By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – It looks as if things are finally beginning to sort themselves out for Marc Trestman and his Alouettes.
Following his team’s loss to Henry Burris and the Stampeders last week in Calgary, questions arose regarding the team’s true identity.
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Are they a league-wide force, or just the “Beasts of the East?” With the loss, the Alouettes seemed like the latter, considering their dominance over their Eastern counterparts and their inconsistency against their cross-country foes. While a perfect record against the East Division is nice, one would think that some success against the West would be even nicer. If getting through the West is going to be the path to the Grey Cup, before today it seemed as if the host team was becoming less and less likely to be a contender with every Western loss. Following their Sunday afternoon dismantling of the Eskimos, however, the Als showed the CFL they can not only compete with the West Division, but they can win. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo completed 31 of his 38 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Mike Imoh had a pair of scores as well as the Alouettes rolled over the Eskimos 40-4 in front of an 84th-straight sellout crowd at Percival Molson Stadium. The Alouettes scored on their first six drives, racking up 30 points on three field goals and a trio of touchdowns. Kicker Damon Duval returned to his usual form, connecting on all four of his field goals – his longest coming from 40 yards out. Duval put the Als on the board early, making a 24-yard chip shot to put the Als up 3-0. |
Five minutes later, he put the Als up by six after his 19-yard kick split the uprights.
Following an Edmonton single, backup quarterback Adrian McPherson – who usually pounds his way to first downs on short yardage situations – found himself in the clear for a 24-yard gain which set up the first of Imoh’s touchdowns, the second coming just seven minutes later.
With the Als up 20-1 in the second quarter, Calvillo found favourite target Jamel Richardson for a 58-yard touchdown pass, his seventh of the season.
With the score at 30-1 for the Alouettes, Edmonton kicker Noel Prefontaine connected on a 24-yard field goal, putting a minor dent into the Alouettes’ lead.
With the game miles out of reach, Calvillo found Kerry Watkins for a 10-yard score to give the Als a 40-4 lead.
The game marked the first time this year that three Alouette receivers had 100-yard games as Ben Cahoon, Watkins and Richardson all eclipsed the century mark.
“We knew we had to come out strong and get points, (Edmonton) has a great offence and we just had to go out and put points on the board,” said Calvillo.
Jermaine McElveen had a game to remember as well, as just last week the defensive end was on the Als’ practice roster. This afternoon, however, he gave Trestman every reason to keep him dressed for next week’s matchup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home, as he forced a pair of Edmonton fumbles and registered one sack.
“I just took the opportunity given to me and ran with it,” said McElveen.
With the victory, the Als now have two wins against teams from the West Division. Montreal’s record against the West isn’t a concern for at least one key member of the team, however.
“We’re not concerned with it,” Calvillo said. “In our locker room, it never even comes up.”
The Alouettes next face the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium. (RDS, TSN, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD, 98,5 FM)
