gave (Bishop) a lot of time back there." Bishop completed several long passes, while his only interception came after Adarius Bowman had the ball ripped out of his hands by Als cornerback Mark Estelle. Trestman thought his defence played hard, especially because it went into the game without some regular linebackers and lost defensive tackle Eric Wilson early (knee injury, two to three weeks). He doesn't think players' psyches will be affected by the loss. "This is one game in 18 right now and everybody knows the scenario we played under," Trestman said. "It wasn't the most opportune scenario, but as I talked to the team about it, this team's got a strong backbone, we've got depth. "We've got to address the issues that took place,, but I don't want to over-value what's happened." Late in the first half, Winnipeg receiver Terrence Edwards caught a 57-yard TD pass and Titus Ryan hauled in a 53-yard catch less than a minute later as the Bombers took a 24-9 lead into the break. It was Ryan's first start since arriving in a trade with Calgary on Sept. 20 along with Willis and receiver Jabari Arthur. Edwards also pulled in a 50-yard reception, but was tripped up on the way to the end zone. The third-quarter catch set up a one-yard TD run by Bombers backup QB Ricky Santos, who was acquired in a trade last month with Montreal. With Winnipeg ahead 31-18 heading into the fourth quarter, Bombers return man Jovon Johnson sealed the result with a sensational punt return TD. Johnson weaved back and forth across the field as he took the punt back 79 yards at 7:05 to widen the spread 41-18. Earlier this season, Johnson took back a missed field goal 118 yards for a TD against Edmonton. Bomber kicker Alexis Serna hit all four of his field-goal attempts from 23, 29, 20 and 15 yards. Punter Troy Westwood, playing in his first game back with his old club, had a single. As Westwood trotted on to the field for his first punt, fans started cheering, clapping and some stood for the 17-year vet who was cut in last year's training camp. Montreal kicker Damon Duval was three-for-three on his field goals from 28, 41 and 30 yards. Westwood conceded a safety for another two Alouette points. The Alouettes also got a TD from receiver Andrew Hawkins, who caught a 19-yard pass at 9:24 of the fourth that made the score 41-24 after a failed two-point convert attempt.

Sunday Oct. 18, 2009 - Montreal 41 vs Hamilton 38

coutesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- Anthony Calvillo looks like he'll be alright, but the same can't necessarily be said for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats diminishing playoff hopes. Calvillo threw two touchdown passes before leaving the game with tightening in his calf midway through the third quarter and the Montreal Alouettes hung on to down the struggling Tiger-Cats 41-38 on Sunday afternoon. "I haven't had a calf injury in a while," said Calvillo, who completed 14 of 18 passes for 232 yards in just over two quarters of work. "But we have good trainers here, they'll look after me, and it shouldn't be a problem." Kerry Watkins had 102 yards receiving to pass the 1,000-yard mark for a fifth straight year and caught a touchdown pass for the Alouettes (13-2), who also got touchdowns from Ben Cahoon, Avon Cobourne, Jamel Richardson and rookie Michael Giffin. Second-year backup Adrian McPherson was efficient replacing Calvillo, completing 10 of 11 passes for 110 yards, and he orchestrated what turned out to be the winning touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter to ice the victory. "It was great to get out there and get a chance to throw the ball around a little bit," McPherson said. "Most importantly, I wanted to show the coaches they can have confidence in me should anything ever happen. The offensive line did a great job of protecting me and the receivers did a great job of making plays. I thought it was fairly easy for me to get the guys a chance to make plays, and they did." Hamilton (6-9) had a prolific day offensively with 579 yards gained, shredding the Alouettes league-leading defence, but the Tiger-Cats had to settle for Nick Setta field goals three times in the second half. Despite the encouraging signs from the offence, Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille couldn't help being disappointed with the bigger picture as the Tiger-Cats lost their fourth straight and continue fighting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for second in the East Division. The Tiger-Cats play in Toronto on Friday then host Saskatchewan before finishing the season in Winnipeg on Nov. 8. "As much as I want confidence, we need points in the standings if we want to make the playoffs, and that overshadows the other part of it," Bellefeuille said. "There were a lot of positives here tonight, and hopefully it's enough because we're going to need to win a few ball games down the stretch." Kevin Glenn, making only his fourth start of the season for Hamilton, had a career-high 506 yards on 29-of-44 passing and threw two touchdown passes to Marquay McDaniel and another to Arland Bruce. "We had a good game plan and we came out and executed it, but we didn't get the win," Glenn said. "The bottom line is that we didn't get the win." The game turned toward the end of the first half when, with Hamilton driving toward the Montreal end zone looking to build on a 15-14 lead, McDaniel had the ball stripped by Als linebacker Chip Cox. Jerome Brown picked up the fumble at his own 7-yard line and ran it back 93 yards to the Hamilton 10. Two plays later, Cobourne plunged into the end zone to give Montreal a 21-15 halftime lead instead of facing a 22-14 deficit. "I should have just covered up and put two hands on it," McDaniel said. "(The difference) was probably that turnover. I had one, they had none." Montreal opened the second half with a five-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown for Cahoon, only his second of the season, to extend the lead to 28-15 at 3:17 of the third. McPherson came in for Calvillo midway through the third quarter, setting off a battle of field goals. Montreal's Damon Duval kicked two from 42 and 18 yards, while Hamilton's Setta booted three from 44, 24 and 12 yards to make it 34-24 with just under 10 minutes to play. Both short Setta field goals came after McDaniel then Bruce dropped passes on the Montreal goal line. "One time I don't have a problem with that, when the receiver is pulled and grabbed, you're not going to make that play," Bellefeuille said of McDaniel's drop. "The second time we had a chance on first down but had a ball dropped. It could have made the difference, but in the end if we keep them off the scoreboard a little more then 38 (points) would have been enough." McDaniel redeemed himself by catching a 14-yard touchdown pass from Glenn at 8:37 of the fourth to make it 34-31 Montreal. McPherson then led the Alouettes down the field, helped largely by a pass interference penalty on Hamilton halfback Chris Thompson to give Montreal the ball at the Hamilton 10-yard line. McPherson found Richardson in the end zone two plays later to make it 41-31 with 2:02 left in regulation. The Tiger-Cats weren't finished, however, as Glenn marched them downfield in 1:14 for a 23-yard touchdown pass to McDaniel, but Hamilton was unable to recover the onside kick and Montreal ran out the clock to win 41-38. The Tiger-Cats wasted several chances to put an uncharacteristically sluggish Alouettes team away in the first half. The Alouettes found the end zone on their first possession, thanks largely to two costly Hamilton penalties. McPherson, who is brought in on short-yardage situations as a sneak threat, found an open Giffin in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass at 6:22 of the first. It was a first career touchdown catch for the fullback from Kingston, Ont. Hamilton struck right back with a four-play, 67-yard drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass to Bruce less than two minutes later to make it 8-7 Hamilton. Calvillo found Watkins from 11 yards out at 3:41 of the second to put Montreal up 14-8, a play set up by a 63-yard catch-and-run by Richardson. Hamilton jumped back in front 15-14 at 7:33 of the second on a 1-yard quarterback sneak from third-stringer Adam Tafralis. The Ti-Cats were driving toward the end of the half when McDaniel had his decisive fumble, and Hamilton never recovered.

