Als look to finish the season perfect at home
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Media notes
By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – Having been brought down back to earth following their 41-24 loss to Michael Bishop and the Blue Bombers (7-9-0) last week in Winnipeg, this week the Alouettes (13-3-0) will look to rediscover their winning ways as they welcome the same Bombers for a re-match at Percival Molson Stadium.
As they have been enjoying one of the most successful seasons since in franchise history, Als fans have had very little to sulk about in 2009, having gone through just three weeks without bragging rights over the rest of the CFL.
But nobody is perfect, right? Every team faces some form of adversity at some point throughout their respective seasons, right? In any case, while it may be a rare occurrence, the week after an Alouette loss is usually a good one for Montreal.
This season, the Als followed up their first loss, to the Eskimos in Edmonton, by shutting out the Argonauts at home a week later. The next defeat, to the Lions in Vancouver, was followed up with a 28-24 win over BC back at Percival Molson Stadium.
But it won’t be easy…
Though history would dictate that the Als should overpower the visiting Bombers when the clubs meet this Sunday to conclude their season series (1 p.m. RDS HD, TSN HD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM), the Als know far too well what can happen when they get ahead of themselves this late into the season.
Since 2007, the Alouettes have just two wins during the last three games of the long CFL season, a pattern that head coach Marc Trestman would undoubtedly like to be changed starting with this week’s re-match. Last Saturday in Winnipeg, the Als were outmatched by Bishop and the Blue Bombers, but saw a great effort displayed by quarterback Adrian McPherson in his first career start.
McPherson completed 20 of 35 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown to Andrew Hawkins and rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown of his own. Of McPherson’s 20 completions, six of them found the hands of slotback Ben Cahoon for a total of 55 yards, leaving the 12-year veteran just 22 short of 1,000 on the season. Cahoon has reached the 1,000 yards plateau for seven consecutive seasons and has at least one catch in 125 consecutive games.
His fellow teammate and slotback, Jamel Richardson is also closing in on 1,000 yards, needing just 15 to reach the mark for the second straight year.
With the possibility of achieving these milestones very much attainable this week, Cahoon and Richardson would join receiver Kerry Watkins on the list. Last season, all three receivers garnered over 1,000 yards.
The Als host the Blue Bombers on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. (RDS HD, TSN HD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM).
