 |
By Richard Obrand, Montreal – With the CFL releasing its nominees for the Most Outstanding Player awards this and a few Alouettes slated as favourites to walk away with some hardware, it’s safe to say Montreal (11-6-0) has had a most outstanding season. But it’s not over yet. There’s still the matter of the last game of the regular season this Friday night against the Edmonton Eskimos (9-8-0) at Commonwealth Stadium. There may be nothing on the line this week in terms of how either team will finish out 2008, but both teams need to be sharp nonetheless. The Eskimos will visit the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg for the East Division Semi-Final on Nov. 8 – with the winner moving on to face the Alouettes in the East Final at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on Nov. 15. Last week saw the Als drop only their second game to an East Division opponent, losing a 24-23 heartbreaker to the Bombers, while the Eskimos were handed a 55-9 walloping at Saskatchewan. Alouettes Most Outstanding Player nominee Anthony Calvillo had a relatively cool day at the tail end of a hot season, completing just 52 per cent of his passes. One of the few positives for Montreal came when defensive back Khalil Carter collected his second interception of the season on an errant pass by Bombers quarterback Kevin Glenn, running it back 50 yards for a major. Across the country, the Eskimos were made examples of by the Roughriders. The Riders elected to start untested Steven Jyles, but after throwing two interceptions, he was replaced by Michael Bishop who made short work of the Eskimo defence. Bishop completed 90 per cent of his passes and threw for two touchdowns, while Wes Cates rumbled in for an additional pair of scores. This week’s meeting marks the second of the 2008 campaign between Montreal and Edmonton, the first a 40-4 win for the Alouettes late last September. Calvillo had a career day, throwing for 414 yards – 148 more than Edmonton quarterbacks Jason Maas and Ricky Ray combined. With Calvillo facing off against BC’s Cameron Wake for the Most Outstanding Player award, four other Alouettes are also in the spotlight with the possibility of taking home hardware. Ben Cahoon is up for his third top Canadian trophy, Scott Flory is up for the Most Outstanding Lineman award, Larry Taylor is the Als’ nominee for both best rookie and special-teamer, and Keron Williams is the top Montreal defender this year. The Alouettes visit the Eskimos at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium this Friday night at 9 p.m. Eastern (RDS, TSN, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD). |