Monday Oct. 12, 2009 - Montreal 32 vs. Calgary 11

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- Anyone who thought the Montreal Alouettes would let up because they already had first place clinched in the CFL East Division were badly mistaken. Jamel Richardson caught three touchdown passes and Andrew Hawkins grabbed the first of his career as the Alouettes pounded the punchless Calgary Stampeders 32-11 Monday afternoon for their fifth consecutive victory. Montreal (12-2) won both games this season against the Stampeders (8-6) after losing to them at Olympic Stadium in the Grey Cup game last November to post a 6-2 record against West Division teams. "We're not letting up anything," said rush end Anwar Stewart, whose team clinched a bye to the East final with a win last week in Toronto. "We feel we still haven't played our best game. "We want to get better and better. We're not sitting anybody out. The coaches are serious about that. We prepare every week the same." Sandro DeAngelis booted three field goals and punter Burke Dales had a pair of singles for Calgary (8-6), now tied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for first place in the West. The Stamps play host to the Roughriders on Saturday and face them again to close out the regular season on Nov. 7. The Stampeders went a second straight game without scoring a touchdown, although they beat Hamilton 15-14 last week without one. They have not scored a TD in nine quarters since Jeremaine Copeland's catch at 10:24 of the third quarter of a 27-18 win over B.C. on Sept. 25. "This is the first time since we've all been together that we've dealt with something like this," said Calgary quarterback Henry Burris. "It's a new challenge for us that we have to take head on. "We have to figure a way out of this fast because we've got a big game against Saskatchewan in Calgary. We know what we're capable of, but now we're up against a different monster. But we're going to be fine. We'll get it done." As Burris spoke to reporters, tension on the club was evident as a shoving and shouting match broke out at the back of the cramped visitors dressing room at Percival Molson Stadium, mainly involving defensive back Brandon Browner and running back Tayo Johnson, but order was quickly restored. The story line going into the game was that Montreal was vulnerable because it could afford to lose, while Calgary needed the win to stay on top of a tight West Division. But the Alouettes, perhaps looking to make a statement against the defending league champions, showed from the opening kickoff they were ready to play hard. The defence held the Stamps to only 59 yards on the ground, including 43 on 11 carries by Joffrey Reynolds, although Burris ended a run of three games with fewer than 200 yards passing with 228 on 16 completions. But Burris was also sacked twice and threw two interceptions to Jerald Brown. "The guys want to play football -- you saw that today," said coach Marc Trestman. "We want to find out what kind of team we have and the only way to do that is to play the game each week. "That's what we're encouraging each other to do -- not get caught up in anything else but preparation, work ethic, focus and then having fun playing football." As they did in a 40-27 win at Calgary in the opening week of the season, Montreal scored on the first drive of the game as Brian Bratton's 47-yard one-handed catch on the first play from scrimmage was followed six plays later by Anthony Calvillo's three-yard TD toss to Richardson. Brown's interception on Calgary's first play from scrimmage then led to a punt single by Damon Duval. Burris did not complete a pass until late in the first quarter. The Stamps moved the ball better in the second, but settled for three field goals and a single. Late in the half, a 45-yard run by Dahrran Diedrick set up another three-yard TD catch by Richardson and on Montreal's next possession, Calvillo found Richardson at the back of the end zone with a 25-yard pass. Early in the four quarter, the Stamps tried their second fake punt of the game, both direct snaps to Wes Lysack. The first one worked, but Lysack was stuffed on the next to turn the ball over on downs. With a 15-yard roughing penalty, it gave Montreal the ball on the Calgary 15. Calvillo found Hawkins with a six-yard TD pass and a 29-11 lead. Brown picked off another Burris pass on Calgary's next possession, setting up Duval's 12-yard field goal. That brought quarterback Drew Tate in for his first game action with Calgary and he turned the ball over on downs twice. Back-up Adrian McPherson mopped up for Montreal and there were shoving matches on the field as he threw into the end zone and made a play instead of kicking on a third down even though the win was out of reach for Calgary. When asked about it, Burris just said: "Well see them on November 29th." That is the date of the Grey Cup game, which this year is in Calgary. Calvillo defended his young understudy. "As a backup, Adrian's going to go out and make his reads," he said. "He has to get his work in and that's where the read took him." To underline the woes of the Calgary offence, receiver Nik Lewis was wide open in the third quarter with a clear path to the Alouettes end zone, but lost the ball in the bright sunlight and couldn't make the catch. The Stamps' top receiver was Romby Bryant, with 118 yards on six catches. Montreal tailback Avon Cobourne sat out with a groin problem, but Brandon Whitaker stepped up with 90 yards on 17 carries in his first CFL start. Calvillo threw for 289 yards on 26 receptions and no interceptions. The offensive line did not concede a sack after Calvillo went down four times last week. A problem for Montreal was the 13 penalties they took. "We probably had more penalties today than we've had in the last month," said Trestman. "We have to do a better job of that, and we will." Richardson's TDs gave him eight for the season. He led the CFL with 16 in 2008. "I'm not worried about that at all," he said. "It's a long season and we've got a lot of weapons here. As long as my teammates pick it up and make things happen, it's all good to me." Stewart's sack in the first half put him past Elfrid Payton with a Montreal team-record 53 in his career. Slotback Ben Cahoon got the eight yards he needed to pass former Roughrider Donald Narcisse for sixth place all time in career receiving yards. Narcisse had 12,366.

Saturday Oct 3, 2009 - Montreal 27 vs. Toronto 8

courtesy of cfl.ca TORONTO -- Anthony Calvillo and the Montreal Alouettes' offence weren't at their best Saturday. Thanks to Chip Cox and the defence, they didn't have to be to beat the Toronto Argonauts. Cox returned a fumble 61 yards for the touchdown in the fourth quarter to lead Montreal past Toronto 27-8 to clinch a home playoff date. Cox, who deflected a first-half Argos field goal attempt, returned Kerry Joseph's fumble untouched at 8:19 before 26,828 spectators with the Rogers Centre roof closed. Cox's TD, his second fumble return for a score this season, put Montreal ahead 24-8 and cemented the victory over an Argos squad that was shut out 25-0 the last time these two teams met Aug. 7. "Our offence is explosive and we're trying to be just as explosive," Cox said. "We (Als defensive players) are hard on ourselves and we expect to make plays." "You want to be accountable to your teammates." Cox said there was plenty of credit to go around for his decisive return. "If it wasn't for our defensive line putting pressure on the quarterback it wouldn't have happened," a modest Cox said. "I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time." Montreal (11-2) clinched a home playoff game with the win, its fifth straight against Toronto and ninth in 11 head-to-head meetings. If the Calgary Stampeders beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats later Saturday night, the Alouettes will cement top spot in the East Division, and home field for the conference final, for the second straight year. And that would create the challenge of Montreal having to stay sharp with nothing on the line over its final five regular-season games. "We're trying to get better and not stay the same," Cox said. "If we stay the same come playoff time, we'll lose." Toronto (3-10) remains firmly entrenched in the East Division basement, four points behind third-place Winnipeg . But both the Bombers and Argos are chasing the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Eskimos (both third in the West at 6-7) for the final Eastern playoff spot. If the West Division's fourth-place team has more points at season's end than the third-place finisher in the East, it will cross over and become the East Division's No. 3 playoff seed. But the league-leading Alouettes had all they could handle with the Argos , especially their defence. Calvillo finished 22-of-31 passing but for just 216 yards, was sacked four times (all in the first half) and surrendered his sixth interception of the season as Toronto did a nice job against the CFL's top-scoring offence (32.2 points per game). "They threw the whole playbook at us up front," Calvillo said. "Once we made our adjustments we were OK but we knew it would be tough to score on them because it always is." "You're always going to be excited about a win. What I was most disappointed about was we got stopped too many times in the middle of the field." Montreal didn't emerge unscathed. Tailback Avon Cobourne, who came in as the CFL's rushing leader with 1,043 yards, ran for just 38 yards on seven carries before suffering a groin injury. Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman didn't think Cobourne's injury was serious and figured there'd be plenty of time to rest Cobourne with the club's next game being Oct. 12 against Calgary . And should Montreal have clinched first in the East beforehand, Trestman would have the luxury of giving Cobourne more time to heal. "I'm just proud of our team," Trestman said. "We played through adversity and injuries and found a way to win." "It was a very difficult game in terms of the defence we were playing against . . . and it puts you in a game of chess. I don't know how to play chess which is probably why we didn't do so well offensively in the first half." For the second straight game, Argos starter Cody Pickett struggled, 7-of-17 passing for 64 yards, and was replaced by Joseph to start the second half. Before the fateful fumble, Joseph took Toronto on a smart nine-play, 65-yard drive that Jamal Robertson capped with a seven-yard TD run at 10:08 of the third, pulling Toronto to within 11-8. But it was punter Justin Medlock's 19-yard run that was the march's biggest play, putting the Argos on the Montreal 40-yard line. Overall, Toronto mustered 218 total yards offensively, including 112 yards passing, and also had three turnovers. "We have a long way to go offensively," said Argos head coach Bart Andrus, who is also the club's offensive co-ordinator. "Right now on offence we're not stepping up and making plays." Once again a questionable Andrus decision came back to bite Toronto . With Medlock punting at his goal-line, Andrus opted to let Medlock kick rather than take the safety, then kick the ball and hopefully pin Montreal deeper downfield. But the Alouettes needed two plays to march 40 yards for the TD, a 10-yard pass from Calvillo to Jamel Richardson at 9:51 of the first to make it 7-0. That would be Montreal 's lone offensive TD of the game, a testament to the tenacity of Toronto 's rugged defence. "We got pressure on their quarterback, made him scramble around," said linebacker Willie Pile. "Not many teams have done that to them this year." "But you get frustrated. Regardless of how we (defence) or special teams play, whole team has to come together to get the win." Duval finished with four field goals, two converts and a single. Medlock had a single and convert for Toronto . NOTES: Younger, receiver Tyler Scott, tackle Cliff Washburn and defensive tackle Walter Curry didn't dress for Toronto . Receiver Andrew Hawkins, quarterback Stanford Samuel, tackle Dylan Steenbergen and defensive tackle Darrell Campbell were Montreal's scratches . . . Robertson came into the game having rushed for 782 yards and is on pace to become Toronto's first 1,000-yard rusher since Michael Jenkins ran for 1,484 yards in 2001 . . . Argos receiver Brad Smith is the son of Montreal Alouettes president Larry Smith . . . Calvillo's 30-yard scramble to set up Montreal's opening TD of the game was the longest run of his CFL career.

