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

Sunday , Nov. 23, 2008 - Grey Cup 2008 - Calgary 22 vs. Montreal 14

coutesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- There they were again, the nearly men. Slumped in lockers, lost in tears, silenced and crushed. It's a story the Montreal Alouettes know too well - in fact, it's nearly all they know. Worse, it has become what they are. It's harsh. But it's true, too. Six times the Alouettes have reached the Grey Cup, and now five times they have been the second-best team in the stadium. This might have been the worst - at home, in front of the second-largest crowd in Grey Cup history, at Olympic Stadium. This was more than a chance to win a title. This was a chance to rewrite their own rough draft of history, and to sear the image of the Alouettes as champions in the minds of Montreal's home fans. "It ain't going to happen again," said Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo. And all they got was the same damned failure, and the Calgary Stampeders, this year's deserving champions, danced on their field. "We're getting good at this, aren't we?" said longtime offensive lineman Bryan Chiu, biting back tears. "It hurts. It's not the way the story ends, but it did." It always does with this group, whose only constants on the field are stars: Chiu, fellow offensive lineman Scott Flory, receiver Ben Cahoon, and at the heart of the imperfect machine, Calvillo. Calvillo talked this week about how hard it has been to control his emotions this season, in his comeback after his wife, Alexia, was diagnosed with - and subsequently seems to have fended off - lymphoma. He was named the league's Most Outstanding Player at age 36. A Grey Cup, capping an inspiring story, would have been perfect. But Montreal, which won the Grey Cup in 2002, rarely does perfect. Two of their five Grey Cup losses were coin flips: The missed two-point conversion in 2000 against B.C., when Calvillo's last chance-pass fluttered to the McMahon Stadium turf, and the double-overtime classic against Edmonton in 2005. This one was winnable, too. But they didn't win, and Calvillo didn't win, again. "Some people may think he can't win the big one, but it's a team game," said Chiu, who would likely have retired has the Alouettes won. "It takes 42 players to win one, and to lose one. We lost it tonight. Yeah, we didn't win as many as we should have. But it's the CFL, and things happen." On Sunday night, things happened. Calgary left the door ajar - while Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris was named the game's MVP, he also missed on two sure touchdown passes that would have removed all doubt. Montreal had its chance. But championship greatness, again, was left on the table. Calvillo missed two throws from the six-yard line on Montreal's first possession, settling for a field goal. His first interception was a risky play when he tried to throw as he was hit; the second, worse, came when the cerebral veteran misread the break by receiver Brian Bratton and threw a ball that was easily snared by Calgary's Shannon James in the end zone with 7:43 to go. "[Bratton] read it right, and broke it to the sideline," said Calvillo, who threw for 352 of the least consequential yards you'll see. "I just saw something different. Those things just killed us. When I was scrambling to the right, trying to make a play with Ben and [threw the first interception] ... and you look at the big picture, those two plays really cost us the game." Calvillo got one more legitimate chance, but took a sack near midfield. On the game's final play, Calvillo didn't even take a shot at the end zone. Final score: 22-14. Montreal scored a single point after halftime. Six Grey Cup games, one trophy. "It's not a good number to have," said Calvillo, a standup guy again. "We've had many opportunities with some great teams, but for whatever reason, we didn't come up with the win." Calvillo is clearly one of the great QBs in league history - a notch below the Fluties of the CFL world, but comfortably ensconced with the Dunigans. But whatever his future, this game could have gone a long way to cementing a more favourable legacy. "The media will determine that," says Montreal general manager Jim Popp, the Alouettes' architect. "From the Alouettes' standpoint, he's a legend. He's done things that nobody in this league has ever done, under hard scrutiny. He's constantly been the whipping boy for a number of years when he's done nothing but great things. What hasn't he done? What hasn't he done?" He's done plenty. It's just that when it has counted, almost every time, he hasn't quite done enough. His team hasn't either, and so here they are again, lost and sad and empty, the dynasty that wasn't. PT 2 ... MONTREAL - The disappointments of previous years are now truly a thing of the past for Henry Burris and the Calgary Stampeders, who entered a Grey Cup billed as best against best and came out on top. Burris passed for 328 yards, but it was a decision to start running the ball himself just before halftime that led the CFL West Division champion Stampeders to a 22-14 victory over the East-leading Montreal Alouettes before 66,308 mostly hostile fans at Olympic Stadium on Sunday night. The victory was especially sweet for Burris, who can finally shed the label of being a player who can't win the big game. "It's like I'm still dreaming," said Burris, who also led his team in rushing with 79 yards on nine carries and was named MVP of the game. "To hear that song 'We Are the Champions,' when we fought so hard to get here. "We've been through big time ups and downs. I know the difference between reality and playing a game, that's why I kept everything in perspective. I knew it would all pay off at some point, and what do you know, here I am." Sandro DeAngelis kicked five field goals - including a season-high 50-yarder to give his team its eight-point lead late in the game - as the Stampeders won the mostly well-played, back-and-forth encounter that featured plenty of offence from both sides, but relatively little scoring to excite the fans. DeAngelis was named top Canadian in the game. The Calgary defence also excelled, holding the CFL's highest-scoring team to only one point in the second half, thanks mainly to pair of interceptions of Anthony Calvillo passes. Brett Ralph had only one catch in the game, but it produced the only touchdown for the Stampeders, who won the sixth Grey Cup in their history and the first since they beat Winnipeg in the same stadium in 2001. "This is one of the greatest days of my life," said DeAngelis. "This has been a dream for me since I was a little kid." Tailback Avon Cobourne scored Montreal's only touchdown and Damon Duval booted two field goals and a single as the Alouettes lost for the fifth time in six Grey Cup appearances since 2000. They failed in a bid to become the first team to win a Grey Cup on home turf since the B.C. Lions in 1994. Montreal went 0-3 against Calgary this season. "We all know this will take a few days for us to get over," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman. "We've spent a lot of time together the last six months, we can't let the last three hours define our team. "We had some drives that we didn't finish. I was disappointed in the first half that we couldn't finish off a couple of drives. And we turned the ball over a couple of times and that hurt us." The Alouettes fate was sealed when Calvillo, now 1-5 as a starter in Grey Cup games, threw his second interception of the second half to Shannon James in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. Burris responded by putting the Stampeders in position for DeAngelis' 50-yard placement with 4:12 left to play. "I knew I was going to make it," said DeAngelis. "I blew one against B.C., last week and this time, I knew I'd make it." Calgary is now 6-6 in Grey Cup games while Montreal fell to 5-11. And it was the Stamps' first win in three tries against the Alouettes, after losses in 1948 and 1970. "I'm trying to hold back tears right now," a choked up Burris said on the field after the game. "Just the thought of being a champion - wow. "To win in such a tough circumstance, on the road and in Grey Cup against a team that was playing at home in front of a million people at Olympic Stadium - it's huge. But it shows the character of this team." The overwhelmingly pro-Montreal spectators in the domed stadium were deafening as they rooted for the hometown Alouettes. It was the second largest crowd in Grey Cup history after the 68,318 that attended Montreal's win in the 1977 game, also at Olympic Stadium. But the Als running game never got going. Cobourne had a touchdown, but he was held to only 40 yards on eight carries, forcing Calvillo to go to his receivers. Jamel Richardson caught six passes for 123 yards and Ben Cahoon had eight for 95 yards, but while the Calgary defence bent at times, it didn't break. "You saw in the second half, we shut down the highest scoring team in the league," said Calgary rush end Mike Labinjo. "We had to change our game plan. "Anthony likes to throw the ball quick, so you've got to get your hands up. I put a serious emphasis on trying to bat balls down instead of trying to rush all the time because in the first half, I was rushing hard and the ball was coming by my head." The Alouettes used some big plays and an interception to take a 13-10 halftime lead. Richardson made a catch over the middle, broke two tackles and romped 55 yards to set up Duval's 14-yard field goal 4:34 into the game. Burris led a 10-play drive to the Montreal 36 and DeAngelis tied the score with a 43-yard effort 1:12 into the second quarter. But Burris, who completed his first 11 passes, mostly for short yardage, followed his first incomplete toss with a throw straight to Alouette middle linebacker Reggie Hunt for a turnover at the Montreal 51 that cost them seven points. Ben Cahoon made two catches as Montreal got to the 16, where Cobourne flew untouched up the middle for the game's first touchdown at 7:18. A 42-yard punt return by Larry Taylor set up a 19-yard Duval field goal, but Calgary struck right back with an eight-play scoring drive, and Burris scrambled out of the pocket and found Ralph alone in the end zone from 20 yards with 44 seconds left in the half. "It was a broken play," said Ralph. "It was supposed to go the other way, but I saw a soft spot and went for it and Henry got flushed that way. Henry made great plays all day." It may have been the turning point of the game. "It definitely gave us less of a hole to dig ourselves out of going into the second half," said Calgary coach John Hufnagel. "When you go in the locker-room down by only three points, you know it's anybody's ball game. It was a big drive." Burris used his feet to move the ball early in the second half and took the ball to the Montreal five, but Demetris Summers dropped a sure TD pass and DeAngelis was forced to kick a 12-yard field goal to tie the game. Duval then put his team up by a point with a punt single that turned out to be Montreal's only score of the final 30 minutes. Another Burris drive fell short as Nik Lewis missed a catchable ball in the end zone and DeAngelis hit a 21-yard field goal for a 16-14 Calgary lead on the final play of the third quarter. Calvillo opened the fourth by throwing an interception to Calgary's Dwight Anderson, but despite a wild play in which a Burris pass went off Ken-Yon Rambo's hands into the arms of Lewis, they settled for another field goal, this one from 30 yards. The Alouettes responded by marching down to the Calgary 20 before James got his interception and effectively killed the home side's hopes. DeAngelis then put it away with his 50-yarder. "Montreal's a tough team and they played their hearts out for their fans, but we are resilient," added Burris. "It's all about managing the game. "One thing I've learned by watching a guy like Anthony Calvillo play over the years is that you've got to manage the game. Punting's not a bad thing sometimes against a defence like that, or throwing the ball away like I did a few times late in the game. It didn't hurt us because we have a guy named Sandro who was on fire tonight." Calvillo easily got the 14 career Grey Cup completions he needed to pass Doug Flutie's former record of 108. The Stampeders led the West Division at 13-5 while Montreal was tops in the East at 11-7. Both had losing 2007 seasons, with Calgary at 7-10-1 and Montreal 8-10, and both lost in division semifinals, but the two teams roared back this year under new first-year head coaches. The ending was an all-too familiar one for the Als. "We're getting good at this aren't we," said dejected Montreal centre Bryan Chiu. "It hurts. It's not the way a story ends, but it did and life goes on." Calgary cornerback Brandon Browner, who injured an ankle last week in the West Division final against British Columbia, was able to start. Labinjo played despite suffering from a flu this week. The Stamps sat out linebacker Matt Grootegoed, defensive back Keon Raymond, offensive lineman Antonio Hall and defensive lineman Pat MacDonald. Montreal scratched linebacker Dwayne Taylor, safety Keith Williams, tackle Dave Mudge and quarterback Brad Banks. Pay your last respects to the 2008 season.....Here..!

