 Toronto Argonauts Clifford Ivory tackles Montreal Alouettes Kerry Watkins during first half CFL action in Toronto, Saturday. (CP/Adrian Wyld) |
TORONTO (CP) - The Montreal Alouettes never imagined it would take quite so long to clinch the East Division title.
But after riding a roller-coaster season, the Als came through when it mattered, with Robert Edwards' touchdown late in the fourth quarter Saturday giving them a 24-20 victory over the Toronto Argonauts and first place in the East.
"I'm very happy for our guys, the type of year it's been, they deserve it," said Als head coach and GM Jim Popp. "They have stuck together through thick and thin, they deserve it."
The Alouettes and Argos both finished 10-8, but the Als won the season series 2-1 to earn the tiebreaker and book their ticket to the East final on Nov. 12 at Olympic Stadium. The title was a considerable feat considering the Als started the season a perfect 7-0, but came into Saturday's game on a 2-8 tailspin.
"I was in disbelief we were in the position to be playing for a division championship when I thought we should have locked it up weeks ago," said Popp. "We're fortunate we took care of business towards the end and won the game."
The Argos will host Winnipeg in the East Division semifinal next Sunday. The Blue Bombers lost to B.C. 26-10 in Saturday's late game and missed a chance to host the East semifinal.
Dave Stala caught a 65-yard pass from Calvillo in the second quarter for Montreal's other touchdown, the receiver's longest TD of the season.
The Argos used a balanced offence to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter in front of a season-high Rogers Centre crowd of 38,123. But the Als' stifling second-half defence shut down the Argos, and Damon Duval's field goal cut Toronto's lead to six. Edwards' eight-yard touchdown at 10:37 in the fourth capped a 71-yard Alouettes drive and sealed the victory for Montreal. Damon Duval added a 28-yard field goal for good measure with 39 seconds left.
"Everything that's happened up to this point is done," said Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo. "We told ourselves leading up to this game, we could correct everything with this game, and we did that today."
"We put ourselves in position to have a first-round bye and a home game in front of our crowd, and we have to go back there and win for them."
Calvillo threw for 233 yards on 17-of-27 attempts. Edwards rushed for 93 yards on 19 carries - 69 of his yards coming in the second half.
"Our plan going in was to run the ball, and we weren't able to do that in the first half, but we were able to keep it going in the second," said Edwards.
Duval booted field goals of 30, 45, and 28 yards and missed from 37 yards out.
Arland Bruce scored the Argos' lone touchdown on a five-yard pass from quarterback Damon Allen in the second quarter.
"Whenever you have a team down, you have to be able to finish them off," said Allen, who sat at his locker with his face in his hands after the loss. "We didn't do what we needed to do, especially in the second half. It's a disappointing loss, we worked so hard to put ourselves in this position. It's unfortunate we didn't come through."
Allen threw for 209 yards on 16-of-29 pass attempts with a touchdown and an interception. Bruce had six catches for 124 yards.
John Avery finished with 63 yards rushing on 12 carries, while Ricky Williams carried the ball 13 times for 70 yards. But Montreal's defence held the Argos' two backs to just 22 yards combined in the second half.
"That's a huge confidence builder to win a game of that magnitude," said Montreal defensive tackle Ed Philion. "That's your season right there. To respond the way we did on the road, that says a lot about us."
"We made the adjustment, we had to stop the run, that was huge."
Noel Prefontaine connected on field goals from 22, 43, and 24 yards and added a pair of singles.
The most spectacular play of an otherwise grinding defensive battle didn't count, and may have helped tilt the momentum in Montreal's favour. Bruce grazed the left sideline with his foot at the 39-yard line - right in front of the Als bench - on a second-quarter scamper. Bruce cut back across the field to reach the right corner of the end zone for what would have been a 60-yard TD run, but video replay showed that Bruce had gone out of bounds.
"I didn't wait for a replay, I watched him step out of bounds. I was right there," said Popp. "If they had gone in and scored that touchdown before half, you don't know how the momentum swings sometimes."
The Argos and Als traded singles in the first quarter, Duval's coming on the opening drive of the game, and the score was 1-1 to end the quarter.
Montreal scored its first touchdown of the game 2:49 into the second when Calvillo spotted Stala all alone downfield for the 65-yard strike, Stala's longest of the season. The Argos responded at 8:10 when Bruce caught a five-yard touchdown pass, capping an 11-play drive that covered 69 yards.
The Als conceded a safety and Prefontaine added a field goal to put Toronto up 16-8 at halftime.
Duval and Prefontaine swapped field goals in the third and the Argos led 20-11 heading into the fourth.
Notes: The Argos were without wide receiver Tony Miles (foot) and offensive tackle Jerome Davis (cracked ribs) ... Former Argos captain and offensive lineman Dan Ferrone was added to the All-Time Argos banner in a halftime ceremony ... Argos linebacker Mike O'Shea was honoured before the game for becoming the first Canadian and third overall in CFL history to make 1,000 defensive tackles. He achieved the feat in last weekend's home loss to Saskatchewan.
