The Montreal Alouettes came out flat in front of
their biggest crowd of the season Saturday in a 30-20 loss to the
last-place Edmonton Eskimos, leaving 45,607 fans disappointed at
Olympic Stadium.
The Alouettes (9-8) can still finish first in the East Division,
despite losing eight of their last 10 games, if they beat the
Toronto Argonauts (10-7) on the road in the season finale next
Saturday.
Running back Ron McClendon and quarterbacks Ricky Ray and Steven
Jyles each had short touchdown runs for the Eskimos (6-11), who
finish their first season out of the playoffs since 1971 at home on
Friday night against Saskatchewan.
Eskimos running back Troy Davis, who entered the game fourth in
the CFL in rushing yards, sat out and was replaced admirably by
McClendon. He torched the Alouettes for 97 yards on 13 first-half
carries to help the Eskimos take control of the game by halftime.
Alouettes running back Robert Edwards entered the game just two
yards ahead of Davis on the CFL rushing list, but he could not
extend his lead as he sat out with sore ribs and was replaced by
kick returner Avon Cobourne, who did not have nearly the same
success as McClendon.
Montreal's Damon Duval kicked field goals from 31 and 25 yards
out in the first half, giving him 48 on 55 attempts this year to
break Terry Baker's franchise record of 47.
Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo was erratic for much of
the game and finished with two touchdown passes and an interception.
It gave Calvillo 19 touchdown passes on the season, meaning he will
assuredly finish with his lowest total since he threw for 16 majors
in 15 games in 2001. That season marked the only time Calvillo threw
fewer than 27 touchdowns since his first full season as a starter in
2000.
The Eskimos took advantage of some undisciplined play by Montreal
to take a 22-6 lead into halftime.
Montreal took three costly penalties on Edmonton's opening drive,
allowing Ray to plunge into the end zone from two yards out at 6:02
of the first quarter.
The Als responded with Duval's 31-yard field goal just before the
end of the first quarter, but Ray led Edmonton down the field on the
very next series to set up McClendon's two-yard touchdown dive at
4:59 of the second.
After Montreal went two-and-out, Jyles came in for Ray and
finished a touchdown drive of his own with a one-yard sneak into the
end zone at 9:45 of the second to put Edmonton ahead 21-3.
Duval's 25-yard field goal at 12:19 and a missed 34-yard field goal
by Fleming for a single at 13:55 of the second made it 22-6.
The Alouettes opened the second half with Duval conceding a
safety and Fleming followed that with a 14-yard field goal to extend
Edmonton's lead to 27-6.
Calvillo got Montreal into the end zone when he found Kerry
Watkins for a 12-yard touchdown catch at 11:36 of the third quarter,
but the Alouettes offence sputtered in the fourth quarter.
Fleming added a 43-yard field goal late in the fourth and
Calvillo found Ben Cahoon for a six-yard touchdown pass with just
over a minute left to make it 30-20.
Notes: Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray turns 27 on SundayaThe
Alouettes are 1-2 since general manager Jim Popp took over as head
coach after Don Matthews stepped down due to undisclosed health
reasons.