Saturday, Nov 15, 2008 - Eastern Division Final - Montreal 36 vs.Edmonton 26

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL -- Larry Taylor returned two punts for touchdowns as the Montreal Alouettes earned a berth in the Grey Cup game with a 36-26 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL East Division final on Saturday at Olympic Stadium. Taylor, who had only one return TD in the regular season, ran one back 62 yards late in the first half, then brought the 38,102 spectators to their feet with a 97-yard runback in the fourth quarter. His two punt return TDs was a CFL playoff record, as was his 202 yards in punt return yards for the game. The Alouettes will play host to the Grey Cup game on Nov. 23 against the winner of the West Division final. They will be looking for their sixth Cup win in 16 trips to the championship game. It will be Montreal's sixth visit to the Grey Cup game since 2000. With only 50 seconds left in the game, Tristan Jackson answered Taylor's performance with a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown to close the gap to 10 points, but a two-point convert attempt failed. Jamel Richardson and Avon Cobourne also scored touchdowns and Damon Duval had a pair of field goals for Montreal, which fell behind 13-3 early and then scored 33 straight points. Defensive lineman Justin Cooper and receiver Kelly Campbell had touchdowns and Noel Prefontaine kicked two field goals for the Eskimos, who made history last week by being the first "crossover" team from the west to win an East semifinal with a 29-21 win in Winnipeg. The Alouettes defence had a strong game in limiting Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray's pass attack until he found Campbell with a 55-yard TD strike 3:07 into the fourth quarter. Two late drives stalled inside the Montreal 30 and they turned the ball over on downs. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes overcame early nervousness to take a 19-13 half time lead. Only 4:53 into the game, Cooper shot up the middle untouched to block a Duval punt, nudge the ball into the end zone and fall on it for the touchdown. Montreal hit back with Duval's 27-yard field goal set up by a 24-yard catch by Avon Cobourne, but Prefontaine answered with placements of 45 and 22 yards early in the second quarter, the latter set up by a 54-yard toss to Kamau Peterson. The Alouettes defence forced Edmonton to concede a safety and the home side took over the ball on its own 35. Calvillo then put together a drive capped by a seven-yard TD toss to Richardson. Their next touch of the ball was by Taylor, who ran back a punt 62 yards to score with 1:24 left in the half. The Eskimos ran the ball three times in the first half, all by A.J. Harris, for only three yards. The Alouettes opened the second half with a 10-play TD drive with a bizarre ending. Backup quarterback Adrian McPherson took the ball in from the one, but referee Ken Lazaruk had neglected to turn off his remote microphone and it a screeched just before the snap, causing the Esks to stand up thinking it was a whistle. They opted to replay the down and, two tries later, Cobourne dove in for the score. Taylor broke the playoff punt return yardage record of 157 set in 1975 by another Alouette -- Johnny Rogers. Get yourself HOARSE ..Here..!

Friday, Oct.31, 2008 - Montreal

coutesy of cfl.ca EDMONTON - The Edmonton Eskimos received a boost of confidence when they needed it most. And it doesn't even matter if the visiting Montreal Alouettes didn't seem to put the same importance on the season-ending game. Ricky Ray passed for over 300 yards and two touchdowns in two and a half quarters of play to help the Eskimos snap a two-game losing skid to close out regular season play, knocking off the Alouettes 37-14 on Friday night. The Eskimos, who needed a glimmer of hope after last week's crushing 55-9 defeat in Saskatchewan, finished fourth in the West Division with a 10-8 record but are still in the playoffs with a berth in the East semifinal. Playing with poise was a big step forward for the Esks heading into post-season play. "Anytime you can win a football game the way we did tonight it is going to help you along the way," said Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia. "Hopefully we can carry the momentum from this into next week. "The last couple weeks we didn't play well and we didn't deserve to win. But this team has a ton of potential and I think we've got it turned around. Now the question is whether or not we can take that next step." After a sub-par performance in Regina, Ray looked much more like himself, completing 23 of 25 passes for 302 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter. "It was a big game for us to go out there and play a solid football game like that," he said. "To not turn the ball the way we had been or have those mental mistakes. We protected the ball well and had good rhythm on offence and the defence played well too. That was the game we needed." The Alouettes, who have had first place in the East sewn up for a while, finished with an 11-7 record but sat out six starters, including quarterback Anthony Calvillo. Backup quarterback Marcus Brady said that whoever was in the lineup, the Als were going to give it their all. "Everybody came to win," he said. "We didn't look at this game as not meaning much. We don't like losing. We don't like the feeling of coming into the locker room on a down note. But we'll move on and prepare for the playoffs. We have a bye week and we plan on being well prepared for whoever our opponent is." The Eskimos took a 3-0 lead on their first drive on a 21-yard field goal by Derek Schiavone, but Montreal also had a strong start when they got their first offensive possession, engineering a long drive that was capped off by a seven-yard passing TD from Brady to S.J. Green. The Eskimos regained the lead early in the second quarter as Ray passed it off to Maurice Mann and he dodged a trio of Montreal defenders and rambled 38 yards into the end zone for a 10-7 Edmonton lead. They Eskimos padded their lead to 13-7 on a decision that actually angered the Edmonton crowd, opting to take a nine-yard Schiavone field goal instead of attempting a third-and-goal gamble from the one. Edmonton continued to click offensively late in the second frame as Ray found Kelly Campbell streaking in the end zone for a 28-yard TD to lead 20-7 at the half. The Eskimos added to their lead as a Lenny Williams interception at midfield eventually led to a three-yard touchdown run by A.J. Harris to put them ahead by 20 points. But Montreal came back two minutes later with a big play as Mike Imoh somehow came up with the reception in tough coverage and ran 54 yards for the touchdown. The Eskimos kicked off the fourth quarter with another Schiavone field goal and closed out the scoring late in the final frame as Calvin McCarty scored from nine yards out, set up by an 80-yard passing play from backup QB Jason Maas to Kevin Challenger. The Eskimos will crossover to the East Division and take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first round of the CFL playoffs next Saturday with first-place Montreal awaiting the winner for the East final the following weekend. Notes: Montreal opted to give quarterback Anthony Calvillo a rest, starting Marcus Brady. The backup QB hadn't touched the ball much this season, with no passes made and just two carries for four yards previous to Friday's game. ... In addition to the six healthy starters that the Alouettes chose to rest for this contest, they were also without the services of kicker and punter Damon Duval, out with a kidney stone. Former Notre Dame University kicker D.J. Fitzpatrick came in to handle the kicking duties. The Eskimos were also without their kicker as Noel Prefontaine was out with the flu. Rookie Derek Schiavone came off the practice roster as a replacement Eskimos quarterback. ... Ricky Ray set a new Eskimos record for passing in a season, eclipsing Warren Moon's former standard of 5,648 yards. ... The match against Montreal marked Edmonton's 1,000th regular season game. The Eskimos have gone 582-400-18 during that span. ... Former offensive lineman Chris Morris was added to the Eskimos Wall of Honour in a halftime ceremony. The 14-year vet is the 25th player to have his name and number enshrined on the wall. Blow your Face Out ..Here..!

Sunday Oct. 26, 2008 - Montreal 23 vs. Winnipeg 24

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - Alexis Serna's third field goal of the game with 1:32 left to play lifted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 24-23 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in an uneventful CFL game with no playoff implications on Sunday afternoon. Terrence Edwards and Romby Bryant caught touchdown passes for Winnipeg (7-10), while Serna also had two singles. Defensive back Khalil Carter and fullback Kerry Carter (no relation) had touchdowns and Jamel Richardson caught his 16th TD pass of the season for Montreal (11-6), which ended a run of 13 straight games scoring at least 30 points. Stanford Samuel had Winnipeg's second interception of the afternoon when he picked off Anthony Calvillo's wobbly pass off a scramble to give the Bombers the ball on the Montreal 37 with 3:02 left to play. Three plays later, Serna kicked the deciding field goal from 32 yards. Winnipeg starter Kevin Glenn left the game late in the first half with an injury to his non-throwing hand and was replaced by Ryan Dinwiddie. The club said Glenn was held out as a precaution only. Third-stringer Bryan Randall also saw playing time in the fourth quarter. The playoff fates of both teams were sealed before the game - Montreal will finish first in the East Division and host the East final while Winnipeg is second and will host Edmonton in the semifinal on Nov. 8. Thus the game had the monotonous feel of pre-season play for the sellout crowd of 20,202. But it had its quirks, including a fake punt on third and three by Montreal in the fourth quarter in which the ball was snapped to Kerry Carter, who then passed to Duval. The play came up short and Winnipeg took over on downs on their own 47. Brian Bratton fumbled the opening kickoff and it was recovered by Jason Nugent at the Montreal 33, but five plays later, Serna missed the 26-yard field goal attempt for a single. The Alouettes answered with Duval's 22-yard field goal. It picked up in the second half when two ex-Alouettes got back at their old team, with Jason Armstead's 33-yard punt return setting up Edwards' 30-yard TD catch from Glenn. Montreal responded with Calvillo's 23-yard TD toss to Richardson. And Carter picked off a Glenn pass and ran it back 50 yards for a touchdown with 2:32 left in the first half. Ryan Dinwiddie came in for Glenn and led a march capped by Serna's 15-yard placement, giving Montreal a 16-12 lead at the half. Serna hit another 15-yard boot to open the second half, but Montreal marched back and scored on Kerry Carter's one-yard run. Dinwiddie found Bryant with a 13-yard TD pass to open the fourth quarter. Notes - Former sack king Elfrid Payton was honoured by Montreal before the game. . . Als centre Bryan Chiu played his 200th game. . . Winnipeg receiver Derick Armstrong returned after missing last week with a knee injury. Flap yer Gums Here..!

