Montreal Alouettes 32, B.C. Lions 14 (September 9, 2007)

by Silencer76

MONTREAL (CP) -- With competition for his job lining up behind him, Marcus Brady says winning his first start as a Montreal Alouette was a statement.

The six-year CFL veteran passed for 300 yards and looked at home running the attack, while Jarrett Payton rushed for three touchdowns in Montreal's 32-14 victory over the British Columbia Lions on Sunday afternoon.

Brady, in his second year as the team's top back-up, started in place of No. 1 quarterback Anthony Calvillo[, who is out indefinitely with a torn rotator cuff.

Coach and general manager Jim Popp said Brady is 99 per cent certain to start again when the Alouettes visit the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday night, despite the acquisition from Hamilton this week of veteran Jason Maas and a reported trade on Sunday for Toronto third-stringer Mike McMahon.

"I felt like I made a statement with this game and we'll go from there," Brady said. "I'll deal with it whenever we come back in (to practice), but right now, I'm going to enjoy this win."

Popp said the McMahon trade was not confirmed "yet."

"There's nothing in the league office - you can't confirm things that aren't registered with the league," he added.

Picking up two quarterbacks before Brady has had a chance to show what he can do would be the makings of a quarterback controversy on some teams, but Popp said he is only "trying to protect our ballclub."

And McMahon, if he was indeed acquired, doesn't look guaranteed to see playing time.

"Just because I trade for somebody doesn't mean that they're going to be with our ballclub for the rest of the season," said Popp. "I'm going to look at people and see who my best three or four quarterbacks are and that's who we're keeping. "It doesn't matter who starts. We'll pick who starts and that's who will lead our football team until Anthony gets back."

Maas dressed, but didn't play and the Alouettes also have an experienced pivot in Brad Banks on the bench.

Brady won the battle of the back-ups over Jarious Jackson, who started a second game for B.C. in place of injured Dave Dickenson and Buck Pierce.

The 6-4 Alouettes avenged a 46-14 loss in Vancouver last week to the 6-3-1 Lions, and beat B.C. for only the second time in 10 meetings since 2003.

Payton, the son of former NFL great Walter Payton, rushed for 119 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of one, two and three yards. Damon Duval had three field goals for Montreal.

Cory Rodgers caught a TD pass and Paul McCallum had two field goals and a punt single for the Lions, who played their 900th game in their 54-year history.

Unlike last week, when the B.C. ground attack trampled the Alouettes and tailback Joe Smith rushed for 161 yards, an Alouette defence bolstered by the return of three veterans from injury held Smith to 78 yards on 16 carries and forced three turnovers in the second half.

"We couldn't get momentum back," said Lions coach and G.M. Wally Buono, whose club led 13-12 at halftime. "We were moving the ball and then we fumbled. We throw the ball and all of a sudden it's an interception.

"But you're got to give Montreal credit. They were a lot tougher than us in the second half."

Montreal lost star slotback Ben Cahoon to start the second quarter with a suspected rib injury. The CFL leader in catches with 65 was hit hard by Barron Miles on the first play from scrimmage, then was hurt when making a 42-yard reception to set up Duval's field goal 13 seconds into the second period to tie the game 3-3.

"Until he takes an x-ray, we're not sure if he just strained a pec or if it's a rib," said Popp. "It's up in his chest area. "He doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain, just by looking at him."

The Lions charged right back and Jackson hit Rodgers with a 14-yard TD pass at 8:16. After earning a safety, Payton was the motor on a drive he capped with a two-yard TD plunge at 13:01, but the Lions answered with a 14-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the half.

Brady recovered from a big loss from a crackback block penalty to Ashlan Davis by hitting Kerry Watkins for a 27-yard gain that set up Payton's three-yard TD run 4:44 into the third quarter.

A 57-yard pass to Davis set up a 28-yard Duval placement and a fumble on a handoff between Jackson and Smith that was recovered by Dario Romero led to a 12-yard Duval boot and a 25-13 Montreal lead.

The Lions ended two more drives with turnovers before Montreal came back with Payton's one-yard TD run with 3:01 left to play.

Brady started three games each with Toronto and Hamilton before signing with Montreal in 2006, but has never been a full-time starter in the CFL.

His ability to sprint out and run the ball helped keep the B.C. defence off balance and gave Montreal a new look from Calvillo's more conservative approach a week earlier.

"The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and that was key," said Brady. "I was able to take all the reps this week. "I knew pretty much exactly what they do on defence. I watched a lot of film this week and I felt comfortable running our offence. I think the people that were worried was the media. All the players supported me and having that support helped a lot."

The Alouettes had cause for worry. The last time Calvillo had a serious injury midway through the 2001 campaign, the team didn't win another game for the rest of the season. That could be why Popp is loading up on experienced quarterbacks, even though, so far, Brady looks able to handle the job.

"Marcus is extremely smart," said Popp. "He's a well-prepared guy. "He was an outstanding college player (at California State-Northridge), and when he's surrounded by a good team, like when he stepped in in Toronto, he did really good things. He's capable of playing like this all the time. but when a quarterback hasn't played in a long time, you don't know what to expect."

B.C. used fourth-string QB Gino Guidugli late in the game. Buono remains one win short of tying the team record of 56 wins set by Don Matthews in the 1980s.

Courtesy of CFL.ca

DATE:

September 9, 2007