Friday Sept. 25, Montreal 42 vs. Hamilton 8

courtesy of cfl.ca HAMILTON, Ont. -- Avon Cobourne had a career day for the Montreal Alouettes, but he gave all the credit to the men up front. "The O-line played great," said the 30-year-old West Virginia product, who rushed for 193 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns Friday as the Alouettes rolled over Hamilton 42-8, knocking the previously high-flying Tiger-Cats back down to Earth. "They made it so easy. I just had to be patient. They just made it easy. Seriously . . . Every time I got the ball there was a hole. I just picked it and tried to run away from everybody". The Alouettes (10-2) have a daunting East Division lead, now eight points ahead of second-place Hamilton (6-6) after a game that was supposed to be a measure of how far the upstart Ticats had come. Instead, Anthony Calvillo, the league's top-rated passer, and Montreal 's top defence proved too much. Before a crowd of 22,083, Hamilton suffered its first loss at Ivor Wynne Stadium since its home opener against Toronto and saw its home winning streak end at five games. Montreal dominated all three phases of the game: the offence controlled the ball for 40 minutes 26 seconds and scored on its first four possessions; the defence held the Ticats to just 168 total yards and recording six sacks; and the Alouettes had and two fumble recoveries on special teams. "We came up with the plays necessary tonight, offence, defence, and special teams," said quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who completed 25 of 36 pass attempts for 286 yards and two touchdowns. "It all starts up front. The guys up front, if they control the line of scrimmage, and can protect the quarterback and open up holes, you should have a successful day and that's what happened today." Jamel Richardson, Adrian McPherson and Kerry Watkins also scored touchdowns for the Als. Montreal kicker Damon Duval made two of three field-goal attempts, hitting from 10 and 25 yards and missing from 32. Marquay McDaniel scored Hamilton 's lone touchdown. Kicker Nick Setta did not attempt a field goal in the game and kicked a 59-yard punt single for Hamilton 's first point early in the third quarter. "We got beat in every phase. They won both lines of scrimmage, that's a good place to start," said Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. "We could have played Joe Montana today, it wouldn't have mattered. . . . They did a good job executing. They played physical and we've got to be better." Hamilton starting quarterback Quinton Porter completed four of six pass attempts for 28 yards and one interception in the first half. He was replaced on the second half by Kevin Glenn, who threw one TD pass. Glenn was then replaced by Adam Tafralis. Montreal receiver Ben Cahoon, now in his 12th season with the Als, moved into fourth spot on the CFL's all-time receptions list near the end of the first half. His 921 catches betters Don Narcisse, who had 919 catches in 13 seasons (1987-1999) with Saskatchewan . The Ticat defence had to face the league's top two offences back-to-back. Last Friday the Ticats held Henry Burris and the Calgary Stampeders to just 271 yards, allowing the Ticats to record a come-from-behind 24-17 win at home. But it was a different story this week. Montreal scored on its first four possessions of the game and had the ball for 22:16 of the first half. It wasn't until 3:30 left in the second quarter that Duval finally had to punt the ball away. Meanwhile, the Hamilton offence was facing the league's toughest defence. Montreal has given up the fewest points and the fewest yards this season. The Ticat offence was held to just 51 yards in the first half. "They just played harder than us," said Hamilton linebacker Otis Floyd. "You know, sometimes you just have those types of games. This week is our week, so hats off to them. Make no excuses. They beat us." Hamilton has been outscored by its opponents 103-44 in the first quarter this season, and they stayed true to form against Montreal , trailing 15-0 after 15 minutes. A costly turnover contributed to the lopsided early score as Porter threw interception at midfield that was returned to the Hamilton 26. Five plays later, McPherson, the Als' short-yardage quarterback, capped the drive with a one-yard TD run. The Als went into halftime up 21-0, having added two Duval field goals - the final one coming at the end of a 26-second, four-play drive to end the half. It could have been worse for Hamilton . Duval was wide left on a 32-yard attempt to begin the game, and the Ticat defence held Montreal to a field goal from first-and-goal at the five-yard line midway through the second quarter. That particular drive took the Als 85 yards on 12 plays and killed 7:11 off the clock. The Hamilton defence had contained the Als offence midway through the third, but Hamilton 's Drisan James fumbled a punt return and Montreal recovered at the Hamilton 35. That led to Watkins' 12-yard TD catch. Montreal penalties of roughing the passer and pass interference helped Hamilton move the ball down the field, ending the third with a five-yard TD pass from Glenn to McDaniel and a 28-8 score. But Cobourne broke free on Montreal 's next possession with a 42-yard rushing TD in the fourth and later added a three-yard run.

Sunday Sept. 20, 2009 - Montreal 33 vs Winnipge 14

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- It was a routine win for the Montreal Alouettes, so all the post-game attention was on the floundering Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Alouettes defence held CFL rushing leader Fred Reid to only 18 yards on 11 carries and forced four turnovers in a 33-14 victory on Sunday afternoon. Avon Cobourne led the way with two touchdowns and Damon Duval went 5-for-5 on field goals for Montreal (9-2). But the reaction by the Bombers (3-8) after their third one-sided loss in a row was to complete a trade with Calgary, sending receivers Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin to the Stampeders for a pair of young players and an exchange of draft picks. That came after starting quarterback Michael Bishop was pulled near the end of the first half for newcomer Casey Bramlet, the fifth pivot they've used this season. He went 1-for-8 with an interception and Bishop went back in for the fourth quarter. Together, they completed only 10 passes for 158 yards, while compiling a mere 162 yards of net offence, compared to 460 for Montreal. "Our quarterbacks are Russell Stover's chocolates right now - you never know quite what you're going to get," said Winnipeg coach Mike Kelly. "We were doing things in the first quarter, we were battling, but then things got away from us. "I said 'Let's put Casey in and see what he can do.' He was able to finish out the first half and make the exchange, but we just didn't get anything going in the third quarter, so it was time to go back to Michael Bishop and see if he could do something." In his second play back, Bishop hit Adarius Bowman for a 55-yard touchdown to make it a 27-14 game at 1:12 of the fourth quarter, but then had two passes picked off to kill any idea of a comeback. It appears that Bishop will start again when the Bombers play host to Toronto on Saturday, but he hardly has a lock on the job just yet. "There's that old song 'Love The One You're With', and we'll just keep working at it and trying to be better and put him in position to be successful," said Kelly. "There's been a lot of two-quarterback systems. "You try to go with someone who has got a hot hand and can function, but right now, we're struggling at the quarterback position and just being able to function is a challenge sometimes. You just go with your gut and see if you can get going." Some have questioned Kelly's own job security, and he knows the heat will be on when the team returns to Winnipeg. "I couldn't care less about that," he said. "We know we're doing the right things. "Everybody wants to speculate and sensationalize things, but in our locker-room we know we're doing everything we can. We understand our shortcomings and we just need to keep working at it." The Bombers were held to fewer than 15 points for the fourth time in five games and the seventh time this season. Bishop was not about to make waves at being pulled from the game. "They made the call," he said. "I came to the sideline and they told me I was out. "I didn't know what was going on, but you have to respect what they call. I didn't know if I'd go back in, but I did and we had a spark. That's all I can do - try to make it happen when I'm in. Early on, we had a couple of drops, but I thought I was moving the ball against a good defence." So good, in fact, that Bishop said Montreal seemed to know what the Bombers would do in advance. They certainly had Reid cornered. He needed only 92 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, thanks partly to a 260-yard game last month against B.C., but was stopped up near the line of scrimmage on nearly every carry. "It was a pretty good performance for the defence and the whole team," said Montreal defensive back Davis Sanchez. "We minimized big plays, stopped the run, got some turnovers - all the things you're supposed to do on a defence." The Bombers started strong, forcing the Alouettes to turn the ball over on downs on the first drive of the game. The good field position contributed to the first score, as a 33-yard reception by new slotback Dudley Guice set up a four-yard TD run by Reid at 6:09. A single and Duval's 27-yard field goal, which followed Bishop's fumble at the 25, got Montreal back into it and on their next drive Calvillo found Cobourne up the middle for a 20-yard pass and run TD at the end of the first quarter. A seven-play drive late in the half was capped by Cobourne's one-yard for his 11th TD of the season. A single and another field goal made it 22-7 at the intermission. Bramlet connected with Guice for a first down when he came in, but then was intercepted by Billy Parker on his next throw. After Bowman's TD, Montreal answered back with a Duval field goal and then Duval got another after Jerald Brown picked off a Bishop pass and ran it to the Winnipeg six. Bombers receiver Terrence Edwards was knocked out by a hit by Shea Emry on the play, but got up and was able to walk off. Bishop was picked off again when a pass over the middle went through a receiver's hands right to linebacker Diamond Ferri. Backup Adrian McPherson took over and ran out the final two minutes of play. It was the seventh time Montreal's league-best defence held a team to fewer than 20 points, including their 39-12 win in Winnipeg on Aug. 14. They face a key test next week, playing on a short week in Hamilton on Friday night. Ben Cahoon caught a pass in a 120th consecutive game, passing former Edmonton Eskimo Craig Ellis for third place all time behind Donald Narcisse (216) and Tony Gabriel (137). Cahoon, who had caught only one pass in each of Montreal's last two games, had six for 85 yards. Anthony Calvillo completed 28 passes for 338 yards. After committing 14 turnovers in a pair of losses to Saskatchewan, the Bombers gave up three interceptions and a fumble. Montreal turned the ball over only once on downs. Receiver Brock Ralph (hip) sat out for Winnipeg.