Saturday Oct 18, 2008 - Montreal 43 @ Toronto 34

courtesy of cfl.ca TORONTO - Anthony Calvillo put the Toronto Argonauts out of their misery Saturday. Calvillo threw four TD passes to boost his league-leading total to 42 as the Montreal Alouettes beat Toronto 43-34 to eliminate a determined Argos squad from playoff contention. The Argos (4-12) suffered their seventh straight loss and dropped to 0-6 under head coach Don Matthews, to the dismay of the loud Rogers Centre gathering of 30,262. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will finish second in the East Division and host the fourth-place team in the West in the conference semifinal next month. It will mark the first time since 2001 that Toronto won't be in the CFL playoffs although after a slow start the Rogers Centre crowd was treated to an entertaining, wide-open finish. "They did not give up," Calvillo said of the Argos. "We continued to bounce back and move the ball but they made plays and were at home in front of their crowd. "We made enough plays to come home with the victory." Calvillo certainly did his share, completing 32-of-45 passes for 336 yards and the four TDs. However, Toronto's Will Poole intercepted Calvillo on the game's opening play, setting up Andre Talbot's 19-yard TD grab just 2:14 into the contest. "I gave them life right at the beginning," Calvillo said. "I feel very bad about that." The loss tarnished a gritty performance by Toronto. Kerry Joseph finished 22-of-35 passing for 400 yards and three TDs and also ran for another. Receiver P.K. Sam had eight catches for 152 yards while Reggie McNeal added five receptions for 125 yards and a TD. "It's tough because you come into the season to get to the post-season," said Joseph. "We played well enough to win but you have to give Montreal credit. "I'd gladly trade stats for a win." Especially one for Matthews. "Don wants to lead us," Joseph said. "He's there fighting for us and we want to win for him more than anything." Joseph nearly rallied Toronto to the win. He scored on a four-yard run at 2:15 of the fourth, then hit McNeal on a 91-yard bomb to pull Toronto to within 36-34 at 6:44. But Calvillo countered with a 36-yard TD strike to Brian Bratton at 10:05 to cement the win. "I thought we took their best shot today," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman. "You've got to give credit to them, they didn't back down. "They played hard and extremely physical on both sides of the ball. Kerry Joseph was just dynamic out there. But we withstood their shot and I thought we did a good job of answering." Toronto was also its own worst enemy with 13 penalties for 131 yards, compared to just five for 30 yards for Montreal. Argos head coach Don Matthews said he counted six penalties that allowed the Alouettes to continue drives. "Montreal is tied atop the league and A.C. is tough to corral," said Matthews. "But we gave him a lot of help with penalties and he doesn't need our help. "I don't know what it is, no one has a cure for it (penalties). Maybe in desperate situations you're trying to do too much. I'd put a spike in it if I could." The game meant nothing in the standings for Montreal (11-5), which came in having already cemented first in the East and home-field advantage for the division final. The Alouettes continued their domination of Toronto, having won 20 of the past 27 regular-season matchups between the two clubs. "What the media doesn't understand is we're professional athletes and we've got to go out there and compete week in and week out," Calvillo said. "We want to play top-notch calibre football. "We've got a lot of pride. Everyone has talked about these last three games not meaning anything but they mean a lot in our heart and we want to go out and compete." A big part of Montreal's success has been its domination of East Division rivals this season. The Alouettes improved to 8-1 within its own conference while Toronto dropped to 3-7. Calvillo has some personal accomplishments to play for. He's just six TD passes short of tying Doug Flutie's single-season record and with a CFL-high 5,442 yards passing, he's certainly with striking distance of a second career 6,000-yard campaign. Both are heady accomplishments indeed, considering Calvillo left the team late last season when his wife was diagnosed with a form of cancer and wasn't sure if he'd continue playing. The 15-year veteran seem to put Toronto on ice at 12:35 of the third with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jamel Richardson - his second of the game and club-record 15th of the season - to give Montreal a 36-20 lead. The four-play, 80-yard drive came after Argos kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a 46-yard field goal try. Arland Bruce III had Toronto's other touchdown. Vanderjagt added the converts and two field goals. Kerry Watkins scored Montreal's other touchdown. Damon Duval booted the converts, four field goals and a single. The other points came on a safety. NOTES - Quarterback Brad Banks, linebackers Chris Vrantsis and Dwayne Taylor and offensive lineman Dave Mudge were Montreal's scratches. Receiver Obed Cetoute, returner Keith Stokes, safety Ken Wheaton and offensive lineman Jerome Davis didn't suit up for Toronto. With Wheaton not playing, Will Poole took over at safety and had an interception on Montreal's opening play that set up Toronto's first TD . . . The game was Matthews' first against Montreal since returning to the CFL last month. Matthews spent parts of five seasons as the Als coach before resigning in October 2006 . . . Bruce went over the 1,000-yard plateau for the season with his TD grab. What you got to say, Willis? !

Monday, Oct 13, 2008 - Montreal 42 vs. Hamilton 11

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - The numbers keep shooting upward for the soaring Montreal Alouettes. Jamel Richardson tied a team record with three touchdown catches as the Alouettes struck back hard at the last-place Hamilton Tiger-Cats with a 42-11 CFL victory on Monday afternoon. Just over a week after a shocking 44-38 loss in Hamilton, the Alouettes piled up 558 yards of net offence - including 127 yards on the ground by back-up tailback Dahrran Diedrick and 164 yards in pass receptions by veteran Ben Cahoon - in a one-sided rematch on an overcast afternoon before 20,202 at sold-out Percival Molson Stadium. "We wanted to make sure we played our kind of football," said quarterback Anthony Calvillo, whose 10-5 team had already clinched first place in the CFL East Division. "In these last weeks, we're going to try to play at a high level. "We don't know what kind of team we have yet, but we have three more games to figure it out. We want to peak at the right time." With the loss, the 3-12 Ticats are officially eliminated from the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Rookie quarterback Quinton Porter, who threw five TD passes last week, had none this time, although he ran in a touchdown. His team was held to only 14 first downs and 206 yards on offence. Coach Marcel Bellefeuille, who replaced the fired Charlie Taaffe last month but couldn't turn the Ticats around, said making the playoffs "was a goal we still had in mind four weeks ago when I took over this position. "We were serious about it. When an opportunity like that goes, you're emotionally hurt. My gut tells me we were in the game in the middle of the second quarter but we had a couple of things go against us. With our youth and inexperience, we didn't respond to it and it just snowballed on us." Cahoon also caught a touchdown pass and Calvillo ran one in himself. Porter ran in a TD for Hamilton while Nick Setta kicked a field goal and a single for Hamilton. The CFL's highest scoring team has been breaking records this season. Calvillo completed 33 passes for 371 yards to give him a league-leading 5,101 for the season. It is the fifth time in his career, but the first time in three years, he has topped 5,000 yards in a season. Doug Flutie is the all-time leader with six 5,000-yard campaigns. Calvillo's three TD passes gave him 38 for the season, one more than his own team record of 37 set in 2003. Last week, he set a CFL record with 44 completions in one game. Also last week, Cahoon passed Saskatchewan great Ray Elgaard for most career catches by a Canadian receiver. This time, he added 13 more, which tied the team record for catches in one game set in 1986 by James Hood against Calgary. Cahoon also passed the 1,000-yard mark for the seventh season in a row and the eighth time in his 11-year career. Richardson has 13 TD catches this season, one short of Jeremaine Copeland's team record set in 2003. His three in one game - two from Calvillo and one from third-stringer Adrian McPherson - tied a record shared with eight others, including Cahoon in 2004. " I didn't know about the record, I was just trying to play the game and keep winning," said Richardson, a former Roughrider who signed with Montreal in March. Between them, Cahoon and Richardson accounted for 25 of Montreal's 34 catches. Kerry Watkins returned from injury but caught only two. "I'm not in charge of how many times my number gets called," sad Cahoon. "It's just the way it worked out. "We don't have a problem spreading the ball around. They can't just focus on two guys." Perhaps the most remarkable performance belonged to Diedrick, who went in at tailback after Avon Cobourne sprained his left ankle in the first quarter. Cobourne missed three games last month with a sore right ankle. Diedrick, of Scarborough, Ont., carried 15 times for 127 yards, by far his best CFL game. In three previous seasons, he had a total of 142 rushing yards on 30 tries. "I just have to be ready," he said. "I don't get many reps in practice, but I get mental reps. Whenever Avon runs, I've got to watch. "You prove things at practice by your work ethic and how hard you go. In a game, it just shows things to the family and the fans." He impressed Marc Trestman, although the coach hasn't decided yet whether Diedrick or back-up Mike Imoh will start Saturday at Toronto. "Dahrran is a big part of what we do, both in our two-back sets and our special teams, but as you saw, he was ready to go," said Trestman. "He was assignment-perfect and he's a physical, punishing runner." Montreal scored on its first possession as Calvillo hit Richardson with a 10-yard pass 4:58 into the game. Hamilton marched back on its next set as Porter ran in from the seven yards to tie the game at 7:59. It was all downhill from there for the Ticats, who lost running back Kenton Keith with a bad cut on and arm and had tailback Jesse Lumsden leave and later return with a shoulder problem. After Damon Duval missed a 42-yard field goal attempt for a single, Khalil Carter, making his first start at defensive back for Montreal, intercepted Porter and returned it to the 25-yard line. On the next play, Richardson got behind Geoff Tisdale for the TD catch. Setta's eight-yard field goal cut Montreal's lead to 15-10, but Duval got it back on a 23-yard boot. With 15 seconds left in the half, McPherson tossed to Richardson for a 25-10 half-time lead. Calvillo had a three-yard TD run early in the second half, then found Cahoon with a three-yard touchdown pass. Montreal was in deep again late in the fourth, but McPherson fumbled and Chris Thompson recovered on the one. No. 2 quarterback Marcus Brady also saw playing time late in the game. NOTES - Former Alouettes star Mike Pringle was honoured before the game for his induction last month into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Pringle, who now runs an auto transmission shop in Atlanta, is the CFL's all-time rushing leader with 16,425 yards over 13 seasons, including a record 2,065 in 1998. The 41-year-old retired with Edmonton in 2004. "I probably had another one or two years when I could have performed at a high level, but it was time to go," he said, before adding with a grin "when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame I thought, now I really have to stay retired." . . . The Alouettes have scored 30 or more points in 12 straight games. . . A McGill University statement said that former Ticat offensive lineman Paul Gohier, a McGill alumnus, died of cancer on Sunday. He was 52. Gohier, drafted by the BC. Lions in 1980, played for Hamilton in 1983. Gabba Gabba Hey .. here !

