For fans of the Montreal Alouettes, they have every reason to be signing tonight.
In a Grey Cup that stayed close on the scoreboard almost from start to finish, the Alouettes were able to finally put the game away with Billy Parker snagging Darian Durants errant pass in the waning minutes, silencing the lively and largely pro-Saskatchewan crowd for good and becoming the first team to repeat as champions since the 1996-97 Toronto Argonauts over a decade ago. It was a game that followed a similar path as last year, especially in the last quarter, where Montreal would once again come from behind to win, and for Damon Duval would be let off the hook as the game’s potential goat. Thankfully this year, it was Durant’s interception, instead of a poorly timed penalty that would be the Roughriders fatal flaw. And the defence for both squads that would be the main story for the game, a surprise to many following the game that were expecting a more offensive display.
When the game started, it looked like last year’s Grey Cup MVP Avon Cobourne bluster over twitter earlier in the week would come to pass, scoring on the Alouettes first quarter drive and looking like this game he’d be bringing a hot hand. In fact the first quarter was almost all Alouettes, with Calvillo able to drive down the field to help net Montreal eight points. The Roughriders, meanwhile had insult to injury heaped on them when they had to watch one of their defensive stalwarts Leron Mitchell leave the game after having his leg ankle rolled over by Avon Cobourne when assisting on a tackle. It would later be reported as a broken leg. Mitchell’s injury seem to bring a shift in momentum for the Roughriders. Wes Cates would put the finishing touch on Saskatchewans first TD drive of the night with one second left in the first quarter, and Movember finalist Warren Kean would net another three to put the Green and White ahead by three early in the second.
For the next two quarters both squads defensive units ramped it up a notch, holding both sides to only four points in total till the fourth quarter. Saskatchewan, who was not evaluated to have a sack oriented defence, was able to tag Calvillo for three of them tonight. Montreal was no slouch either, containing Durant’s repeatedly in the pocket and limiting the Roughriders to just slightly less then three hundred yards of total offence. At one point in the game, Saskatchewan was forced to punt away the ball eight straight times, but for the first three quarters, Montreal failed to capitalize on their defenses efforts, and they knew it.
“We didn’t play good Alouettes football,” stated Montreal receiver Ben Cahoon. “We struggled at times and our kicking game struggled. It shouldn’t have been close.”
What could have been Credit: CFL PHOTO/Liam Richards
Come the fourth quarter, it seemed that Montreals offence had finally woken up from its slumber, and Saskatchewan luck at keeping the Alouettes from getting on the scoreboard was running out. Duval would net two field goals to put the Als ahead on the scoreboard by three, but Calvillo’s pass to Ben Cahoon was intercepted by Riders Byron Bullock. Rider Nations glee was extremely short lived, as Bullock would get tagged for pass interference for holding back Cahoon like a sack of potatoes to get to the ball. The Alouettes would add salt to that fresh wound with Avon “puts his money where his mouth is” Cobourne getting another short run TD to put Montreal up by ten with only seven minutes left in the game. The Roughriders would storm right back with Durant airing out a long pass to Andy Fantuz for a touchdown, one that some Als fans feel if John Bowman hadn’t been injured in the last drive, would have been an incompletion. Monteal would get within thirty-three yards in their next drive and looked to put the game almost out of reach with two minutes to go, but in echos of another infamous field goal attempt, it would float wide right and keep the game to within three. Darian Durant would try to get his team into field goal range and send the game into overtime for the second year in a row, would find that Montreals blitzing attack hard to avoid as they poured it on. After an amazing scramble to avoid numerous tackles, he aired a pass to Jason Clermont, but it fell short into Billy Parkers arms to effectively seal the game.
It was a game that if you are a fan of scores that look like basketball games at halftime, you would have been disappointed. Both offensives had issues getting into a consistent rhythm to string together plays and rack up the score, even with both sides suffering injuries to key players of their defensive crops. While Montreal’s offence was able to get some decent numbers at the end of the day, Saskatchewan’s offence seem at times disjointed and lacking focus. Montreals kicking was especially dicey, as Damon Duvals performance must have had Als fans covering their eyes and waiting to hear if they earned three, one or no points at all. The weather seem to be of little benefit for the “home” team as well, which removed an advantage that many felt would help Saskatchewan gain an advantage.
In the end, both teams delivered the same game that they did last year. Like last year, one would have it be enough to win the ultimate prize in Canadian Football, and cement even more of a foundation of Montreal being considered one of the best squads in CFL history. For the other it would be another season of coming up short and giving another notch in a long line of coming oh-so-close, but getting no cigar.
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The owner of the Sports Blog Network, Chris tells it exactly as he sees it, be it in the stands, in front of the tv, or on his semi-trusty laptop. And always with a can of trusty Dr. Pepper by his side, and spell-check working overtime. 
like a sack of potatoes? wtf
best metaphor I could think of at 2am.
Go Riders! (next year…)
Next year indeed. A bit more offence or tightening up their fourth quarter would have had a different tune.