Sunday Sept. 13, 2009 - Montreal 28 - BC 24

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- It may have been poetic justice for the Montreal Alouettes that Avon Cobourne ran in the winning touchdown in the final minute to defeat the B.C. Lions. But the feeling was more of relief than vindication as the error-prone Alouettes blew a lead in a fourth quarter but came back to defeat the Lions 28-24 on Sunday afternoon. That avenged a 19-12 loss in Vancouver last week in which a last-minute Cobourne TD was nullified when officials wrongly made them re-run the play because they thought the game clock had not been reset. The Alouettes appealed, the CFL admitted the officials goofed, but the B.C. win stayed on the books. "It really wasn't a revenge thing for me," said Cobourne, after scoring the game-winning TD on a 12-yard run with 50 seconds left to play. "I felt we lost the game last week on plays before that, not on that play. "I don't know what would have happened at the end of that game anyway. All that matters is this game here and we got the win." Still, as he crossed the goal-line, Cobourne checked to see if any flags had been thrown. "I wasn't too sure until I didn't see anything," he said. "(Jamel) Richardson was blocking and then he let go. I thought they might have called something because they almost could have." The Alouettes looked to be going down to a second straight defeat and a first at home this season when turnovers led to B.C. touchdowns by O'Neil Wilson and Ryan Grice-Mullen before Geroy Simon put the Lions ahead mid-way through the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD catch. On their final drive, the Alouettes were second-and-nine on their own 29 when Anthony Calvillo found Kerry Watkins wide open for a 56-yard completion to set up Cobourne's winning run and send a previously grumpy sellout crowd of 20,202 home happy. "I thought the big thing was making that key play on second down," said B.C. coach Wally Buono. "I think if we could have stopped them there, the game would have been ours." The loss denied Buono a chance to become the winningest coach in CFL history. He remains tied with Don Matthews, both having 231 career victories. His next chance to get it is Saturday when the Lions play host to the Toronto Argonauts "You have to give Montreal credit," he said. "They got over their appeal, they played hard and it was a back-and-forth game. "I guess the thing you regret is that we didn't do more, especially in the first quarter." Montreal improved to 8-2 while B.C. dropped to 4-6. Despite the record, the Lions who started the season 1-4 look to be a much tougher team to play as the second half of the season began. "You get no solace out of losing," Buono said. "We're 4-6. I know we're a good 4-6 team, but that's not something to be real proud of, right?" Calvillo and Jamel Richardson also had TDs for Montreal, which looked in control of the game until two mistakes in the second half resulted in 14 points for the Lions. With B.C. trailing 13-3 in the opening minute of the second half, Aaron Hunt sacked Calvillo and caused a fumble, which was recovered at the 19-yard line by Jeremy Gibbs. On the Lions' next play, Jackson hit O'Neill in the end zone to make it a three-point game. Montreal marched back in eight plays and Calvillo ran the ball in from the nine-yard line. The next two Lions possessions ended in turnovers - an interception in his first CFL start by De'Audra Dix and a turnover on downs - but Montreal was not able to make them count. Then Larry Taylor dropped a punt and B.C.'s Jason Arakgi recovered at the Montreal 17-yard line. Three plays later, Grice-Mullen scored on a one-yard run at 3:37 of the fourth. On their next possession, Jarious Jackson hit Simon with a 43-yard TD pass to put the Lions in front for the first time at 7:44. Montreal got a punt single back, then stunned the home crowd with their last-minute comeback. "This game had nothing to do with vindication or getting our just desserts," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman. "This was a team that got off the plane and worked very hard this week. "They played hard and we played hard and we were fortunate enough to win." Calvillo completed 29 passes for 334 yards, and uncharacteristically ran the ball eight times for a team-leading 43 yards, taking a couple of hits that made Trestman wince on the sidelines. His favourite target was Richardson, who caught 11 passes for 103 yards while Watkins had 133 on five catches. B.C. tailback Martell Mallet, who had a team-record 213 rushing yards last week, was held to 66 on 14 carries. Jackson completed 16 passes for 228 yards, including 128 yards on seven catches by Simon. The first 23 minutes of play were a succession of dropped passes and other mistakes. Calvillo went downfield on his first play from scrimmage and was picked off by Dante Marsh. On Montreal's next possession, the offence gave the ball up on downs at the B.C. 50-yard line. But the Lions also laboured to move the ball. After Rolly Lumbala let a sure touchdown slip through his fingers, Sean Whyte missed a 24-yard field goal try that went off the upright. Calvillo got his confidence back in the second as he completed five straight passes, capped by a two-yard TD pass to Richardson.

Friday Sept.4,2009 - Montreal 12 @ BC 19

courtesy of cfl.ca VANCOUVER -- Quarterback Jarious Jackson admitted he had no idea what was going on and defensive tackle Aaron Hunt called it a crazy ending. There was a lot of confusion after the B.C. Lions wild 19-12 win over the Montreal Alouettes Friday night. But what remained clear was the clutch running of tailback Martell Mallett, the big plays from the Lions defence, and the fact Wally Buono moved into a tie for most wins as a CFL coach. Mallett rushed for a franchise record 213 yards on 21 carries. He set up Emmanuel Arceneaux's winning touchdown catch with a 54-yard romp, and caught a touchdown himself. "The offensive line did a good job," said Mallett. "I just ran. "Coach put us in the right position. All we had to do was execute. The sky is the limit when you do that." The win gives Buono, the Lions coach and general manager, 231 career victories. That ties him with Don Matthews for all-time CFL victories. He can set the record when the Lions and Alouettes meet again next Sunday. "I'm happy with the fact that I tied it," said Buono, who has won four Grey Cups in his 19 seasons coaching with Calgary and B.C. "I've always had a lot of respect for Don Matthews and I've always had a lot of respect for this league. "The satisfaction for me, honestly, is the fact the guys lined up and won." The game had a wild finish that left many in the crowd of 27,199 going home scratching their heads. Jarious Jackson tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Arceneaux to give the Lions the lead with less than 2:30 left. The Alouettes refused to quit and marched the ball down to the B.C. eight-yard line. Facing a third-and-one, Montreal gambled. The Lions looked to have stopped them short, but the referee said B.C. had called a time out before the play started. On the next play, Avon Cobourne ran around the left side for an apparent touchdown. There was a flag on the field, and the referee ruled the play would not stand because not enough time had been put back on the clock after the time-out call. On Montreal's third try, Cobourne was stopped short and the ball was turned over on downs. "I had no idea what was going on," said Jackson, who completed 17-of-30 passes for 217 yards and the two touchdowns. "I was sitting on the bench wishing the defence would stop them." Hunt could only laugh afterwards. "It was crazy," he said. "I still don't know what the penalty was. It worked out for us." Montreal coach Marc Trestman wasn't smiling. Asked if he could explain the call on the field, Trestman said: "I will let the league take care of it." The loss dropped Montreal to 7-2 and continued the Alouettes' frustration in Vancouver. Montreal's last win at B.C. Place Stadium was Aug. 31, 2000. "Every time we come here, we think we're a better football team," said Montreal cornerback Davis Sanchez. "But they seem to get us here. It's frustrating but they played a good game." The win improved B.C.'s record to 4-5 and moved them into a tie with Saskatchewan and Calgary for second place in the CFL West. "We knew going in it was going to be a heavyweight fight," said Jackson. "We knew they are a good team, "We were smart with the football. We had a couple of turnovers but, overall, we played well and kept fighting and being resilient, no matter what the situation was." The Lions defence had something to prove after being humiliated in giving up almost 400 rushing yards in B.C.'s 37-10 home loss to Winnipeg. Montreal, who leads league in scoring, couldn't manage an offensive touchdown. The Lions rush gave quarterback Anthony Calvillo fits, sacking him three times and hurrying other throws. Slotback Ben Cahoon was limited to one catch. "I missed a few guys on some big plays, missed a couple of reads, and it cost us the game," said Calvillo, who competed 18-of-29 passes for 294 yards. The Alouettes scored the game's first touchdown when a third-down snap sailed over punter Sean Whyte's head. Slotback Eric Deslauriers recovered and ran 34 yards for the touchdown. The Lions responded with some hard running from Mallett, a key catch from Paris Jackson and got lucky with a pass interference call which helped set up a touchdown. Mallett started the drive by ripping off a 22-yard run, then Paris Jackson hauled in a 23-yard pass. On the next play Montreal defensive back Billy Parker was called for pass interference, setting up the Lions on the Montreal five. Mallett scored on the next play on a five-yard pass. The game featured some big plays and questionable calls by the officials. Early in the fourth quarter a Lion drive stalled after Mallett fumbled on the Montreal eight-yard line. At first the referees ruled B.C. ball because the play was dead. But upon review it was ruled Mallett's knee was not down when he coughed up the football. The Lions had a chance to take the lead with 5:37 left but Mark Estelle got his hand on Whyte's 41-yard field-goal attempt. The Als took over the ball deep in their own end because of an objectionable conduct call against Chip Cox. Unable to move the ball, and facing a punt out of their own end-zone, the Als conceded a safety to tie the game 12-12. Trestman said the Alouettes were the architects of their own demise. "We didn't play well on any side of the ball, we didn't play our best," he said. "It was a game where no one play, no one official's call, determined the result of anything. "We had plenty of opportunities to play better and we didn't play well enough to win." Notes: Mallett broke the Lions single-game rushing record of 212 yards set by Sean Millington in a Aug. 15, 1997, game against Saskatchewan. ...Buck Pierce, who is recovering from concussion-like symptoms, dressed as the Lions third quarterback. ...B.C.'s first game in Canadian football was a 22-0 loss to Montreal in a Aug. 11, 1954, pre-season game.

