By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Regina – The next 19 weeks of the CFL season will certainly have a lot to live up to.
Nursing a 14-point lead thanks to three touchdown passes from 17-year veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo, it seemed as though the Alouettes were picking up right where they left off when we last saw them seven months ago at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
The offence was scoring, the defence was hitting – hard – and the Riders looked as if they were still affected by their stunning loss in the 97th Grey Cup.
But by the time Rider quarterback Darian Durant trotted out onto the field at Mosaic Stadium Thursday night for the second overtime session of the CFL’s season opener, you could be sure that he wasn’t going to let a measly “too many men on the field” penalty get the best of him – at least not this time.
Leading into overtime, Durant orchestrated a well-organized offensive assault on the Alouette defence, posting three consecutive touchdowns in the second half. In fact, Durant had the game wrapped up before the Riders were shockingly called for too many men on the field to give the Als life.
Durant replied, however, and the Alouettes fell 54-51 in their season opener.
Durant finished the night with 478 passing yards and five touchdowns, outdoing his counterpart Calvillo, who finished the night with 368 yards and four touchdowns of his own. It was also a great day to be a Roughrider receiver as Weston Dressler and Rob Bagg amassed 154 and 121 yards, respectively.
In fact, it was Dressler who allowed Rider fans to leave Mosaic happy thanks to his two consecutive catches in the second overtime frame to complete the comeback for Saskatchewan.
Still an impressive night
Despite the outcome of the season premiere, the Alouettes head into Week 2 against Edmonton with some definite positives to their game.
Rookie Tim Maypray put fans on their feet thanks to a 125-yard missed field goal touchdown return and Alouette fans can smile at the performances of receivers Kerry Watkins and SJ Green.
Green matched his 2009 total of touchdowns with two majors in the outing and looked impressive while racking up five catches for 61 yards. Watkins was the only Alouette to exceed the century mark, finishing the night with 106 yards and two touchdowns of his own.
On the defensive side of the ball, Chip Cox provided most of the fireworks for the Als. The linebacker forced one fumble and had one of the team’s two sacks of the night.
The Alouettes next head to Edmonton to take on the Eskimos on July 11 at 7 p.m. EST on RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD, and CHOM.
Notes
Anthony Calvillo’s third TD pass was his 300th as an Alouette… Ben Cahoon’s streak of 128-straight games with at least one catch is third-best in CFL history… This was the Alouettes’ first overtime game since the 2005 Grey Cup.