Saturday Oct. 4, 2008 - Montreal 38 @ Hamilton 36

courtesy of cfl.ca HAMILTON - The rookie quarterback outgunned the wily veteran, and the CFL's basement dwellers shocked the class of the East in a wild shootout. Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Quinton Porter, in only his second CFL start, threw for five touchdowns to lead his lowly team to an improbable 44-38 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in front of a hometown crowd of 20,423 at Ivor Wynne Stadium on Saturday. Despite the loss, the Alouettes clinched the East Division after the Edmonton Eskimos beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 36-22. It is the seventh division title for Montreal in the last ten years. They will host the division final on Nov. 15 at Olympic Stadium. Three of those touchdowns were caught by Prechae Rodriguez. Earnest Jackson and Robert Pavlovic also scored touchdowns for Hamilton. Meanwhile, Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo, a 15-year veteran and leader of the league's most potent offence, set a CFL record for pass completions in a game, making 44 of 53 attempts. That surpasses Winnipeg's Dieter Brock (1981) and Saskatchewan's Kent Austin (1993) who were tied with 41. Calvillo threw four touchdown passes, two each to Jamel Richardson and Ben Cahoon. Cahoon became the top Canadian receiver in CFL history with 834 receptions. With 10 receptions on the night, he surpassed Ray Elgaard who had 830 receptions for Saskatchewan between 1983 and 1996. Cahoon is now No. 5 on the all-time list. Ticat kicker Nick Setta was 3-for-3, hitting from 25 and 11 yards, plus a 12-yarder to ice the win with eight seconds left. Montreal kicker Damon Duval was also 3-for-3, hitting from 12, 40 and 37 yards out. "We've been working so hard all year... so this is going to be a good release," said Porter, the 26-year-old out of Boston College who is third on the Ticat depth chart behind Casey Printers and Richie Williams. Hamilton's record improved to 3-11, keeping their faint playoff hopes alive, while the Alouettes fell to 9-5. Hamilton had jumped to a 24-3 lead only to see it evaporate to 24-23. And then a 38-23 lead was frittered away in the fourth quarter. Unlike previous games this season, the Ticats held on. "A lot of times it looked like things were going to fall apart," said Porter, crediting his offensive line for giving up only one sack (they've given up a league-worst 56 this season). "But they kept it together. Everyone in the huddle stayed together. Stayed positive and that's what you've got to do." Porter ended up with 27 completions on 32 attempts for 429 yards and no interceptions. Without most of their big-name running backs, the Ticats only rushed for 74 yards. However, Montreal only rushed for 10 yards. Marcel Bellefeuille got his first victory as head coach and said his young team, which has had a habit this season of losing games in the fourth quarter, finally stayed in the game mentally and put together a full 60 minutes. "Guys were supporting each other on the sidelines," he said. "Guys were calm. The guys were focused. It comes down to learning how to do that, and keeping your composure." But for Montreal, it came down to turnovers, four of them, beginning with a fumble by Cahoon at the Ticat 10-yard line during the Als impressive first drive of the game. The ball was returned 87 yards and set up Hamilton's first score just seconds after it looked like Montreal was going to be able to score at will. "On offence, what killed us were the turnovers," said Calvillo, who passed for 473 yards and had one interception. "We had too many, and that's just something we cannot do if we want to win in this league. So we've got to continue to work on that and not let it happen because when it happens on the road, you're going to let teams stay in (the game)." Hamilton won the game despite playing without its biggest stars. Starting QB Casey Printers, running backs Kenton Keith, Jesse Lumsden and Terry Caulley, and receiver Tony Miles were out with injuries. Chew it out .. here !

Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 - Montreal 27 vs. Saskatchewan 12

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - All the talk has been of the Montreal Alouettes offence this season, but now the defence can stand as tall as any quarterback or receiver. The Alouettes defence did not give up a touchdown for a second consecutive game as Montreal downed the injury-riddled Saskatchewan Roughriders 37-12 in a hard-hitting CFL matchup on Sunday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium. With the win, Montreal (9-4) officially clinched a playoff berth, ended a run of four straight losses to the Roughriders (8-5) and handed Saskatchewan its first loss to an East Division club in six games this season. "It's a feeling of accomplishment, but it's something we feel we can do," said middle linebacker Reggie Hunt, a former Roughrider who has become a valuable piece of the Montreal defence this season. "We have a very athletic group here and we feel if we play hard and are assignment-sharp, these are the kind of games we can have. "We feel there's more of these games to come. We'll need it in the playoffs." Anthony Calvillo threw touchdown passes to Jamel Richardson, Kerry Carter and Brian Bratton, while Avon Cobourne ran one in and third-string quarterback Adrian McPherson scored on a one-yard plunge for the Alouettes, who were coming off a 40-4 win last week over Edmonton. Luca Congi went 4-for-4 on field goals for the Roughriders, now tied with the B.C. Lions for second place in the West behind the 9-4 Calgary Stampeders. "It's very impressive in any league when you can hold a team to no touchdowns," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman, who gave credit to defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke. "That's really hard to do, and they did it against a team that has an offensive philosophy that's as good or better than any in the league." The Roughriders, who have 19 players injured, have lost five of their last seven games. This time, it was failure to score touchdowns when they moved deep into Montreal territory that did them in. That, plus two interceptions off Michael Bishop passes and a fumble. "It's tough to have consistency on offence when you have so much change," said Riders coach Ken Miller. "But as we went through that game, I think we proved that we were able to move the football. "I want to compliment our defence. They were on the field a lot. I think we had five two-and-outs in a row in one stretch. They played around 40 snaps in the first half and that's way too much." They may also have lost another player as rush end Kitwana Jones was taken to a doctor after the game with his left eye bandaged. Congi made a field goal and Damon Duval missed one to give Saskatchewan a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, but the key was Montreal stopping the Riders twice inside the five to force the field goal, although they were helped when Bishop turned the wrong way on a handoff. Bishop, who was yanked in the first quarter last week for Darian Durant, stayed in the game even though he struggled to move the offence in the first half. Miller said he considered pulling Bishop again, but didn't. "Right before the half we went no-huddle and I thought he did a nice job," the first-year coach said. "I wanted to do more of it in the second half and he showed we had the ability to move the ball. "We moved it between the 20s pretty well in the second half, so I thought Michael did well." Montreal struck three times for TDs in the second quarter - McPherson's one-yard effort, a 22-yard pass and run by Carter on which Renauld Williams missed a key tackle, and Richardson's one-handed grab of a 16-yard toss in the end zone. The Riders marched back in the final minute for Congi's 40-yard field goal to make it 22-6 at the intermission. Bishop was stronger in the second half and drove down for a 21-yard Congi boot. But just after the Riders' James Patrick picked off a Calvillo pass, Diamond Ferri intercepted a Bishop pass and took it to the 10. Bratton scored on the next play. Congi added another field goal as the third quarter ended. Cobourne returned for Montreal after three games out with a sore ankle and picked up 100 yards on 12 carries in the first half alone. He ended the game with 125 yards on 17 tries. And he picked up a TD on a two-yard run late in the game after Saskatchewan fumbled on a third-and-one play. "The ankle got banged up a bit, but it's normal coming off the injury that it's sore a little bit," he said. "There were a couple of plays where I would have broken a tackle, but my leg shut down on me." CFL rushing leader Wes Cates missed the game with a lower leg injury and the Riders ground game managed only 35 yards in total with Neal Hughes and Stu Foord carrying the ball. Receiver Rob Bagg had a big game for the Riders, with six catches for 146 yards. Miller took part of the blame, saying he should have kicked twice instead of taking third-down gambles that didn't work. Notes - Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon had eight catches to pass Derrell Mitchell for seventh place in all-time pass receptions with 824. Next up is sixth-place Ray Elgaard with 830. . Cahoon's 91 receiving yards left him 15 yards short of eighth place all-time in receiving yards. That spot is currently held by former Eskimo Brian Kelly with 11,169. . . Montreal had its 85th straight sell-out of 20,202. . . David Suzuki performed the ceremonial kickoff to launch an environmental promotion. Blow your face out .. here !

Sunday, Sept.21, 2008 - Montreal 40 vs. Edmonton 4

courtesy of the gazette.com Herb Zurkowsky The Gazette (Montreal) Say what you want about the Alouettes' offence. But the unit has scored 40 points in a game already this season, against Hamilton, although hardly in as dramatic fashion. Instead, this 40-4 football clinic administered to the Edmonton Eskimos yesterday at Molson Stadium was all about the defence - a unit that has had most, if not all, of us concerned at various points this season; last week's loss at Calgary being one of those junctures. "Are you surprised?" asked veteran middle-linebacker Reggie Hunt, quietly becoming more of a leader with each game he plays. "When they say it's us against the world, the only ones who believe are those in this locker. "When we play football the way we know how, and when we play defence the way we know how, we can control the score. Obviously, last week was a fluke. If we focus, we control our own destiny." The root of this victory might have taken shape overnight two Fridays back, on the team's red-eye flight to Montreal from Calgary. The Als allowed 41 points that night - 34 before the game was 38 minutes old - along with 503 yards of offence, including 408 generated by the arm of quarterback Henry Burris. "When everyone got off the plane, we already were focusing on the next game," head coach Marc Trestman said. "I'm proud of our team. We had adversity as a result of what happened. I'm proud of the way they responded." Montreal's performance on both sides of the ball couldn't have been any more emphatic. Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray - the Canadian Football League's leading passer going into the week's games - was held to 156 yards; so discombobulated, head coach Danny Maciocia wisely benched him early in the fourth quarter, dispatching Jason Maas to be the sacrificial lamb. "He's still the best quarterback in the league. Definitely," defensive-back Chip Cox said. "But we're pretty good when we put a full game together." Not only did Edmonton fail to score a touchdown, its quarterbacks were sacked six times. The Eskimos turned over the ball five times, all on fumbles. The visitors generated only 17 first downs and 320 yards of offence - predictable, considering they had possession fewer than 25 minutes. Rookie rush-end Jermaine McElveen, playing only his second game, probably produced the game of his career, with three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. If he plays another 10 years, it'll be hard to duplicate those numbers in one match. McElveen, you'll remember, missed Burris - twice - on the final play of the first half last week, allowing him to complete a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown to Teyo Johnson. "I wanted to come back hard after that play I should have made," he said. "I want to show you all I belong in this league." Offensively, it was like we were watching Tom Brady and the New England Patriots dissect the opposition on their way to a perfect regular-season record in 2007. Anthony Calvillo, at age 36, was that good on this day, completing all but seven of 38 attempts while generating 414 yards and two touchdowns. It marked his first 400-yard game this season; the first time he has exceeded the figure since last September at Saskatchewan. But consider Calvillo's and the Als' opening half against Edmonton. Montreal had the ball six times, scoring on each possession - three touchdowns and three field goals. Calvillo had passed for 299 yards by halftime, a good day for most quarterbacks. Indeed, Damon Duval didn't punt for the first time until nearly five minutes into the third quarter and had only two for the game. There was one big play after another. Jamel Richardson caught a 58-yard touchdown pass and also had gains of 23 and 21 yards. A pass to Ben Cahoon generated 26 yards. There was a 29-yarder to Kerry Watkins and a 28-yard run by Mike Imoh, who left with a hamstring injury. Third-string QB Adrian McPherson trotted on the field for a third-down gamble - and gained 24 yards. These are not the conservative, dull and predictable Als we've watched this decade. Trestman, who's proving to be an offensive genius, called a masterful game and had the Eskimos on their heels throughout. It clearly was a thing of beauty to witness. "I had no sense this was going to occur," Calvillo said. "We had a normal practice week. Offensively, we completed a lot of balls. But I've gone into games after we stunk at practice, and played a great game. And vice versa."