Friday Aug.21, 2009 - Montreal 34 vs. Saskatchewan 25

MONTREAL -- Rookie Chris Leak was thrust into a third-and-goal situation in a close game with a chance to shine or to fail miserably - and the former University of Florida star passed the test easily. The Alouettes' third-string quarterback faked a handoff to Avon Cobourne, rolled right and hit Kerry Watkins for a one-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for what turned out to be the winning points in Montreal's tense 34-25 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night. It was the first play of Leak's CFL career. "It's a about trust - that's the number one thing," said Leak, who was in the game because second stringer Adrian McPherson, who usually spells starter Anthony Calvillo in short yardage situations, was out with an injury. "I'm just happy for the opportunity to earn the trust of the coaches and my teammates." It was an important touchdown for a team that, despite its 7-1 record, has had trouble finishing drives. Calvillo added TD tosses to Cobourne and Ben Cahoon, while Larry Taylor had a 68-yard punt return touchdown for Montreal, which saw safety Mathieu Proulx collect his third and fourth interceptions of the season and Chip Cox get a key pick midway through the fourth quarter off Darian Durant. Montreal swept its two-game season series with Saskatchewan, including a 43-10 win in Regina on July 18. Rob Bagg and Gerran Walker had TD catches and Hugh Charles ran one in for the Roughriders (4-4), who have only two wins in their last 11 visits to Montreal. Durant blamed himself for the loss, as the three interceptions and a failure to score on three attempts from the Montreal one-yard line late in first quarter looked to be the difference in a game that otherwise had a statistical edge for Saskatchewan. Durant competed 19 passes for 326 yards, while league passing leader Calvillo was held to 170 on 19 throws. The Alouettes went into the game as the only club that allowed opponents fewer than 300 yards of net offence per game, but gave up an even 400 to the Riders. "It's a team game and the fault doesn't lie with any individual," said Riders coach Ken Miller. "Darian played probably his best. "He turned the ball over three times, but he made plays with his feet and was a leader for us. I'm really proud of the way the men battled, but our team still needs to be tuned up some." Durant's favourite target was Weston Dressler, who caught eight balls for 179 yards. The Saskatchewan defence also sacked Calvillo four times and knocked down a few passes at the line. Montreal responded by running the ball, and Cobourne picked up 101 yards on 19 carries. "We were in it until the end," said Dressler. "I think we showed we can complete with the best team in the league and I think we just have to keep working at it. We're really close to being a great football team." Both teams dressed in retro uniforms, as Calvillo played his 200th game with the Alouettes in the red-and-white outfits they wore when they were a mediocre team in the 1960s. Montreal jumped out to a 8-0 lead in the opening 5:20 on a punt single by Damon Duval and Taylor's TD on a 68-yard punt return, in which he burst up the middle before cutting to the right and outrunning his pursuers. After the Montreal defence stuffed the 'Riders at the one, the Saskatchewan D forced the home side to concede a safety. Then Durant found Bagg wide open for a 26-yard TD 3:33 into the second quarter. Jamie Boreham got a single on the ensuing kickoff for a 10-9 lead. Duval struck back with an 18-yard field goal, but Durant found Walker for a 43-yard TD catch with 2:34 left in the half. A final drive saw Calvillo hit Cahoon for his first TD of the season from the nine at 14:26 for a 19-17 half time lead. It was Cahoon's 117th straight game with at least one reception, the fourth longest streak all-time in the CFL. He ended up with five catches for 50 yards. Leak's toss to Watkins was the only score of the third quarter. The Roughriders have been outscored 78-8 in the third period this season. Cox stepped in front of Durant's pass intended for Dressler to put Montreal on the Roughriders 22. Four plays later, Calvillo found Cobourne for a 10-yard pass-and run score with 6:23 left to play. A 26-yard toss to Dressler put Saskatchewan on the Montreal four, and Durant then pitched out to Charles for a TD. Chris Getzlaf caught the two-point conversion after some smart scrambling by Durant to make it an eight-point game with 4:07 left to play. A late drive by the 'Riders ended on a turnover on downs at midfield and Montreal responded with a punt single. Both teams are idle next week. Montreal rush end Anwar Stewart had a sack, which left him two short of Elfrid Payton's team record of 52 in his career. "I should have had about four sacks today," he said. "But it's a blessing just to be here for eight years. It's all about us getting after the quarterback." The Alouettes sold out 20,202-seat Percival Molson Stadium for a 90th straight game. The Roughriders were without slotback Andy Fantuz, who has a hamstring injury. Montreal tackle Josh Bourke left the game in the first half with an apparent left leg injury.

Saturday August 15,2009 - Montreal 39 @ Winnigeg 12

courtesy of cfl.ca WINNIPEG -- It was a feat Anthony Calvillo can't remember making in his 16-year CFL career. Three consecutive passes the Montreal Alouettes quarterback threw in the first half of his team's 39-12 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Saturday night ended in touchdowns. "Somebody mentioned that to me out there," said Calvillo, who threw four TD passes in the game. "I didn't realize that and they asked me if it's ever been done or if I'd done it before and I can't recall." The three straight TDs were notched by S.J. Green, Kerry Watkins and Kerry Carter, while Jamal Richardson caught another in the third quarter. Damon Duval hit field goals from 23, 14 and 20 yards and Winnipeg punter Mike Renaud conceded a safety for Montreal's other points. The victory bumped the Alouettes' record to a CFL-leading 6-1 while the offensively challenged Bombers drop to 2-5. Winnipeg got its points off four Alexis Serna field goals from 31, 40, 44 and 30 yards. He missed from 46 in front of 25,053 fans at Canad Inns Stadium. Montreal scored 24 points off four Winnipeg turnovers. "Our defence put us on the short field throughout the night and we capitalized on the turnovers," said Calvillo, the league's top-rated pivot. Calvillo completed 23 of 37 pass attempts for 261 yards, four TDs and two interceptions. He went into the game with seven TDs and two interceptions. "We have a lot of work to do," Calvillo said. "We had a few dropped passes, a few misreads by myself and two turnovers. "We're always looking to improve and we definitely have to improve on offence." Calvillo's three straight TD tosses began late in the first quarter. Following a fumble by Winnipeg running back Yvenson Bernard on a kickoff return, Calvillo capped a five-play, 31-yard drive with a 14-yard TD pass to Green at 11:53 to make it 10-3. After Serna notched his 40-yarder 13 seconds into the second quarter, Calvillo stepped to the line and tossed a pass to Watkins that he turned into a 71-yard catch-and-run TD at the 51-second mark. On the next series, Winnipeg quarterback Michael Bishop was intercepted by safety Matthieu Proulx and Calvillo used his first pass to connect with Carter for a 25-yard TD at 2:02 that upped the score 24-6. "It's a great accomplishment, but something we don't keep track of," Watkins said of Calvillo's triple TD treat. Watkins led all receivers with five catches for 103 yards. His touchdown was his fourth of the season. "It's an honour," Watkins said of having Calvillo for a quarterback. "That's a living legend. I've been so fortunate to play my whole (six-year) career with him." Montreal led 26-9 at halftime. Bishop was 13-of-35 for 155 yards and two interceptions in his third game with his new team. Bombers head coach Mike Kelly, who's also the team's offensive co-ordinator, gritted his teeth when asked if it was time he tinkered with his scheme. "There's nothing wrong with this scheme," Kelly said. "I've seen this scheme work 1,000 times . . . "If you want to get right down to it, we have to block when we need to block and catch when we need to catch and throw to the right people. "And right now we're not doing those things so we'll continue to look at it." The game had been seen by some Bombers as a measuring stick. "Let's put it this way, we were in a good enough dogfight without as many critical errors as we made ourselves," Winnipeg defensive tackle Doug Brown said. "You play a team of this calibre, the last thing you need to do is dig yourself your own hole with penalties and turnovers and missed tackles and not executing our assignments and so on and so forth." Winnipeg only scored three points off the Als' two turnovers: Serna's 44-yarder in the second quarter after Keyuo Craver picked off Calvillo for the first time. Jonathan Hefney got the second interception in the third quarter, but what followed was an example of how the Bombers' night played out. Winnipeg took over at its own 18-yard line, but Bishop fumbled the ball on a run and it was recovered by Alouettes linebacker Diamond Ferri. Calvillo quickly made amends, throwing his next pass to Richardson for an eight-yard TD at 7:26. Winnipeg running back Fred Reid went into the game with a league-high 486 yards rushing, one yard ahead of Montreal's Avon Cobourne. Reid finished the night with 10 carries for 49 yards and Cobourne rushed 11 times for 49 yards.

