By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – All aboard!
Following their 42-11 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last Monday at Percival Molson Stadium, head coach Marc Trestman and the Alouettes head down the 401 to Toronto where they hope to complete a regular season series sweep over the Argonauts (4-11-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.
This will be a special road game for the Als (10-5-0) as over 600 Montreal fans will be making the trip to Toronto on the Alouettes Fan Train to support their team.
Last week saw the Als avenge an earlier 44-38 loss at Hamilton on the back end of a home-and-home with the Ticats, using their aerial attack to pick a part the Hamilton secondary and scoring four touchdowns through the air in the process.
Slotback Ben Cahoon had one of the most productive games of his prolific 11-year career, racking up 164 yards on a team-record-tying 13 receptions and catching one of quarterback Anthony Calvillo’s three touchdown tosses on the day.
Calvillo continued to make a statement that he his back in full form following a difficult 2007 season, throwing for 371 yards against Hamilton. He now has a league leading 5,079 yards with three games to go in the regular season.
After running back Avon Cobourne left midway through the first quarter due to injury, backup tailback Dahrran Diedrick took over the Alouettes running game, amassing 127 yards on just 15 carries, including an explosive 37-yard run in the third quarter. This marked the first 100-yard rushing game of Diedrick’s career.
For Toronto, what was supposed to be an exciting season with Grey Cup aspirations has turned into a confusing year at the bottom half of the CFL’s East Division.
Last week saw the Argos fall victim to the on-the-rise Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Since being dealt from Saskatchewan following his Grey Cup championship and MVP season in 2007, Toronto quarterback Kerry Joseph has struggled in Toronto, completing just 56 per cent of his passes and throwing just six touchdowns.
This game will also mark the Als’ first game against recently-hired Toronto head coach Don Matthews, who coached Montreal from 2002 to near the end of 2006 when he left the team due to health issues.
Matthews replaced Rich Stubler as the Argos’ head man midway through this season and has gone 0-5 while trying to figure out what has gone wrong in Toronto this year.
The Alouettes take on the Argonauts at Toronto’s Rogers Centre this Saturday at 3 p.m. (RDS, TSN, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD)