Friday Sept. 12, 2008 - Montreal 30 vs. Calgary 41

courtesy of cfl.ca CALGARY - Henry Burris threw five touchdown passes on Friday night, but perhaps none were bigger than a 52-yard bomb to Teyo Johnson with no time left on the clock in the first half. The Hail Mary toss gave Calgary a 24-10 lead over the Montreal Alouettes and despite a 20-point fourth quarter by the visitors the Stampeders hung on for a 41-30 win. "Hank threw a great ball," said Johnson, who hauled in the pass for his first TD catch of the season. "He put some height on it so we could adjust to it." Johnson, who played both football and basketball during his two seasons at Stanford University, said his abilities as a dual-sport athlete came in handy. "I just got in position myself and went up and got a rebound," said Johnson, adding that it was his dad Oby's birthday. "I thought that was a pretty good birthday present." Burris had to elude the onrushing efforts of Montreal defensive lineman Jermaine McElveen before getting away the Doug-Flutie-like pass. "My job was to just make time, give them the chance to get down there and set up," said Burris. "Once they got set up I just let it go and actually threw it right at Teyo. I saw him setting up and threw it high so he could go get it. A heck of a play." Burris went 24-for-38 for 408 yards to pass former Calgary quarterback Peter Liske and become the second-leading passer in Stampeder history with 16,887 yards, but he's still well behind Flutie (20,551). The veteran quarterback also tossed touchdown passes to Brock Ralph, Joffrey Reynolds, Ken-Yon Rambo and Jeremaine Copeland to give him 107 career TD passes as a Stampeder. He trails just Jeff Garcia (111) and Doug Flutie (140) in that category. "It's just a compliment to the guys I've been working with here," Burris said. "We just want to continue on. It's great to be involved and have your name mentioned with the best, but there's one thing that they have that I don't have and that's a championship. That's what we're after now and I won't be satisfied until we get that." Sandro DeAngelis also kicked a pair of field goal as the Stamps (7-4) ended a two-game home losing streak, while halting Montreal's five-game winning streak. "Calgary came up with big plays tonight and we did not," said Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who threw three interceptions before tossing a pair of TD passes to Ben Cahoon and Kerry Watkins in the fourth quarter. "The interceptions hurt us tonight. You have to give them credit for making the plays." With Avon Cobourne still out of the lineup due to an ankle injury, Mike Imoh filled in at running back for Montreal (7-4) and rambled for a 13-yard score in the first half. Damon Duval kicked a pair of field goals and a single for the Als. Calgary opened up the scoring in the first quarter when Burris fired a 35-yard bullet to Ralph in the end zone. The touchdown capped off an impressive five-play, 107-yard drive by the Stamps. The Alouettes responded with a lengthy drive of their own, but came away empty handed when Duval's 21-yard field goal attempt hit the upright and bounced back towards him. Duval's next attempt from 27 yards out also hit the left post, but this time the ball went through the uprights to give the Als their first points of the game 28 seconds into the second quarter. After DeAngelis kicked an 18-yard field goal, Calvillo led Montreal on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 13-yard touchdown run by Imoh. Late in the first half, Brandon Browner picked off a tipped pass by Calvillo and ran it back seven yards to put the Stamps deep in Montreal territory on the 24-yard line. Four plays later, Burris tossed a short screen pass to Reynolds who rambled into the end zone for a nine-yard TD to give Calgary a 17-10 lead. The Stamps weren't finished though as the got the ball back to set up Johnson's TD. Calgary added 10 points in the third quarter, before the Alouettes rallied to outscore the Stamps 20-7 in the final quarter. "We did a lot of good things out there," said Stampeder coach and general manager John Hufnagel, who wasn't impressed with the 18 penalties for 191 yards that his team amassed. "We took too many penalties and that created some problems for us." Notes: DeAngelis missed a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter to end his string of 14 straight successful attempts. ... Stampeder returner Markus Howell returned to the lineup after missing one game with a groin injury. ... Since losing 23-19 to the Stamps on July 10 in Montreal, the Alouettes have now scored 30 points or more in eight straight games. Chew it out .. here !

Sept. 7, 2008 - Toronto 19 @ Montreal 45

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - It's now clear that the Montreal Alouettes own the CFL East Division. Anthony Calvillo threw three touchdown passes and ran one in himself as the Alouettes trounced the Toronto Argonauts 45-19 at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Montreal (7-3) is 6-0 against the East this season and now holds a six-point lead in the division over the second-place Argonauts (4-6). They have beaten Toronto, Hamilton and Winnipeg twice each. The win was Montreal's fifth in a row, but they will face a stiff test on Friday when they take on Calgary. "We felt that it was an eastern opponent and we need to keep stretching our lead, but we didn't look at it as a game we had to win to make a point," said Calvillo, who completed a season-high 36 passes for 369 yards and increased his league-leading TD pass total to 24. "We don't know what kind of team we have yet. We'll still be building right up to the end. No matter how much we put up or how much we stop them, we still need to improve." Jamel Richardson, Kerry Watkins and Brian Bratton had TD receptions, Larry Taylor scored on a punt return and back-up quarterback Adrian McPherson scored on a late one-yard plunge for Montreal. Ben Cahoon had 11 catches for 110 yards while Watkins grabbed eight for 108 yards. Dominique Dorsey scored on a 92-yard kickoff return, Arland Bruce caught a TD pass and Mike Vanderjagt had a pair of field goals for the Argos, who were held to only 14 first downs and 38 rushing yards, including only 12 on three carries by Dorsey. Toronto coach Rich Stubler said his team is in transition on both sides of the ball and he's mostly concerned with getting his club ready in time for the post-season. "We don't need to finish ahead of Montreal, we need to get into the playoffs," said Stubler. "In two months, we play them again." Argos quarterback Kerry Joseph, who had 399 passing yards last week against Hamilton, laboured to find his receivers while fending off an intense pass rush and was picked off twice. He completed 21 for 259 yards. "He didn't play great," added Stubler. "He played well last week, but we didn't help him either. "We need to block people and keep them out of his face." Mike Imoh did a decent job filling in for injured Alouettes tailback Avon Cobourne, who wasn't missed as Calvillo steadily moved the ball against the struggling Toronto defence. Imoh ran for 75 yards on 12 carries and caught four passes for 38 yards, as well as completing his blocking assignments. "If I tried to walk in Avon's footsteps that would be crazy because he's having a remarkable season," said the diminutive Imoh. "It's just unfortunate now with his injury. I just tried to do what I do." Imoh, playing his first game of the season, thought he had a touchdown in the final minute, but a video review showed he was stopped one foot from the goal line on a 10-yard carry. The ball was sailing on Joseph from his first pass of the game, which was intercepted by Davis Sanchez. Damon Duval missed the ensuing 42-yard field goal and missed another from 44 as neither team scored in a plodding first quarter for the 20,202 spectators. Montreal mounted a scoring drive to start the second quarter, marching 75 yards on eight plays capped by Calvillo's 10-yard TD pass to Richardson. It was Calvillo's 307th career touchdown pass, moving him past Matt Dunigan into sole possession of third place all-time behind Damon Allen (394) and Ron Lancaster (333). A 30-yard Duval field goal made it 10-0 before Joseph found his range and took the Argos close enough for a 34-yard Vanderjagt field goal. In the final minute of the half, Watkins caught a three-yard TD toss to make it 17-3. The Argos got a break early in the second half when Denny Desriveaux fumbled and defensive back Kenny Heatly recovered on the Montreal 42, but the Argos managed only Vanderjagt's 34-yard placement. Then Dorsey fumbled a punt that was recovered by Anwar Stewart at the Argos 21, and two plays later, Calvillo hit Bratton with a 12-yard TD pass. Dorsey made up for it by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown - his second kick return TD of the year. A Montreal challenge that he stepped out of bounds failed. Early in the fourth, Calvillo faked to Imoh and ran in from the eight. Taylor returned a punt 69 yards for a TD before Joseph found Bruce alone in the end zone with 5:53 left to play. A two-point convert attempt failed. McPherson added a TD on a one-yard plunge with 1:17 left to play. Notes - Bruce caught a pass in a 50th consecutive game as an Argonaut. . . Linebackers Michael Fletcher (foot) and Willie Pile (sprained ankle) sat out for Toronto. . . Stubler said tackle Jerome Davis played the second half with a torn pectoral muscle in an arm. . . Cahoon moved past Tom Scott into ninth place on the all-time list for receiving yards with 10,864. . . At halftime, fans were entertained by a vigorous dance show by members of the Alouettes cheerleaders alumni from the 1970s and 1980s. What you got to say, Willis? !

