By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – New Percival Molson Stadium, same old Alouettes result.
Thanks to a record performance from kicker Damon Duval and a fourth-quarter Kerry Watkins touchdown, Marc Trestman and the Alouettes capped off an historic night in downtown Montreal by recording their third win of the season, beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-14.
The Alouettes continued their dominance on home soil, winning their 10th-straight game at home dating back to last season. The last time the Alouettes dropped a decision at McGill was Oct. 26, 2008, in a 24-23 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with many a starter riding the end-of-season-pine.
A 96th consecutive sell-out crowd – the first at 25,012 – was on hand to see the Alouettes complete a special night.
Duval leading the way…
As the Alouette offence continued to struggle late in their drives, Duval singlehandedly provided the offence for the Als by hitting field goals from 47, 27, 45, 21 and two from 24 yards out to give his team a 19-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter – and then the inevitable happened.
After being unable to find the end zone for seven-straight quarters Calvillo and the slumbering Alouette offence finally woke up and in fine fashion too. The 17-year veteran shook off a minor leg injury that he sustained in the first half and managed to find Watkins in the corner of the end zone to give the Als a 27-6 lead.
Three minutes later, Duval connected on his seventh field goal of the night, this time from 45 yards out to tie his and former Alouette kicker Terry Baker’s record for most field goals in a game.
An offensive explosion
Unable to produce much offensively since leaving Regina in Week 1 where they put up 51 points in a loss to the Roughriders, the Alouettes finally managed to live up to their reputation as offensive juggernauts.
Calvillo seemed to fine his niche under centre, completing 28 of 38 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns on the night.
The pivot completed passes to seven different receivers with slotback Jamel Richardson leading the way with six, while Brian Bratton, Kerry Watkins and tailback Avon Cobourne each had five receptions of their own. Watkins’ touchdown was his fourth of the season, good enough to lead the league in majors to this point.
Slotback Ben Cahoon registered two receptions for 37 yards as well, marking the 131st consecutive game in which he caught at least one pass in a game. Fullback Kerry Carter also added a touchdown to ice the win for the Als late in the final frame.
Sound defensively
On the defensive of the ball, Alouettes’ defensive end John Bowman made a strong case for Defensive Player of the Week honours, as the fifth-year Alouette recorded three sacks in addition to his three forced fumbles on the night.
Backup fullback Michael Giffin also had a strong night on the field, blocking a Justin Palardy punt-attempt and recovering it 12 yards downfield to give the Als great field position in the second half.
The Alouettes welcome the Toronto Argonauts to McGill on July 29 at 7:30 pm EST on RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD and CHOM.
