By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Vancouver – The football Gods in a playful mood Friday night.
Just over a year ago, the Als were playing host to the BC Lions in another Friday-night matchup, much like the one that transpired last night.
With Montreal up 30-25 and no time remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lions were given three chances to score from the goal line thanks to three different Alouette penalties – only to come up short on all three occasions, sending Percival Molson Stadium into a frenzy.
Fast forward to Friday night and you’ll notice some very interesting similarities, with a few minor differences: Trailing 19-12 with a minute left, the Anthony Calvillo-led Alouettes marched into BC territory and found themselves in a third-and-one situation with the game on the line.
Like BC in last season’s delight, the Als had three separate chances to convert, but found themselves on the short side of the line of scrimmage following controversial officiating error and handed the ball back to the Lions.
The play came after Avon Cobourne gained a first down that was negated as BC coach Wally Buono had called timeout just before the snap. Following that veteran coaching move, Cobourne again lined up next to Calvillo and was handed the ball, but this time found the end zone, seemingly tying the game at 19 apiece… until the officials got involved.
Following the touchdown, the play immediately went to review and the officials deemed that the clock had not been properly re-set. The play was ruled to be re-played even though the mistake had nothing to do with anything that transpired on the field, and Cobourne was then stopped on try number three.
Not a bad night overall
Despite the loss, Calvillo threw for 294 yards, 146 of them to receiver Jamel Richardson, while Cobourne had another solid day on the ground, registering 93 yards.
On the other side of the ball, while the Als are usually rock solid against the run, BC running back Martell Mallett had the game of his life, racking up 213 yards. Mallett is the first running back this season to eclipse the century mark against the Alouettes.
Notes
Ben Cahoon extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 118… Jamel Richardson had his first game with over 100 yards receiving… Éric Deslauriers scored his first career special teams touchdown… J.P. Bekesiak recovered a fumble in his first game as an Alouette… Lions coach Wally Buono tied former Alouette coach Don Matthew’s all-time CFL record of 231 career wins.
The Als will host the Lions in a rematch of their Labour Day Weekend battle next Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. (RDSHD, TSNHD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM, 98.5 FM).
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