Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27 Montreal Alouettes 9 (August 25, 2007)
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0 commentsNew father and Montreal Alouettes head coach Jim Popp didn't need any sleep with his team on cruise control against the lowly Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Anthony Calvillo equalled his season high with 354 passing yards in a thorough ball-control game and made a touchdown pass to Elijah Thurmon as the Alouettes downed the Tiger-Cats 27-9 for their fourth straight CFL victory on Saturday night before their 75th straight sell-out crowd of 20,202.
On Saturday morning, Popp's wife Kim gave birth to the couple's fifth child, Payton-James Hamilton Popp, at Royal Victoria Hospital next door to Percival Molson Stadium. They had been up all night and there was no question of a nap before the game.
"I nodded off in a chair at one point, that's all," a weary but smiling Popp said. "The coaches had the game well-prepared."
The 5-3 Alouettes got a huge effort from the defense, which has been their strength all season, and also got a TD on a plunge from back-up quarterback Marcus Brady, a safety, and three field goals and two singles from kicker Damon Duval.
Kicker Nick Setta went 3-for-3 on field goals for 1-7 Hamilton, the league's lowest-scoring team that had looked to be improving in recent weeks, but were never in this game.
"I thought we took a step backward tonight," said head coach Charlie Taaffe, who made his return to Montreal after coaching the Alouettes for four years, including a two-year stint as head coach in 1999 and 2000. "We had four penalties inside the 20.
"There are some things you can control and self-defeating errors give us no chance."
The Ticats took 18 penalties in the game.
Even Jesse Lumsden, the Ticats' young tailback sensation, was held to 35 yards on seven carries, while Montreal rookie Jarrett Payton, the son of former NFL great Walter Payton, had 74 yards on nine tries before he left in the third quarter with sore ribs.
"He probably could have got shot up and played, but we said it wasn't worth it," said Popp, who will determine this coming week if Payton is fit to play Friday night against the Lions in B.C.
The Alouettes built a 22-6 halftime lead on defense and two long touchdown drives, then coasted in, despite two dropped punts for turnovers by Brian Bratton that gave Hamilton the ball deep in Montreal territory.
Hamilton quarterback Jason Maas managed only 10 completions for 141 yards before he was replaced in the fourth quarterback by Timmy Chang. Maas also fumbled and threw an interception, and was sacked five times by a relentless Montreal rush.
"He had a lot of pressure on him when Montreal went with a three-man rush," said Taaffe. "We have five blockers, so do the math. That really disappoints me."
But he added that Maas "didn't play particularly well" and that Chang may see more action in future.
The Ticats next play back-to-back against Toronto, beginning Labour Day in Hamilton.
The teams traded field goals in the first quarter, with Montreal holding the Ticats to a placement after a first down from the 2. They went up 8-3 on a safety - when the snap sailed over Maas' head into the end zone - and another three-pointer.
Hamilton settled for another field goal despite being first-and-goal from the nine after Bratton dropped a punt. Then the Alouettes marched downfield on 12 plays before Brady plowed in from the 1 at 11:19 of the second quarter.
A 14-play drive on their next possession led to Calvillo's 15-yard TD toss to Thurmon with five seconds left in the half.
Bratton fumbled another punt in the third quarter and Dwight Anderson recovered on the Montreal 30, but two plays later, Maas was scrambling toward the goal line when he dropped the ball and Montreal's Eric Wilson recovered on the five.
Duval's 34-yard field goal gave Montreal a 25-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After Setta got his third placement of the game from 48 yards, Montreal's Mark Estelle made a 78-yard interception off Maas to the Hamilton 24, but Duval missed a 31-yard attempt.
Montreal slotback Dave Stala played his first game of the season and promptly re-injured his foot. Guard Scott Flory also left with a sore knee but it doesn't appear to be serious.
Popp said his new son's name has nothing to do with Jarrett Payton or the Tiger-Cats. He said his wife always liked the name Payton and her maiden name is Hamilton.
courtesy cfl.ca
Date
August 25, 2007