August 29, 2008 - BC 25 @ Montreal 30

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - It all came down to a goal-line stand on the one-yard line with no time left ,and the B.C. Lions couldn't get the ball into the Montreal Alouettes end zone. That made Montreal back-up quarterback Adrian McPherson's score on a one-yard plunge with 1:24 left to play the winning play as Alouettes took advantage of five B.C. turnovers to defeat the Lions 30-25 in the CFL on Friday night. "Finishing dramatically like that is a big boost for our team going into the second half of the season," said Montreal defensive tackle Keron Williams. Buck Pierce, starting at quarterback in place of injured Jarious Jackson, took the Lions downfield in pouring rain in the final minute and a pass to Stefan Logan put the ball on the one. Two tries were stopped, but Montreal was called offside and jubilant players who rushed onto the field were sent back to the sidelines. On the third attempt, the ball was dropped in the backfield and the celebration finally counted for the Alouettes and the 20,202 fans at Percival Molson Stadium. "We came out the first and second time and we thought we had it," added Williams. "The third time's a charm. We didn't give up." Avon Cobourne rushed for 100 yards for a fifth straight game and scored a touchdown, while starter Anthony Calvillo threw a TD pass to Jamel Richardson and Damon Duval kicked two field goals for Montreal (6-3), which won a fourth straight game. Pierce threw touchdown passes to Kahlil Hill and Rufus Skillern and ran one in himself for the Lions (4-5), who have lost three of their last four. Pierce had 406 passing yards and the Lions dominated most of the game, but Montreal turned a pair of interceptions and three fumbles into 20 points. For Pierce, it was more of what has plagued the Lions all season - an inability to finish off an opponent. They had 505 yards of offence, but lost. "We stopped ourselves all night," said Pierce. "They couldn't do anything against what we had going, but they made plays on balls that shouldn't have been thrown. "It's hard. It's not a lack of heart, it's just mental mistakes. We're down on the one-yard line, we've got to score down there. But hats off to them, they held their line." The Lions have been the West's dominant team in recent years, but now find themselves 4-5 going into the second half of the season. They play at Hamilton next Saturday. "We haven't won any of the close games because the B.C. Lions have beaten the B.C. Lions - that's how we feel right now and that's got to change," said Pierce. It was Montreal's first win in four tries against a West Division team this season, while B.C. lost to an eastern club for the first time in four games. Rolly Lumbala fumbled and Eric Wilson recovered on the Montreal 42 midway through the fourth quarter, but Cobourne fumbled it right back to LaVar Glover at the B.C. 9. A 50-yard completion to Geroy Simon set up a 19-yard TD pass to Skillern and a two-point convert on a pass to Paris Jackson gave the Lions a 25-22 lead with three minutes left to play. But Montreal battled back and Ryan Phillips was called for interference in the end zone against Brian Bratton to give the Alouettes the ball on the one-yard line. McPherson came off the bench to run it in. Phillips got a 20-yard objectionable conduct penalty for arguing the call and Duval booted a single on the ensuing kickoff to close the scoring. Alouettes slotback Ben Cahoon waited until the first play of the fourth quarter before grabbing a 13-yard pass to give him at least one reception in 100 consecutive games. The last time he didn't make a catch was in August, 2002. The Alouettes led 15-10 at the half. Ian Smart fumbled a punt and Dahrran Diedrick recovered on the Lions' two-yard line to set up Cobourne's touchdown 3:50 into the game. A punt single made it 8-0 at 11:41. The Lions then mounted two impressive marches, the first leading to Paul McCallum's 34-yard field goal 32 seconds into the second quarter and the next an eight-yard TD pass to Hill. B.C. was in Montreal territory again when Logan fumbled and Kai Ellis recovered at the Montreal 33. They led to an 18-yard Duval placement, while Mark Estelle picked off a Pierce pass to set up a 37-yard Duval boot with five seconds left in the half. Pierce led another drive on his first possession of the second half that he finished by scrambling four yards into the end zone at 7:19 to regain a two-point lead. But rookie Paul Waldu intercepted and ran the ball to the B.C. 36, setting up Calvillo's 24-yard TD pass to Richardson 59 seconds into the fourth quarter. Calvillo's TD pass gave him 306 in his career, tied for third place all-time with Matt Dunigan. The game featured two of the league's best pass rushes, but neither side had a sack. "But they had pressure," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman. "They got close a couple of times and Anthony had to release a little quicker than he wanted. "They could have been big plays." Calvillo was held to 231 passing yards - 114 of them on eight throws to Richardson. Simon (133) and Logan (104) both cracked the century in receiving yards for B.C. Blah,Blah,Blah ..Here

August 15, 2008 - Montreal 32 @ Toronto 14

courtesy of cfl.ca TORONTO - Anthony Calvillo and the Montreal Alouettes are indeed the Beasts of the East. Calvillo threw three touchdown passes to lead Montreal to its third straight win, a 32-14 decision over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night. Calvillo has a CFL-high 20 touchdown passes this season as Montreal (5-3) improved to 5-0 within the East Division to take a four-point lead atop the standings. "That's huge," Calvillo said. "All these games are going to add up, especially as you get to the second half of the season. "We want to have every tie-breaker possible if it comes down to that because there's so many games left and teams could turn it around and others could go downhill so we have to make sure that we go out there and keep putting up wins, especially when we're playing Eastern opponents." Calvillo, who turns 36 next week, enjoyed some rare success against Toronto, completing 27-of-41 passes for 379 yards and the three TDs. He came in averaging just 184 yards passing against the Argos in 39 career matchups, with 33 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, including five in one game. "It's never that easy, I'll tell you that," Calvillo said. "I think it's all of us. "The receivers are getting open and buying into what Marc (Als rookie head coach Marc Trestman) and the rest of the coaching staff has brought to this team. Right now, we're practising at a high, fast pace and we're carrying that to the field and it's working for us." Trestman, though, stopped well short of calling his team the best in the east. "I don't have any idea," he said. "I know we have the best record but I don't know that we're the best team. "I don't know that it matters right now. It's good to win games and that's what we're trying to do." Running back Avon Cobourne was also a big part of Montreal's success. He had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown and 107 yards on 16 carries. "I just feel like I'm a great player and that I've always been that player and there's no limit to what more I can do," Cobourne said. "I'm just going to keep getting better because I keep working for it. "I just have to keep humble and stay focused on what I'm doing." Toronto (3-5) suffered its second straight loss to remain second in the division heading into a bye week for all four Eastern squads. But at least the Argos managed to score in the second half on Andre Talbot's 20-yard TD catch at 11:56 of the fourth. Toronto came in having scored a combined eight second-half points in its three previous games and was outscored 21-7 in the second half by Montreal. Argos head coach Rich Stubler is so concerned about his team that he's cancelled plans to go golfing during the bye to watch game tape and hopefully find what's ailing his squad. "We have some good athletes and plans, we just have to figure out what we need to do better consistently," Stubler said. "We need to put points on the board. "We haven't scored touchdowns all season. You have to do that in this league." Calvillo delivered the knockout blow at 5:01 of the third, hitting Brian Bratton on a four-yard TD pass to put Montreal ahead 18-7, to the dismay of the gathering of 30,521 with the Rogers Centre roof closed. Davis Sanchez set up the touchdown, intercepting Toronto's Michael Bishop and returning it inside the Argos' 10-yard line. Bishop started the second half in place of starter Kerry Joseph despite Toronto trailing just 11-7. Joseph was 9-of-16 passing for 115 yards but was sacked three times and had trouble consistently leading the Argos offence, which mustered just 144 total first-half yards. "It was just awful," Joseph said. "We practise all right, play hard but we're not being productive. "It's mind boggling, frustrating." Bishop finished 9-of-20 passing for 126 yards with a TD and interception as Toronto finished with 303 total yards. "That's the story of the game, a lot of incompletes," said Bishop, who saw his first game action since July 10. "Our guys had the openings but couldn't hold on." Stubler said he went back to having offensive co-ordinator Steve Buratto calling plays Friday night instead of leaving it up to his quarterbacks. When asked why he made the quarterback change, Stubler refused to discuss it. But Trestman said Montreal was prepared to face either Joseph or Bishop. "We talked about both quarterbacks," he said. "They both strike the fear in you because of their ability to move around and make plays with their feet. "I thought our defence did a good job and it started with our pass rush. We were co-ordinated very well up there I thought." Ben Cahoon had Montreal's other touchdown. Damon Duval added two field goals - but saw his streak of 17 straight successful kicks end - three converts and two singles. Toronto's Mike Vanderjagt had two field goals, a convert and single. NOTES - Cahoon caught a pass on the first play from scrimmage to extend his streak to 99 straight games with at least a catch. Toronto's Arland Bruce III extended his streak to 48 straight contests as well . . . Montreal lost defensive back Randee Drew to a knee injury . . . Linebacker Kevin Eiben was among Toronto's pre-game scratches. Eiben played last week against Hamilton after missing two games with a knee injury. Veteran quarterback Brad Banks was among Montreal's scratches . . . Argos tackle Ross Weaver dressed for Friday's game but the American will report to Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming next week to work in nuclear weapons-missile training for the U.S. Air Force. At halftime, the Argos made a video salute to Weaver, who received a nice ovation from the crowd. Work your Mouth out ..Here !

August 8, 2008 - Montreal 39 @ Winnipeg 11

courtesy of cfl.ca WINNIPEG - Montreal kicker Damon Duval booted a career-high six field goals to lift his Alouettes into first place in the CFL's East Division with a 39-11 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night. Duval's 52-yarder in the second quarter was also the longest field goal of his four-year career. He added field goals of 33, 42, 23, 24 and 20 yards in front of 27,674 fans on an almost windless night at Canad Inns Stadium. The victory puts Montreal in sole possession of top spot in the East's top spot with a 4-3 record. Winnipeg is in the CFL basement at 1-6. Montreal's other scoring came off a one-yard touchdown plunge by backup quarterback Adrian McPherson, a 29-yard TD pass from Anthony Calvillo to Brian Bratton and a one-yard TD run by Avon Cobourne. Calvillo completed 25 of 35 pass attempts for 290 yards and one TD. Quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie got his third straight start for Winnipeg, but he was without injured receivers Milt Stegall, Terrence Edwards and Kerry Johnson. Dinwiddie was replaced by Kevin Glenn with eight minutes left in the game after he threw his first interception, and Duval booted his fifth field goal for a 29-4 lead. Glenn's first drive produced his team's only TD, a seven-yard catch by Derrick Armstrong at 9:40 that closed the gap to 29-11. Glenn was 8-of-12 for 80 yards and one TD and Dinwiddie was 16-of-26 for 193 yards and one interception. Winnipeg rookie kicker Alexis Serna missed three field goals - two from 49 yards and one from 40 yards - but was good on a 27-yarder and notched a point from a 59-yard punt single. Cobourne rushed 21 times for 137 yards. Bombers running back Charles Roberts still hasn't had a 100-yard rushing game this season. He finished with 11 carries for 61 yards. Montreal led 16-1 at halftime and 26-4 after three quarters. Duval booted a 33-yard field goal on his team's first possession of the game, but Serna went wide left on his first 49-yard attempt. Montreal fullback Kerry Carter helped set up his team's first TD with a 55-yard catch-and-run play to Winnipeg's one-yard line. McPherson replaced Calvillo for the goal-line play and first failed on a pass attempt. He then kept the ball for a one-yard TD plunge at 2:51. Serna got the Bombers on the board with a 59-yard punt single at 10:36 of the second, then Duval hit his 52-yarder two minutes later. Serna's 40-yard attempt on the last play of the first half hit the upright and Montreal took the 16-1 lead to the locker-room. Serna finally connected on a 27-yarder 5:01 into the third quarter, but went wide right on another 49-yard attempt and drew boos from the crowd. Bratton's TD as time ran out on the third quarter finished off an eight-play, 103-yard drive. Winnipeg's fortunes didn't get better on its next possession. Dinwiddie was intercepted by former Bomber defensive lineman Eric Wilson and the turnover led to Duval's 24-yarder and a 29-4 lead with eight minutes left in the game. The fourth quarter's scoring was rounded out with Armstrong and Cobourne's TDs and Duval's personal-best sixth field goal. Open Mike Rant ..Here !