Friday, Aug 7, 2009 - Toronto 0 @ Montreal 25

MONTREAL -- Rush end Anwar Stewart said the Montreal Alouettes' defence didn't let itself think about shutting out the Toronto Argonauts, even as time wound down on a 25-0 victory on Friday night. The Alouettes sacked quarterbacks Kerry Joseph and Cody Pickett a total of seven times, held tailback Jamal Robertson to 20 yards on six carries and gave up only 126 yards in net offence to the struggling Argonauts attack, but still the zero didn't sink in until it was over. "We just wanted to play hard," Stewart said after the Alouettes posted their first shutout in 33 years. "We knew that if we came out after Joseph and stopped the run we had a chance to do good things. "We didn't really think about the goose-egg, but you know what? We'll take it. It's a great bounce-back from last week and we're proud of what we did. Last week we didn't touch (Eskimos quarterback) Ricky Ray and this week, we really got at them and showed what we can do." The 5-1 Alouettes were coming off their only loss of the season last week in Edmonton and made up for it in spades. Defensive tackle Eric Wilson scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard catch from backup quarterback Adrian McPherson and tailback Avon Cobourne ran in two scores in the thorough whipping of the East Division-rival Argonauts, who are now 2-4. The sellout crowd of 20,202 at Percival Molson Stadium had little to cheer for during long stretches of a mostly uneventful game other than the defence, which blanked an opponent for the first time since Montreal beat Toronto 28-0 at Olympic Stadium on September 5, 1976. The Argonauts were shut out for the first time since losing 31-0 at home to Calgary on Sept. 13, 1992. The Argonauts have scored only two TDs and 40 points in their last four games. Their best chance came late in the fourth quarter, when Pickett hit Cory Rodgers on the Montreal six-yard line, but they could not get it in the end zone on three tries -- the last a pass that dropped behind receiver Chad Lucas, giving Montreal a turnover on downs. Pickett replaced Joseph early in the fourth quarter, but coach Bart Andrus said it was not due to dissatisfaction with his starter. "He had been hit in the head on the previous series and our trainer was a little concerned," Andrus said. "He had something on the side of his head. "I didn't want to lose him for the next two weeks with another hit. And I wanted to see how Cody looked in a game situation because I haven't seen him, other than in the pre-season." Joseph completed seven passes for 61 yards, while Pickett, who Andrus said did "an admirable job," had seven completions for 83 yards. On the other side, Anthony Calvillo piled up 395 yards on 35 completions. "We're not as good a football team as they are right now," added Andrus. "We basically need to get to that level and we're not there now in a lot of areas. "We have some issues up front. We need to get better at protecting our quarterbacks. To me, it's a blocking situation that needs to be corrected. We're trying different combinations." Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon caught eight passes for 103 yards to put him past the 12,000 mark in career receiving yards. He also passed former Argonaut Derrell Mitchell for seventh place all-time in that category. Cahoon, never the fastest receiver, called his career "a classic tortoise-and-the-hare story," but otherwise preferred to talk about the team's victory. "It's just awesome," he said. "I don't think it will affect anything. It was just a great night for us." The Alouettes had been held to a pair of Damon Duval singles until Calvillo closed the first half by completing 13 straight passes to put Montreal ahead 16-0. Calvillo was 8-for-8 to set up Cobourne's TD on a one-yard run at 11:01 of the second quarter. He was 5-for-5 on Montreal's next possession, plus a pass interference call on the Argos' Willie Middlebrooks that gave them the ball on the one. McPherson went into the game, rolled right and found Wilson, who had lined up at fullback, in the end zone on the final play of the half. After a scoreless third quarter, Calvillo hit Kerry Watkins with a 44-yard pass to the Toronto one and Cobourne took it over for his seventh TD of the season. The first quarter saw each team give the ball away twice, once each on downs, and the only scoring was on Duval's 70-yard punt into the end zone. A drive to start the second quarter stalled at the Toronto 18, but Duval's field goal attempt went wide left for another single. Jermain McElveen had three sacks for Montreal, Stewart had two, while John Bowman and Ramon Guzman each had one. At the end of the game, Bowman got into a scuffle with former Alouette Jeff Keeping, perhaps to give the teams something to remember for the next time they meet Oct. 3 in Toronto. "That's what it's about -- we're rivals and we know every game is going to be tough," said Stewart. "They're a good team, but tonight was our turn." It was the eighth shutout in Alouettes history and their third over the Argos.

Thursday July 30, 2009 - Montreal 19 @ Edmonton 33

courtesy of cfl.ca EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Eskimos want to show their recent improved play isn't a fluke. A convincing win over the top team in the CFL is a pretty good start. Fred Stamps reeled in a pair of touchdown passes as the Eskimos beat Montreal 33-19, handing the Alouettes their first loss of the season. It was the second win in a row for the Eskimos (3-2), who avenged a 50-16 drubbing in Week 2 in Montreal and moved into first place in the West Division. "It was a big win for us, no question," Stamps said. "We had a lot of new guys but it feels like our team is starting to come together now, starting to jell." Edmonton head coach Richie Hall said he was glad to see his team build on last week's win over Saskatchewan, where the Eskimos came back from 22-0 to defeat the Roughriders 38-33. "We'd like to think last week was a big stepping stone forward for our team," he said. "We wanted to prove that wasn't a fluke. It was important that we came back and played well two games in a row." Plagued by turnovers early in the season, the Eskimos have done a better job taking care of the ball in their last two wins. "When we got out and take care of what we are supposed to take care of individually where everybody is doing what they are supposed to do, we're a solid football team," Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray said. "If we go out and make mistakes like we did in the first three games, we are an average football team. The last couple weeks have been more like it." Montreal, which had allowed a combined 61 points in their first four outings, dropped to 4-1. The Alouettes are still safely in first in the East with a four-point lead over Toronto and Hamilton. "You have to give them credit defensively," said Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo. "They did a good job staying back, letting us catch the ball underneath and then making the tackle. They pretty much forced us to try and go mistake-free. "It's never fun losing. We are going to try and learn from this and bounce back in our next game." Montreal efficiently marched the ball up the field on its first two possessions, but Edmonton held them to a pair of Damon Duval field goals. "When you look back at it we could have made a really big dent early in the game, on the road and taken the crowd of it right there," Calvillo said. "But it just wasn't there. It was a couple early mistakes that cost us." Eskimos kicker Noel Prefontaine responded with a field goal of his own and the Alouettes held a 6-3 lead after the opening quarter. Edmonton made it a one-point game in the sluggish start to the contest when Montreal conceded a safety. The Eskimos finally had their first significant score with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter. Quarterback Ricky Ray eluded some pressure and dumped the ball off to Calvin McCarty for a five-yard touchdown and Edmonton took a 12-6 lead. Duvall chipped in another field goal from 21 yards late in the quarter to cut Edmonton's lead to 12-9 at the half. The Eskimos came out strong to start the third quarter with a long 88-yard drive, finished off by a 28-yard toss from Ray to Stamps in the end zone for a 10-point edge that stood up heading into the fourth quarter. Edmonton extended its lead early in the fourth after another solid drive culminated in a one-yard plunge by Ray to put the Esks ahead 26-9. Montreal recorded its first touchdown of the game with 7:40 to play after a 39-yard punt return by Larry Taylor eventually led to a one-yard TD run by Avon Cobourne to cut the score to 26-16. The Eskimos looked like they were going to restore their lead after a 65-yard kick return from Arkee Whitlock, but Ray was picked off at the Alouettes 15 by Jerald Brown. A 31-yard field goal by Duval to cut the lead to a converted touchdown with three and a half minutes to play. However the Eskimos rebounded under pressure as Ray was able to hit a wide-open Stamps for a 48-yard TD pass with two minutes remaining to put Edmonton back ahead with a comfortable margin. The Als return home to host Toronto next Friday while the Eskimos don't suit up again until next Saturday in Hamilton. Notes: Calvillo easily recorded the 34 passing yards he needed to join Damon Allen as the only pivots in CFL history to pass for 60,000 yards in their careers... It was also a game of note for Ray, making his 100th start for the Esks. His record in the first 99 was 55-43-1 with a solid home record of 35-14-1 Montreal came into the game having only allowed one quarterback all season. It was by Eskimo Eric Taylor. However Edmonton's Dario Romero added two more in the second half Edmonton veteran offensive lineman John Comiskey returned from knee surgery to play his first game of the season Edmonton has yet to record a defensive interception this season. After four games last year they had managed seven.

