Alouettes clinch CFL East

The Montreal Alouettes clinched the CFL East division and a first-round bye in the playoffs with a 24-20 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

Robert Edwards scored an eight-yard touchdown on a late 71-yard drive as Montreal came back to shock the hometown fans at Rogers Centre.

Robert Edwards stiff-arms Argonaut Jonathan Brown during action in Toronto Saturday.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

After carrying the ball only four times in the first half, Edwards came alive in the second half to finish with 19 carries for 93 yards and lead a conservative but effective attack for the Alouettes.

Toronto had two chances to score after the touchdown.

On their first drive they failed to convert a third down deep in their own end to allow Montreal kicker Damon Duval to kick an insurance field goal. On their last possession, Toronto quarterback Damon Allen threw a long pass to R. Jay Soward that Lamont Brightful intercepted to finish the threat.

"We usually don't lose the fourth quarter. We might bend a little bit but we don't break and we broke today," said linebacker Michael Fletcher. "You want to win first place and it's a shorter path to get there. Now we've got to take the back door."

With the win the Alouettes (10-8) earned the right to host the division final on Nov. 12 (CBC, 12:30 p.m. ET) against the winner of the semifinal between Toronto (10-8) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

"The biggest thing is now you have to play a very tough football team," Argos coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons said after the loss.

"Winnipeg is as tough as anybody. That's what we didn't want to do, have to go through Winnipeg to get to the Eastern final. That's where we are."

Toronto will have to wait await the result of the evening game between Winnipeg and the B.C. Lions to find out where they play in the division semifinal on Nov. 5 (CBC, 12:30 p.m. ET). If Winnipeg defeats B.C., the Argonauts will have to travel to Manitoba and the colder climate at Canad Inns Stadium.

Offences sputter

Both teams came into the game struggling to find ways to score and the first quarter was no different, ending in a 1-1 tie on a pair of singles.

But led by wide receiver Arland Bruce III, Toronto appeared to have the more productive team early.

Late in the quarter Allen connected with Bruce on gains of 30 and 26 yards to set up the first of three field goals by kicker Noel Prefontaine.

Montreal quickly answered on a broken play in the Toronto secondary. Receiver Dave Stala, left completely uncovered down the left sideline, caught a pass from Anthony Calvillo and sauntered into the endzone for a 65-yard touchdown.

It was Calvillo's first touchdown pass against the Argonauts this season.

But the Argonauts drove back into Montreal's end of the field and Allen connected with Bruce in the right corner of the endzone to retake the lead.

Spectacular play called back

After Montreal conceded a safety, Toronto had a chance to put the game away on a spectacular play from Bruce.

Taking a swing pass from Calvillo, Bruce headed down the sideline before cutting all the way across the field and running down the opposite sideline for an apparent 60-yard major. But Montreal coach Jim Popp challenged the play and officials ruled Bruce had stepped out of bounds at Montreal's 39 yard line.

Toronto settled for a field goal to lead 16-8 at halftime.

Defence tightens

While Toronto's offence showed balance and effectiveness in the first half, Montreal's defence tightened in the second half and the game became a battle of attrition, with Duval kicking two field goals and Prefontaine adding a field goal and a single before Edwards's touchdown score.

Bruce, who caught five catches in the first half, had just one in the second as Montreal's ball-control offence dominated the rest of the game.

Calvillo finished with a solid game, completing 16 of 26 passes for 226 yards, but finished the regular season with 4,714 yards passing, falling short of 5,000 yards for the first time in five seasons.

For Damon Allen, it was a average performance when the team needed a great one. He completed 16 of 29 passes for 209 yards but couldn't find Bruce or lead a sustained a drive.

"We didn't take care of business the last couple of weeks and when you don't do that you open the door for other teams to slip in from the back door," said Allen, whose face was buried in his hands in the locker-room. "That's exactly what we did."