Montreal records its first shutout since 1976
By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – It’s been over 30 years since the Alouettes last held an opponent scoreless and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Following a disappointing 33-19 loss last week in Edmonton, Montreal’s defence sacked Toronto quarterbacks Kerry Joseph and Cody Pickett a combined seven times, shutting out the sputtering Argonauts 25-0 in front of an 89th-consecutive sellout crowd at Percival Molson Stadium.
“First of all I have to give a lot of credit to Tim Burke. He’s the guy who put the game plan together,” head coach Marc Trestman said. “The players did a great job because they worked very hard this week. I think we saw a bit of adversity last week and the guys just went back to work and it paid off. Let’s also give some credit to Toronto’s defence, though. They also played a great game.”
Montreal’s defence dominated on the whole with veteran rush end Anwar Stewart registering a pair of sacks, and Jermaine McElveen contributing three of his own to being the Als’ sack total to 20 so far this year.
On the other side of the ball, Alouette quarterback Anthony Calvillo rebounded as expected, completing 81 per cent of his passes for a total of 390 yards en route to the win.
In doing so, Calvillo and the Alouettes chopped through the criticism brought on by their Week 5 loss in Edmonton, brushed off all questions regarding any offensive struggles, and of course, asserted themselves as the top team in the CFL’s East Division.
Perhaps most importantly for the Alouettes, however, was that the Calvillo-to-Cahoon sleeping giant of a tandem came to life.
12,000 yards for Cahoon
Slotback Ben Cahoon garnered 103 yards on eight receptions, including an historic second-quarter seven-yard catch to give him over 12,000 yards on his career. Cahoon also leapfrogged former CFL receiver Derrell Mitchell for seventh place in that same category.
“I had no idea that it was happening so it was a nice surprise – it’s a pretty big accomplishment after 12 years. I don’t really think about numbers though. To tell you the truth, I think I’m more suprised that I’ve lasted this long than impressed with the numbers,” Cahoon said.
Though Calvillo failed to register a passing touchdown for the second consecutive game, his protégé Adrian McPherson got his first major of the season, connecting with tackle-turned-tight end Eric Wilson from one yard out for Wilson’s first career major.
“We won the game tonight and that’s the biggest thing tonight. For us, it’s important that we win every game at home. We won tonight and we’re excited about that now,” Calvillo said.
And of course, the league’s top rusher had to make an appearance in some shape or form.
In a meeting of the CFL’s top tailbacks, Avon Cobourne outrushed Toronto’s Jamal Robertson, 54-20 and extended his league-leading touchdowns total to seven with two in the win.
Notes
Stewart now trails Elfrid Payton by just three sacks for the all-time team lead… CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon was on hand for the game… The shutout was the eighth in team history for the Alouettes and their third against the Argonauts (all three coming at home).
The Alouettes will next visit the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg’s Canad Inns Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. (RDS HD, TSN HD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM, 98,5 FM).