Thursday July 23, 2009 - Montreal 21 vs. Hamilton 8

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes remain undefeated, but now they know they have a dangerous rival in the CFL East Division in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Anthony Calvillo passed for 404 yards with touchdown tosses to Jamel Richardson and Brian Bratton to lead the Alouettes to a 21-8 victory over the Tiger-Cats that was closer than the score indicated on Thursday night. Damon Duval added two field goals and single for Montreal (4-0), which laboured to score for the first time this season after averaging 44.3 points per game through their first three contests. "We knew there'd be resistance tonight," Montreal coach Marc Trestman said. "Everyone has this picture of how things are going to turn out, but the fact is you have to play the game and this was a highly competitive game." The TD passes gave Calvilllo 335 in his career, moving past Saskatchewan great Ron Lancaster into second place all-time behind Damon Allen, who had 394 in 23 seasons. His 48-yard TD toss to Richardson in the second quarter got the milestone and earned a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 20,202. Nick Setta had two early field goals for Hamilton (2-2), which was held to only a safety in the fourth quarter by a Montreal defence that has allowed only 61 points in four games. The Ticats, who won only three games all of last season, wasted a chance to tie Montreal for first in the division, but showed that big wins in the early season over British Columbia and Winnipeg were no flukes. "We know we're a good team -- that's one thing we can take from this," said Ticats quarterback Quinton Porter. For a second week in a row, Kevin Glenn relieved Porter in the second half and had more success than the starter in moving the ball forward although, unlike a week ago against Winnipeg, failed to score any TDs and pull off a comeback win. "They get good pressure on the quarterback and they play a tight man-to-man (on pass coverage)," said Porter. "That's something we have to get better at." Porter was pulled after his bomb intended for Anthony Davis in the third quarter was picked off by safety Etienne Boulay. Coach Marcel Bellefeuille said he and his staff will review film of the game and decide early next week whether Porter or Glenn will start a home game July 31 against British Columbia. Together, they completed 24 passes for a healthy 353 yards. Porter had 155 passing yards and Glenn had 198. "I don't think you'll see anything horrible on the tape, but that interception I threw was my fault," added Porter. "I lost the safety and threw it right to him, so that's something I've got to correct. "If I play, I'll be the guy out there and if not, I'll be rooting Kevin on." The Ticats have not won in Montreal in 10 games since a 29-26 victory on Oct. 20, 2002, but Porter said "we'll have a few more chances to play them and we have a good chance of beating them. At least we know we were in the game." Bellefeuille added: "We came out here to try to win a game and we didn't do that. That's the bottom line. We're not out here to get respect, we're here to win a game." The Tiger-Cats were the first team to score first against Montreal this season and led 6-0 early in the second quarter on Setta field goals of 41 and 15 yards before the Alouettes offence caught fire. Calvillo hit Richardson for a 48-yard TD pass on a four-play 82-yard drive 3:57 into the second quarter, then capped a three-play 65-yard march with an 18-yard pass and run TD to Bratton. Duval added a single and a 47-yard field goal to put the home side up 18-6 at half time. Hamilton's best chance in the half came early in the second quarter, when Preachae Rodriguez managed to keep one foot in bounds for a 47-yard play to the Montreal seven, but the Ticats settled for a field goal. Boulay, playing after Mathieu Proulx was injured, intercepted a Porter pass at the Montreal 12, but a time-consuming 14-play drive stalled when Calvillo's pass was picked off by Dennis Haley at the Hamilton three. With Glenn in the pocket, Rodriguez's lunging 28-yard reception helped Hamilton get to the Montreal one, but a run was stopped and Robert Pavlovic couldn't hang onto a pass on third down in the end zone. However, the field position helped force Duval to concede a safety with 5:28 left to play. Montreal took a penalty on the play and had to kick off from its own 10, but the defence came up big and forced Hamilton to turn the ball over on downs again. "We turned the ball over on downs early, we had an interception and those are things that in a close game are going to come back and hurt us," said Calvillo. "We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. "I feel we haven't improved in that area -- leaving points on the field." Trestman said Proulx suffered a hip pointer but may be ready to play next Thursday at Edmonton.

Saturday July 18, 2009 - Montreal 43 vs. Saskatchewan 10

courtesy of cfl.ca REGINA -- Anthony Calvillo's two touchdown passes put him in some distinguished company Saturday. Calvillo's passes moved him into a second-place tie on the all-time list as the Montreal Alouettes dismantled the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders 43-10 to remain the CFL's lone unbeaten team. The two TD strikes boosted Calvillo's career total to 333, leaving him tied with the late Ron Lancaster, who died last year and played for Saskatchewan for the vast majority of his career. Damon Allen, who retired following the 2007 campaign after 23 CFL seasons, leads the way with 394 touchdown tosses. Calvillo finished the 24-of-34 passing for 281 yards and the two touchdowns. After taking a 14-8 half-time lead, Montreal (3-0) broke the game open in the second half, outscoring Saskatchewan (2-1) by a 29-2 margin. Calvillo threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Kerry Watkins at 3:52 of the third quarter before Avon Cobourne cemented the victory with a seven-yard TD run at 8:55 that put Montreal ahead 29-8. Cobourne, who rushed for 145 yards and two TDs, became the first running back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Riders this season. "It wasn't me. It was my teammates," said Cobourne. "I think I do have the best O-line in the league and they make it easy for me." The four-year veteran played a large role in the Alouettes' second-half rebound. His work on getting the ground game going helped Montreal sustain long drives. The Als, who lost three fumbles in the first half, also stopped turning the ball over to ease the pressure on the defence, which had a solid performance. "Our defence is ridiculous. I mean, number one in the league," said Cobourne. "The way we ended last year, they just stayed on a roll. Six turnovers. Countless two and outs. They pretty much kept the offence in the game because we started off way too slow." Saskatchewan managed just 149 yards of offence behind starting quarterback Darian Durant, who was pulled midway through the fourth quarter for Steven Jyles, and scored all of their eight first-half points off three Montreal turnovers. The Roughriders proved to be their own worst enemy with six turnovers, including four in the first half. "They're a great defence and they kind of took away some things we wanted to do, but at the same time we hurt ourselves," said Durant, who finished 10-of-20 passing for 112 yards and an interception. "We beat ourselves today." Ben Cahoon had a team-high seven catches for 86 yards for Montreal, including a stellar grab between two Saskatchewan defenders. Andy Fantuz led the Riders with four catches for 60 yards for the Riders. Kerry Carter had Montreal's other touchdown. Damon Duval had four field goals, four converts and three singles. "We had a problem with giving up penalties," said Riders head coach Ken Miller. "We take a lot of pride in ball security. We didn't do that today. We take a lot of pride in not giving up big plays and making some ourselves and that ratio. We made some big plays but we gave up some big plays as well. "On the other hand, I want to give credit to (Montreal) because they played well and when it counted they were able to score points." Wes Cates scored Saskatchewan's lone touchdown. Luca Congi booted the convert while Jamie Boreham added a single. The other points came on a fourth-quarter safety. Cates finished with just 34 yards rushing on nine carries in his season debut for Saskatchewan.