July 31, 2008 - Montreal 40 vs. Hamilton 33

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - Pleased as he was to achieve his latest milestone accomplishment, Anthony Calvillo has bigger goals in sight for the Montreal Alouettes. Calvillo became the fourth quarterback in CFL history to reach 300 career touchdown passes as Montreal ended a three-game losing streak with a 40-33 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday night. Calvillo hit wide receiver Kerry Watkins in the end zone 3:46 into the second quarter for the first of his two touchdown passes of the game. With the 30-yard pass, the 15-year veteran joined all-time CFL touchdown pass leaders Damon Allen, Ron Lancaster and Matt Dunigan as the only quarterbacks to reach the 300-touchdown pass plateau. "It's something that I'm definitely going to reflect on, now and then when I'm done," Calvillo said. "I continue to stay healthy and I'm surrounded by good talent and good things are going to come from that, so as long as I can stay healthy and these guys do their job around me, we're going to do some special things here in Montreal." Calvillo added his 301st touchdown pass in the third quarter with an 81-yard completion to Jamel Richardson on the first play from scrimmage of the second half to put Montreal up 21-11. "It was a huge play, obviously, to be able to start fast but to my recollection the last three games I think we've started fast in the third quarter," Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman said. "I just wanted them to forget about the first half and move on, like it didn't happen. The game was 0-0 and just go play, and they handled it very well and they finished the game." After squandering an early 15-3 lead as Hamilton drew within four going into the half, Montreal scored 25 points in the second half. Avon Cobourne scored the Alouettes' third touchdown of the game on a three-yard run in the fourth as Montreal evened its record at 3-3 before another sold-out Percival Molson Stadium crowd of 20,202. Hamilton backup quarterback Richie Williams started in place of Casey Printers, who is sidelined by a right thumb injury. Williams scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in his first start of the season as the Tiger-Cats lost their fourth in a row to fall to 1-5. "Offensively, I thought we did some good things," Hamilton head coach Charlie Taaffe said. "Richie did what he can do. We had too many penalties. I don't know what the total was but we've been doing good. The last time we lost the penalty ratio was the first game against Montreal and the rest of the games we've been plus." Montreal's Damon Duval kicked five field goals, including a pair of at least 50 yards. Duval kicked a season-high 50-yarder 8:56 into the first and added a 12-yard chip shot with 24 seconds remaining in the opening quarter to put Montreal up 8-3. Duval tied the longest field goal of his career with a 51-yard effort in the third quarter that extended the Alouettes' lead to 25-11. After Hamilton conceded a safety, Duval kicked his fourth field goal of the game late in the third from 28 yards out. He added a 13-yard field goal with 52 seconds left in the fourth to put Montreal up by 40-26. "Any game you can come in and go 5-for-5, it's definitely a good feeling, especially two of them being 50 and 51," Duval said. Hamilton right tackle Marko Cavka recovered a fumble for a one-yard touchdown run with 3.2 seconds remaining. Tiger-Cats running back Jesse Lumsden suffered a right ankle injury late in the first half when he was tackled by Montreal free safety Joel Wright on a three-yard run. Lumsden had his ankle taped and remained on the Hamilton bench throughout the second half. "He's got an ankle sprain, whatever that is," Taafe said. "I don't know if it's a high ankle sprain or not but it is a sprained ankle and obviously he wasn't able to come back in this game so we'll have to see how he responds over the weekend to treatment and we've got a full week to get ready for the next one so hopefully, I know he'll do everything he can to get back." Flap yer Gums ..Here !

July 25, 2008 - Montreal 34 @ British Columbia 36

courtesy of cfl.ca VANCOUVER - Paul McCallum kicked a clutch 36-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining Friday as the B.C. Lions won their third straight CFL game by beating the Montreal Alouettes 36-34. McCallum was money for the Lions all night as he made all five of his field goal tries, the longest from 39 yards. The Lions improved to 3-2 with their eighth consecutive victory over Montreal at B.C. Place Stadium while the Alouettes slipped to 2-3 with their third consecutive loss. B.C. quarterback Jarious Jackson threw a TD pass to Paris Jackson to give the Lions a 30-27 lead in the see-saw game. Joe Smith plunged over from one yard and Ian Smart had a spectacular 91-yard kickoff return for the other B.C. touchdown. Brian Bratton gathered in the first two TD passes of his CFL career from quarterback Anthony Calvillo who also found Kerry Watkins in the end zone. Backup quarterback Adrian McPherson plunged over from one yard for the other Alouette TD. Kicker Damon Duval added two field goals, three converts and a single. The Alouettes took a 17-6 lead at halftime although both Calvillo and B.C. quarterback Jarious Jackson struggled for completions. Montreal gave up a McCallum field goal on the Lions' first possession that saw Geroy Simon snag a 19-yard sideline pass to break Jim Young's club record of 9,248 receiving yards. The Als then regrouped to score 17 points. They ran the ball only five times in last week's loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders but gave it three times to all-purpose back Avon Cobourne on their first possession. Cobourne had 65 yards on the drive, which ended on a one-yard plunge by McPherson, and 108 in the first half. Kerry Watkins gathered in an eight-yard strike from Calvillo for a 13-3 lead on a drive kept alive on a penalty when B.C. corner back Dante Marsh contacted Duval on a field goal attempt. Barron Miles blocked the covert but Duval got the point back on the ensuing kickoff with a 91-yard single. Calvillo found the range again on Montreal's first possession of the second half, completing all eight pass attempts on a 67-yard drive that ended with a four-yard catch by Bratton. The Lions closed the gap to 27-23 entering the fourth quarter on Smart's electrifying kickoff return and a one-yard plunge by Joe Smith. Duval was the only player who had a chance to tackle the speedy Smart who gave the Lions their first kickoff return for a touchdown in four seasons. Smith's TD was set up by a fumble recovery by Reggie Myles and a pass interference call in the end zone on Davis Sanchez on a ball intended for Paris Jackson. Jarious Jackson went back to Paris Jackson on the Lions' first possession of the fourth quarter as the wideout gave B.C. its first lead of the game at 30-27 with a 43-yard sideline grab. Notes: All in the family ... B.C. defensive back Korey Banks and Montreal backup quarterback Brad Banks are cousins ... Lions' defensive tackle Aaron Hunt and Als' linebacker Reggie Hunt are brothers ... the Lions beat the Alouettes 46-14 at B.C. Place in 2007 but lost 32-14 in Montreal ... third-year Lion Dean Valli replaced guard Sherko Haji-Rasouli who reinjured his hamstring last week against Winnipeg. Gabba Gabba Hey ..Here !

July 19, 2008 - Montreal 33 @ Saskatchewan 41

courtesy of cfl.ca REGINA - Behind by two points with just over two minutes to play, Saskatchewan Roughriders' defensive tackle Jimmy Verdon swatted a Montreal Alouettes pass into the hands of teammate Lance Frazier to set up the touchdown that pulled the Riders ahead and on their way to a 41-33 victory Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium. Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant, who started his second game for Saskatchewan in his fourth season with the team, scored on a one-yard run to put his team ahead. Durant completed 23 of 34 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. He threw two interceptions. Saskatchewan is 4-0 for the first time since 1970. The game's first touchdown was called back after Roughriders' rookie head coach Ken Miller was successful on the first challenge of his CFL career. On the play, Durant threw a pass to Wes Cates, who was immediately hit by Alouettes defensive back Chip Cox. The ball popped loose and Montreal's Davis Sanchez scooped up the ball and raced 64 yards to the end zone. The play was reviewed and it was ruled that Cates didn't have possession of the ball. Cates had 15 carries for 107 yards. Near the end of the first quarter, Alouettes' linebacker Reggie Hunt picked off a Durant pass. On the next play, Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo hit Kerry Watkins on a post pattern for a 32-yard touchdown for a 7-2 lead after Damon Duval's convert. Calvillo completed 29 of 41 passes for 352 yards and four touchdowns. The Riders came back by driving 71 yards to set up a field goal by Luca Congi from 16 yards out to cut the lead to 7-5. Congi finished the game 4-for-4, with the longest from 45 yards. Duval was good on his only field goal from 26 yards out. With just over a minute left before half time, Durant completed a 40-yard pass to Cates. On the following play, Cates took another Durant pass for 25 yards into the end zone to put the Roughriders 15-10 at the half. But Saskatchewan's lead wouldn't last long. Hunt picked off a Durant pass intended for Andy Fantuz, which would eventually set up set up a 17-yard completion from Calvillo to Jamel Richardson for the major to make the score 17-15 for Montreal. Each team would add another third-quarter touchdown to head into the fourth quarter with Montreal ahead 24-22. Yakity-Yak..Do Talk Back

July 10 2008 - Calgary 23 @ Montreal 19

courtesy of cfl.ca MONTREAL - In a battle of the CFL's top two offensive clubs, it was the Calgary Stampeders defence that came out on top. Joffrey Reynolds and Ken-Yon Rambo scored touchdowns and Sandro DeAngelis went 3-for-4 on field goals as the Stampeders held Montreal to only two points in the second half of a 23-19 victory over the Alouettes on Thursday night. "It was unbelievable, especially after being down 17-7 at the half," said Calgary defensive lineman Mike Labinjo. Quarterback Henry Burris excelled with his arm and his feet on some long scrambles, leading his team with 77 rushing yards, as Calgary (2-1) got a rare road win. The Stampeders had been 2-12 in their previous 14 road games. Jamel Richardson had the only TD for Montreal, with the rest coming from three field goals and a pair of punt singles from Damon Duval. The Alouettes fell to 2-1 as they suffered their first loss under head coach Marc Trestman, whose quick-strike attack had overwhelmed Hamilton and Winnipeg in their previous two games. "I thought that if we held Calgary to 23 points we would have a good night," said Trestman. "We held their running back (Reynolds) pretty well, but Burris is a dangerous guy running and throwing the ball. He did a great job. "I don't think we were going all systems go. We had plays where we didn't convert. They did a lot of things we'd seen before, but they did them with great effort." Before the game, it was a toss-up whether they would run up a big score or whether defensive co-ordinators Chris Jones of Calgary and Tim Burke of Montreal, who switched teams in the off-season, would shut one another down. It was Jones' blitzing line that had the upper hand from late in the first half, while Montreal struggled to contain Burris out of the pocket and Reynolds' sweeps to the outside, although they made Calgary work for every point. At 20-18 going into the final 15 minutes, only Duval's second single of the game went up on the board until DeAngelis hit from 40 yards with 12 seconds left to play. "I thought it would be a defensive battle, but I didn't think 20 points would be enough to win," said Calgary coach John Hufnagel. "It's all about playing your hardest," added rush end Charleston Hughes. "It's who wanted it on this day. "As a defensive line, we play hard to try to get to the quarterback. That's how you have success." Charleston Hughes and Eddie Freeman were in on the hit five minutes into the second half that left Calvillo with a dislocated small finger on his left (non-throwing) hand. Brad Banks took over briefly, but Calvillo was able to return for the next series "I was able to come back," said Calvillo, adding that it did not affect is game. "We have to give credit to Calgary. "They had a good defensive game plan, but I was disappointed with a couple of throws I made to Richardson (in the second half) that could have changed the game." Burris was good on 26 of 35 passes for 284 yards, while Calvillo went 21-for-35 for 341 yards, including six to Kerry Watkins for 128 yards. But Calgary out-rushed Montreal 153-25. Montreal tailback Avon Cobourne was held to only 23 yards on five carries. And after dominating time of possession in their first two games, the Alouettes had the ball nearly 10 minutes less than Calgary. The first half saw each team score only one touchdown and the rest came from the kickers. Montreal built an 11-0 lead by the 14:25 mark as Duval kicked a field goal and missed wide on another, and then Calvillo hit Richardson with a 67-yard touchdown strike down the middle. The Stampeders answered back with a seven-play drive highlighted by Burris' 38-yard keep and capped by Reynolds' eight-yard TD around the left side 2:43 into the second quarter. The Alouettes were forced to settle for two more field goals before a late Calgary drive led to DeAngelis' 25-yard effort as time expired in the half. Calgary tied it 17-17 on their first possession of the second half as Burris found Rambo alone at the back of the end zone at 3:29. Montreal got a point on a punt and then DeAngelis hit a 32-yard field goal at 9:33 to put the Stamps ahead 20-18 - the first time this season the Alouettes trailed in a game. A 50-yard DeAngelis attempt fell short in the fourth quarter - his first missed field goal in 20 career attempts against Montreal - but then made good from 40 on his fourth attempt of the night. Notes: Flamboyant boxing promoter Don King, in town for the Joachim Alcine-Daniel Santos WBA title fight on Friday night, attended the game as a guest of Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall . . . A moment of silence was held for B.C. Lions president Bob Ackles, who died Sunday of a heart attack . . . The Alouettes drew their 80th straight sell-out of 20,202 at Percival Molson Stadium. Blow Your Face Out Here !

