By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – As the final whistle blew two weeks ago at Rogers Centre, the Als said goodbye to the regular season and began to look towards Nov. 22 at the Big O when they will host the BC Lions in the Eastern Final in hopes of reaching their second straight Grey Cup.
Here’s a look at the Als’ special teams in 2009…
Montreal – Before the 64-man team picture was taken at Olympic Stadium just over a month ago, the Alouettes’ official team photographer, Benoit Pelosse took some time to take individual team photos.
The offence, a 31-man group led by quarterback Anthony Calvillo gathered around coordinator Scott Milanovich, while the defence, a similarly large group huddled around defensive guru Tim Burke.
With two groups already taken care of and the many personnel on hand ready for their shot, only one picture remained, Scott Squires and his special teams.
Though they hold the same amount of importance on the field as the offence and defence alike, the picture seemed a bit more casual than the other two.
Squires, along with kicker Damon Duval and kick returner Larry Taylor joined each other in front of the camera and smiled – and you better believe they had a lot to smile about.
Believe it or not, of the 600 points scored by the Alouettes, 242 came off the foot of Duval as the fifth-year Alouette went 55/62 on field goals (87.3 per cent), connected on 56 converts and collected 21 singles.
By setting a new CFL single-season record for points, Duval proved why he is widely considered one of the most accurate and reliable kickers in the CFL.
On seven occasions in 2009, Duval was called upon to kick four or more field goals combining for a total of 41 attempts. Of those 41, Duval nailed 38, the most coming during the last game of the season in Toronto, a game that saw Duval connect on all seven of his attempts.
While Duval shone in that final game, his teammate and special teams player of the year nominee, Larry Taylor took the day off. But Taylor’s value can’t be overlooked and you wouldn’t have to look further than exactly a year ago this coming weekend the 2008 East Division Final for proof.
In front of close to 40,000 fans, Taylor torched the visiting Edmonton Eskimos for two punt-return touchdowns en route to a Grey Cup berth.
This year, Taylor picked up right where he left off, returning a league-best two punts for touchdowns, and averaging 8.9 yards per return. His 788 yards on punt returns this season were also a league best.
It’s safe to say that when the BC Lions arrive in Montreal for the East Final, special teams will definitely have a big affect on the outcome…and you can bet Larry Taylor will be in the lineup for that one.
