By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – With the divisional bye weeks over and done with, two teams heading in different directions will meet to kickoff the CFL’s Labour Day Weekend festivities as the Anthony Calvillo-less Alouettes welcome Casey Printers and the BC Lions to McGill.
Friday night’s matchup will mark the second and final meeting between the Als and Leos, the first coming on Jul. 16 at Empire Field in a game that saw Montreal end a 10-year winless drought in Canada’s most western province.
Failing to score a touchdown all game, the Als still managed to escape Vancouver with a 16-12 win thanks to kicker Damon Duval’s 14 of 16 team points.
Calvillo-less
Still recovering from a sternum injury that he sustained two weeks ago against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Als will be without Calvillo for at least another week, leaving third year quarterback Chris Leak in charge of the offence against the Lions.
“Everything is feeling a whole lot better,” Calvillo told TSN.ca. “There is, of course, a sternum injury and also some bruising to the ribs that were also affected as well. But each day since Thursday has got a whole lot better. I was able to run around today and do some things I couldn’t do a couple of days ago, so I think the progress of the healing is going very well.”
Leak has spent the bulk of his time with the Alouettes in the third-string slot behind also-injured pivot Adrian McPherson. Having played minimally in his three years with the Als, Friday will be Leak’s first professional start under centre.
Coming in midway through the third quarter in relief for Calvillo, Leak performed admirably given the circumstances, finishing the night with 99 passing yards and no touchdowns while completing 10-of-15 passes en-route to a 39-17 win over Winnipeg.
How they fared
With last week’s 48-35 loss to the Calgary Stampeders, the Lions now sit alone in last place in the CFL with a 1-7-0 record. Head coach Wally Buono did receive some strong efforts offensively, as both Emmanuel Arceneaux and Geroy Simon contributed offensively. Arceneaux had six receptions for 154 yards and a touchdown, while Simon had five catches for 81 yards and a score of his own.
The Als are coming off a bye week, one that couldn’t have arrived at a better time as the team is currently nursing injuries to some key players. Along with Calvillo, running back Avon Cobourne was missing during Week 8’s win over the Bombers, he is however, expected to suit up on Friday. Backup running back Brandon Whitaker stepped in for Cobourne, and excelled in his first start of the season by garnering 74 yards on 11 carries to go with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Whitaker’s performance was good enough to earn him Offensive Player of the Week honours.
The Alouettes next play the BC Lions at the McGill Stadium on Sep. 3 at 7:30 pm EST on RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD
