By Jack Bedell,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Seconds after the Alouettes’ convincing 27-9 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Anthony Calvillo exhibited the best trait of leadership I can think of.
He immediately deflected credit for the victory to every corner of Percival Molson Stadium, sending props to the Als’ defence for playing lights-out, to his protection for giving him time to see the whole field, to his receivers for supreme effort on every play, to his running game for keeping drives going, and to the fans for keeping up All-Star intensity throughout the tilt.
Calvillo didn’t mention – and I’m positive would have shrugged off – his own phenomenal performance. It was the kind of excellence, however, that cannot go unnoticed.
While numbers simply can’t do Calvillo’s night justice, here are a few highlights worth jotting down. He was a cool 30 of 44 for 354 yards and a TD, and was just inches from cracking 400 yards on a deep pass to Elijah Thurmon that barely missed its mark.
Ten different receivers contributed to Calvillo’s 68 per cent completion rate. That’s more than just distributing the ball. That’s keeping every available playmaker involved in the game, and there’s no limit to the value of making sure every player is productive in the offence.
In the second quarter with the game still very much in doubt, Calvillo led the Als’ offence on two crushing drives that took control of the match. The first was a 12-play drive that ended with Marcus Brady pushing in from the one-yard line, and the second was a 14-play backbreaker culminating in a major to Thurmon with four seconds left in the half.
The drive at the end of the half also included a third-and-10 conversion to Kerry Watkins that was stone-cold lethal.
Calvillo and the Als’ offence were so dominant Saturday night that with five minutes remaining in the game the first down totals were actually more lopsided than the score with the Als leading the tally 27-9. In a word, that’s proficiency.
To be sure, the Alouettes have been winning as a team for over a month now, and several players deserve kudos for their efforts. But since AC was singled out for some of the team’s early struggles, he deserves to be singled out for their recent successes.
