Montreal Alouettes 20 British Columbia Lions 36 (September 16, 2006)
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0 commentsThe speedy slotback, now in his sixth year with the club, gathered in touchdown bombs of 40 and 80 yards from quarterback Dave Dickenson Saturday night to lead B.C. to a 36-20 CFL victory over the Montreal Alouettes.
The win was the seventh straight for the streaking Lions, who lead the West division by two points after sacking Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo 12 times, a B.C. club record.
Montreal, tied with Toronto for first in the East, lost their fifth straight game, the first time that has happened in Don Matthews' five years as head coach.
Not only does Simon lead the league with 12 TD receptions, he surpassed 8,000 career receiving yards with six catches totalling 157 yards. He now has 1,357 yards this season.
"It feels great," he said. "I mean I didn't know that until almost the end of the game.
"I never imagined being able to accomplish that. It feels good and I'm truly blessed."
And Simon, who burned the Alouettes for 175 yards in Montreal in a 48-13 victory on Sept. 1, says he's looking for the 9,000-yard plateau.
"When you start playing, those number sound like you'll never ever get there. Now that I'm there, it feels good. It's pretty flattering to accomplish this much and I feel that I still have a lot in the tank."
Dickenson, who left the game with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter after being hit by Montreal defensive lineman Anwar Stewart, also threw a 19-yard TD strike to Jason Clermont to stake the Lions to a 26-20 advantage.
The veteran pivot, who missed four games with a concussion last season and 10 with a knee injury in 2004, downplayed the fact he had to give way to backup Buck Pierce for the third straight time because of injury.
While he played, Dickenson completed 18 of 22 throws for 309 yards.
"I know I played a football game," said Dickenson who has been nursing a high ankle sprain but also had his helmeted head bounce off the turf.
"I'd like to have played four quarters. Right now, its nothing too serious and I should be good to go next week.
"I took a shot in the back of the head on the turf, not from (a defender). I was trying to get my bearings and on the very next hit Anwar rolls on my ankle."
Paul McCallum improved to 30 of 32 in field goal attempts with boots of 40, 32, 28 and 18 yards. He also added a single and three converts for the Lions.
Linebacker Otis Floyd celebrated a contract extension by leading a B.C. sack attack that included getting to Calvillo for a safety.
Calvillo, who completed 13 of 22 attempts for 172 yards and an interception, managed to find wideout Kerry Watkins twice in the end zone as the Alouettes led 7-3 after the first quarter and 13-12 at the half.
Then came the 80-yard completion to Simon on the third quarter's first play from scrimmage.
"We saw the right coverage before the ball was even snapped," said Simon who is closing in on his career year of 2004 when he had 103 receptions for 1,750 yards.
"I knew that was going to be a touchdown because I saw a linebacker on me. I knew he wasn't going to cover me."
Damon Duval added the other Montreal points on field goals of 47 and nine yards when Alouette drives were stalled by penalties and Calvillo sacks.
"You can't ask nothing more than that," Floyd said of the Lions' sack total.
"It was a war. They came out ready early in the first half but after that we kind of dominated. We got the victory, they gave up and we just dominated them at the end."
Calvillo faced second-and-long situations for the second straight time against the Lions.
"We were doing a better job in the first two quarters but in that fourth quarter, again, we just put our O-line in a tough position," Calvillo said.
Montreal centre Bryan Chiu felt the heat from the B.C. pass rush as the Alouettes haven't won since starting the season 7-0.
"It's just a matter of how you do down the stretch," he said. "We've got to learn from this loss and get better.
"There was no doubt they played a great game. The front seven really came after us."
NOTES: The Lions played only once in the previous 28 days prior to Saturday's rematch with Montreal ... the Alouettes' losing streak began after Matthews signed a contract extension to 2008 ... the crowd of 35,971 was the largest of the season.
courtesy cfl.ca
Date
September 16, 2006