Thursday July 9, 2009 - Montreal 50 vs. Edmonton 16

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- S.J. Green has spent two years biding his time on the Alouettes practice squad, waiting for a chance to make his mark. On Thursday night in Montreal's home opener, he did just that. Green's touchdown catch triggered a 31-point fourth quarter explosion that gave the Alouettes a 50-16 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in front of a sellout crowd of 20,202 at Percival Molson Stadium. Green, who finished with five catches for 113 yard, was starting in place of Alouettes star slotback Jamel Richardson, out with an injured shoulder. "It was very frustrating, a very humbling experience for me having to sit and wait two years on the practice squad knowing that I could play and contribute," said Green, who recently turned down a contract from the Toronto Argonauts to remain Montreal's practice roster. "I waited my turn and made the best of the opportunity I received." The game marked the first time Montreal (2-0) has scored 50 points since July 24, 2003, and they got them every way possible with two touchdowns through the air, two on the ground, one on a punt return and another on an interception return, to go along with two field goals and two singles. Kerry Watkins caught nine passes for 119 yards with a touchdown for the Alouettes while Anthony Calvillo had a rushing major and completed 24-of-32 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Alouettes return man Larry Taylor, who burned the Eskimos (1-1) with two punt return touchdowns in last year's East final, struck again with a 68-yard run back to ice the game in the fourth quarter. "The game was close up until that fourth quarter, and then all of a sudden there's a special teams touchdown, then we score a touchdown and the defence as well," Calvillo said. "Things just kind of fell in place in that fourth quarter for us, but it definitely wasn't easy. The score may show it, but it wasn't easy." The Eskimos offence was unable to mount much of an attack all night, and on two impressive drives of 77 and 93 yards had to settle for Noel Prefontaine field goals. "From start to finish we didn't play as well as we're capable of playing, and after a while we sucked out there," said Eskimos head coach Richie Hall. "That's not us. We got our butts kicked." Eskimos rookie running back Arkee Whitlock, starting in place of the injured Jesse Lumsden, had a debut to forget. In the first half alone, he dropped two easy touchdown catches and lost a fumble, but he scored the Eskimos lone touchdown with only 1:08 to play in regulation and finished with 29 yards on 12 carries. Hall, however, said Whitlock will get another chance to redeem himself. "He had an opportunity to make some plays and things just didn't work out for him, but there were some good things that he did out there," Hall said. "You don't give up on a person after one game just like you don't give up on a team after one game." Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray completed 19-of-33 passes for 280 yards, while Maurice Mann had seven catches for 139 yards for Edmonton. Defensively for the Alouettes, Keron Williams had a tremendous first half with two sacks and two fumble recoveries. "It's not just me, it's the whole defence," Williams said of a group that kept Edmonton out of the end zone until the game's final moment. Up 19-9 going into the fourth quarter, the Alouettes blew it wide open with 31 straight points. Calvillo found Green from 21 yards out at 1:26 of the fourth, Damon Duval got a 25-yard field goal at 6:35 and Taylor made it 36-9 at 7:14 of the fourth with his punt return touchdown. The Eskimos got nothing on the ensuing drive and Prefontaine couldn't get his punt away, giving the Alouettes the ball at the Edmonton 27. Avon Cobourne carried it three straight times, culminating in a one-yard plunge at 13:27 for a 43-9 lead. Jason Maas then came in to replace Ray, and his second attempt was picked off by Cory Huclack for a 38-yard interception return touchdown at 12:58 to make it 50-9. Whitlock finally got Edmonton into the end zone on a one-yard plunge at 13:52. The Als took a 19-6 lead into the locker-room at halftime, but it could have been a lot worse for the Eskimos. "What happens against good teams is if you don't take care of business early, it comes back to haunt you," Hall said. "That's what happened. We hung in there, we thought we were good at halftime, then we had some chances to do some things and we didn't." Montreal found the end zone on the game's opening drive, marching 79 yards in six plays capped by a 28-yard touchdown catch by Watkins at 3:32 of the first quarter. On Edmonton's first offensive play, Ray was hit by John Bowman and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Williams at the Edmonton 11 yard line, but Montreal wound up with only a single when Duval missed a 30-yard field goal try. Prefontaine made a 22-yard field goal at 10:04 of the first and another from 15 yards at 5:32 of the second, while Duval missed another 40-yarder for the Als that went for a single. He later connected from 11 yards out at 12:41 of the second to make it 12-6 Montreal. The Eskimos punted the ball to the Alouettes 50 with less than a minute remaining in the half, but Calvillo needed only four plays to go 60 yards, capping the drive himself with a three-yard touchdown run with only four seconds to play to give Montreal at 19-6 lead. Prefontaine kicked another field goal from 14 yards out to cap a nine-play, 93-yard drive at 4:01 of the third quarter and make it 19-9, but the Eskimos would get no closer than that. NOTES: Montreal centre Bryan Chiu played his 203rd game as an Alouette, tying Glen Weir for the most in franchise history. Weir will be inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame this year . . . The two touchdown passes thrown by Calvillo left him two short of tying the late Ron Lancaster for second on the CFL's career list . . . Geoff Molson, who along with brothers Andrew and Justin led a group that placed the winning bid to purchase the Montreal Canadiens, performed the official coin toss . . .The Eskimos host the B.C. Lions next Thursday, while the Alouettes will visit Saskatchewan on July 18.

July 1, 2009 - Montreal 40 vs. Calgay 27

courtesy of cfl.ca CALGARY - The Montreal Alouettes hope their win over Calgary in a soggy, mistake-filled Grey Cup rematch Wednesday marks the start of better results against West Division teams this season. Damon Duval was a perfect 6-for-6 in field goals to tie his career record and Montreal beat the Stampeders 40-27 in the CFL season-opener for both clubs. Avon Cobourne, Kerry Watkins and Chip Cox scored touchdowns for Montreal. The Alouettes were 3-5 versus the West in 2008. Against Calgary, Montreal was 0-3 including a 22-14 loss in the Grey Cup. Five of Montreal's first four opponents this season are Western clubs, so a victory in Calgary was a confidence booster for the Eastern power. "The knock on us last year was every time we came out West, we weren't going to get a victory," Duval said. "It's definitely a big start for our team." Jeremaine Copeland, quarterback Henry Burris and rookie Titus Ryan replied with touchdowns for Calgary in front of an announced sellout of 35,650 at McMahon Stadium, although many were chased from their seats by a downpour at the start of the second half. Kicker Sandro DeAngelis added a pair of field goals. The Stampeders recovered from a horrendous opening quarter and a 17-0 deficit to pressure on the visitors, but a pair of turnovers late in the fourth quarter cost the Stamps their winning streak against Montreal. Each side turned the ball over four times and there were of total of 19 penalties in the sloppy game. "This game had so many series of events," Montreal coach Marc Trestman said. "Both teams creating adversity for themselves and overcoming adversity." Montreal led 33-27 with six minutes remaining when Calgary quarterback Henry Burris threw into the arms of Mark Estelle in the end zone. The Calgary pivot then coughed up the ball under pressure from Montreal's Anwar Stewart and Keron Williams and linebacker Chip Williams rumbled 81 yards for a touchdown at 12:45. "They beat us three times in a row," Estelle said. "It's beautiful to win this first game and start it off right". Burris, the Grey Cup MVP, completed less than half his passes with 17 completions on 33 attempts. He threw for 247 yards, including one touchdown pass. Burris was also sacked three times. "If this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is," Burris said. "I know this team well. We'll be fine. We didn't go undefeated last year. It's always good to have one of these early on just so you can get things corrected." Montreal counterpart Anthony Calvillo had a slightly better night at 24-for-32 for 255 yards, but he also threw just one touchdown pass and one interception. "To come on the road against an excellent opponent, we're excited about this win," Calvillo said. "They're the defending champs and we came here and got two points." Duval was good from 13, 15, 32, 36, 37 and 48 yards. Towering Stamps cornerback Brandon Browner deflected a Calvillo pass into the hands of teammate Milton Collins in the third quarter. But Calgary settled for a 41-yard field goal from DeAngelis to tie the game at 27 at 10:54. Montreal's Jamel Richardson fumbled on Calgary's 20-yard line early in the second half. Burris capitalized with a four-yard scoring run and DeAngelis's convert pulled Calgary within three points at 3:40. The defending champions clawed their way back into what was becoming a lopsided game with a pair touchdowns in the second quarter. DeAngelis added three points from 34 yards out. Burris on the run got a four-yard pass away to Copeland in the end zone at 5:41. Ryan revived Calgary with a 104-yard kickoff return to score at 2:10 for the rookie's first CFL touchdown in his first game. It was the first time a Stampeder scored off a kickoff since Sept. 8, 2006. But it was all Montreal in the opening quarter as Calgary managed only 23 yards of offence to Montreal's 109. With five new starters in the lineup, the Stampeders defensive coverage was porous in the opening minutes. "Our coaches had six months of coming up with new plays and we ran some plays they'd never seen before, which kind of got them off balance," Calvillo said. "We were able to move the ball enough to get some points, but we have to put a better job in that score zone. We've got to score more touchdowns than field goals." The Als scored on their first two possessions of the game. Cobourne's 10-yard run at 6:56 completed a 59-yard drive and Duval followed up with a 48-yard field goal at 10:35. A spectacular one-handed catch by Watkins under pressure from Stamps rookie Ronnie Amadi at 2:21 capped an 81-yard march. Notes: Calgary's Ken-Yon Rambo, the CFL's leading receiver last season, had said the day before Wednesday's game he expected to play, but was a scratch with an injured hamstring . . . Montreal's record for the most field goals in one game is seven . . . The Stampeders are 34-29-1 all-time in home openers and 31-30-3 in season openers . . . The Alouettes are 28-26-1 in season openers. .