Montreal Alouettes 24 Toronto Argonauts 20 (October 28, 2006)
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0 commentsRobert Edwards scored on an eight-yard run late in the fourth quarter Saturday as the Montreal Alouettes edged the Toronto Argonauts 24-20 to clinch first place in the East Division in their regular-season finale.
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 in Montreal. The Argos were forced to wait for the result of Winnipeg's game at B.C., later Saturday to find out where they'll play the East Division semifinal. A Bomber victory and Winnipeg will host the semis, a Winnipeg loss means Toronto hosts the semis.
Arland Bruce III scored the Argos' lone touchdown on a five-yard pass from quarterback Damon Allen in the second quarter.
Dave Stala caught a 65-yard pass from Anthony Calvillo in the second for Montreal's other touchdown.
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 Damon Duval's field goal cut Toronto's lead to six, then Edwards' touchdown at 10:37 capped a 10-play Als drive that covered 71 yards. Duval added a 28-yard field goal with 39 seconds left to seal the victory for Montreal.
The Als improved to 2-2 under Jim Popp, the general manager who took over as head coach after Don Matthews resigned Oct. 4.
Allen was good on 16-of-29 pass attempts for 209 yards 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. Noel Prefontaine connected on field goals from 22, 43, and 24 yards and added a pair of singles.
Als quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw for 233 yards on 17-of-27 attempts. Duval booted field goals of 30, 45, and 28 yards and missed from 37 yards out.
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 quarter 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 most spectacular play of the game didn't count after Bruce grazed the left sideline with his foot at the 39-yard line. 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 late in the second. Instead, the Argos settled for a field goal after video replay showed that Bruce had gone out of bounds. The Als also conceded a safety and Toronto led 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 Dan Ferrone was added to the All-Time Argo 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 loss to Saskatchewan.
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Missed Field Goal (50 yds) - Single (3:33)
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Punt (56 yds) - Single (5:28)
SECOND QUARTER
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Field Goal (22 yds) - Field Goal (0:40)
- MTL -- A. CALVILLO Completed Pass to D. STALA (65 yds) - Touchdown (2:49)
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Convert - Convert(1) (3:01)
- TOR -- D. ALLEN Completed Pass to A. BRUCE (5 yds) - Touchdown (8:10)
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Convert - Convert(1) (8:23)
- TOR -- D. DUVAL Team Loss (11 yds) - Safety (Conceded) (12:54)
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Field Goal (43 yds) - Field Goal (13:47)
THIRD QUARTER
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Punt (56 yds) - Single (2:57)
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Field Goal (30 yds) - Field Goal (9:26)
- TOR -- N. PREFONTAINE Field Goal (24 yds) - Field Goal (12:05)
FOURTH QUARTER
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Field Goal (45 yds) - Field Goal (3:09)
- MTL -- R. EDWARDS Run (8 yds) - Touchdown (10:37)
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Convert - Convert(1) (10:52)
- MTL -- D. DUVAL Field Goal (28 yds) - Field Goal (14:21)
courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
October 28, 2006