July 4, 2008 - Winnipeg 24 @ Montreal 38

courtesty of cfl.ca MONTREAL - Ben Cahoon and Danny Desriveaux shared a slotback position and both came away with a bit of glory for the Montreal Alouettes. Each was on the receiving end of one of Anthony Calvillo's four touchdown passes as the Alouettes downed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 38-24 on Friday night, handing rookie coach Marc Trestman and his high-tempo offence a second win in as many CFL games. Cahoon's three-yard catch late in the first quarter was the 55th of his 11-year career, passing 1970s great Peter Dalla Riva for the team record. And Desriveaux posted his first career 100-yard receiving game, grabbing eight passes for 105 yards and his second career TD. Cahoon missed last week's season-opening 33-10 win in Hamilton with a leg injury and was used sparingly while second-year slotback Desriveaux got most of the work. He got the record TD on only his second play in the game. "It's a fluke thing how it worked out," said Cahoon. "It was a play that wasn't really in the game plan. "It's cool, but this game was about much more than that. It was about Jamel Richardson making great catches and Danny Desriveaux playing great, the offensive line doing a great job and Anthony playing his heart out." Richardson made a spectacular one-handed catch behind Anthony Malbrough to cap Montreal's first drive, while Kerry Watkins also had a TD catch and Avon Cobourne ran one in for Montreal to build a 31-7 halftime lead. Charles Roberts was limited to 11 yards on six carries for 0-2 Winnipeg, but scored on a three-yard run, while Derick Armstrong made a 29-yard TD catch and Jovan Johnson picked off a Calvillo pass and ran it back 79 yards for a touchdown. The Bombers, who beat Montreal in all four of their meetings last year, now face consecutive games against the talented B.C. Lions beginning next Friday night at home. "We'll approach it like any other game," said Bombers quarterback Kevin Glenn, who rebounded from a rough first half to complete 26 passes for 313 yards. "These two games are behind us. "We're not out of it. It's only two games. But we need to get something going really fast." How much Cahoon will play against Calgary on Thursday at Percival Molson Stadium remains up in the air, but Trestman may find time and space for both in his offence. "It was good to see Ben back in there," said Trestman. "Danny is a very unselfish player. "He stepped up and did good things again. Danny can play any position on our team now." Desriveaux, who caught six passes last week in Cahoon's spot and now leads the team in catches, said: "It'll be tough to sleep. I visualize a lot and every one I thought of happened in the game. For me to get 100 yards in Montreal and my first TD, it's a real high." It was also a big night for Calvillo, who has been on fire since returning to the team. He missed the end of last season to be with his wife Alexia, who was battling cancer. She and their daughter were among the crowd of 20,202 watching as he completed 34 of 44 passes for 372 yards. Calvillo used to call his own plays, but Trestman, a former NFL offensive co-ordinator, has taken that over. In two games, Calvillo has passed for 665 yards and six TDs. "Just being back on the field is special," Calvillo said. "We came up with a lot of new stuff this year and it takes a while for the defences to adjust. "They did a good job in the second half. They shut us down a bit. So we needed to make some plays in the fourth quarter." Johnson's interception made it a 10-point game going into the fourth. A nine-yard Alexis Serna field goal cut the lead to seven, but Calvillo answered with a long drive on which he made two long scrambles, capped by Cobourne's one-yard TD run with 4:55 to go. The Alouettes marched 60 yards on eight plays on their opening drive capped up former Saskatchewan Roughrider Richardson's 11-yard catch. Serna, punting in place of injured Duncan O'Mahony, dropped a snap for a second week in a row and Montreal took over on the Winnipeg 13. Two plays later, Cahoon had his record catch and a standing ovation. Watkins caught an 18-yard pass to make it 21-0 only 2:20 into the second quarter, but momentum may have turned on their next possession when the Bombers stopped them on third down and less than a yard at midfield. The call stood up to a challenge for what Montreal thought was a stingy spot of the ball. The Winnipeg line had stuffed Montreal on third-and-one three times last season, but while Glenn got the Bombers close, the officials gave them a mean spot for third-and-two at the 10 and the threat ended when Glenn overthrew Arjei Franklin in the end zone. Montreal drove back for Desriveaux's three-yard TD catch with 2:04 left in the half, but the Winnipeg offence finally found life and Roberts scored from the three at 13:38. Damon Duval booted a 42-yard field goal to end the half. Notes - The Bombers are missing three regulars from their offensive line: Dominic Picard (ankle), Obby Khan (colitis) and Matt Sheridan (groin). Slotback Milt Stegall (knee) missed a second straight game. . . The Alouettes were without back-up quarterback Marcus Brady (shoulder), safety Mathieu Proulx (hamstring), slotback Elijah Thurmon (knee) and linemen Alain Kashama (knee) and Kai Ellis (knee). . . Former Montreal safety Etienne Boulay, who is to attend the New York Jets camp, said he will be back if he doesn't make the NFL club. Yakity Yak-Yak Here !

June 26, 2008 - Montreal 33 @ Hamilton 10

courtesy of cfl.ca HAMILTON - Anthony Calvillo threw two touchdown strikes and became the second-leading passer in CFL history as the Montreal Alouettes battered the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-10 in the season opener for both clubs Thursday night. Calvillo moved past Danny McManus (53,255 yards) late in the third quarter with a 22-yard completion to former Ticat Jason Armstead. On the following play, Calvillo hit Kerry Watkins with a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 23-3 before a sparse Ivor Wynne Stadium gathering of 20,587. Calvillo, in his 15th CFL season and 11th with Montreal, finished a workmanlike 25-of-37 passing for 293 yards. Watkins had six catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns. The game marked a triumphant return for Calvillo, 35, who left the Alouettes late last year when his wife was diagnosed with a form of cancer. According to Calvillo, his wife has responded well to treatments. Calvillo came into the game just 205 yards behind McManus but has a ways to catch recently retired Damon Allen, who is pro football's career passing leader with 72,381 yards. Calvillo's heroics made a winner of Montreal's Marc Trestman in his CFL head coaching debut. Trestman was hired in the off-season to replace Jim Popp, who returned to his full-time duties as the Alouettes' GM. Under Popp last year, the Als posted an 8-10-0 record, their first losing mark since returning to the CFL in 1996. It was an inauspicious debut for the Ticats, who haven't won a home or season opener since 2004. Hamilton finished with a league-worst 3-15 record last year and has missed the playoffs three straight seasons. Starter Casey Printers had a decent outing, completing 15-of-21 passes for 203 yards and rushing three times for 33 yards. But he got little help from his supporting cast, was sacked three times and Hamilton had three turnovers, compared to none for Montreal. Avon Cobourne had Montreal's other touchdown. Damon Duval booted four field goals and three converts. Tre Smith scored Hamilton's TD on a 75-yard fourth-quarter run. Nick Setta had the convert and field goal. Montreal dominated the opening half, but its 16-3 half-time lead flattered Hamilton. A turnover on downs in the first quarter set up Calvillo's nine-yard TD strike to Watkins to give the visitors a 10-0 lead. Then in the second, Montreal recovered Hamilton receiver Scott Mitchell's fumble to set up a 20-yard Duval field goal to make it 13-0. The Alouettes then drove to Hamilton's one-yard line, but had to settle for an 11-yard Duval field goal for a 16-0 advantage. Hamilton's offence came alive late in the second, with Printers driving the unit from its one-yard line to the Montreal nine before settling for Setta's 16-yard field goal at 14:43. The Ticats caught a break when Pat Woodcock was credited with a 31-yard completion to Montreal's nine-yard line despite having a foot out of bounds. That drive came after Hamilton struggled mightily to mount any offensive consistency. Its opening drive culminated with Montreal stopping running back Jesse Lumsden on third and short, then the Ticats went two and out on the second series. Mitchell, who had dropped an easy catch on the opening drive, appeared to give Hamilton a first down with a catch in the second, but he lost the fumble. Setta hit a 44-yard field goal, but it was nullified by a procedure call, forcing him to punt. His boot sailed through the end zone, but Hamilton didn't get the point because it accepted a Montreal holding call that put the Als on their own five-yard line. However, even that backfired as Duval eventually launched a 64-yard punt that went out of bounds at the Ticats' three-yard line before a holding call on the play pushed them back to the one-yard line. NOTES - The game marked the first time since '77 that the CFL season opened in Hamilton . . . The Ticats didn't dress defensive back Jermaine Mays, running back Terry Cauley, offensive lineman Marko Cavka and receiver JoJo Walker. Montreal didn't dress linebackers Reggie Hunt and Shawn Gallant, receiver Larry Taylor and defensive end Jermaine McElveen . . . The Alouettes were also minus slotback Ben Cahoon, running back Jarrett Payton and backup quarterback Marcus Brady, all of whom are on the injured list.   Gabba Gabba Hey Here !