TORONTO - Should the unthinkable happen to starter Anthony Calvillo
in the playoffs, Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman has a
viable alternative in sophomore quarterback Adrian McPherson.
McPherson threw two TD passes as Montreal dispatched the Toronto
Argonauts 42-17 for their club-record 15th win of the year in the CFL
regular-season finale for both clubs Saturday.
With Montreal (league-best 15-3) having already cemented top spot in
the East Division and home-field advantage for the conference final
Nov. 22, Trestman gave McPherson the start with Calvillo serving as the
No. 3 quarterback behind backup Chris Leak. McPherson looked very
comfortable under centre, leading the Alouettes on a four-play, 62-yard
scoring drive he capped with a one-yard TD strike to Brandon Whitaker
on the club's opening possession. He finished 16-of-20 passing for 151
yards and ran for 55 yards before giving way to Leak to open the fourth.
"My
biggest focus was I wanted my teammates to feel comfortable and
confident in me," said McPherson. "My biggest thing was not to put
pressure on myself.
"This game meant everything to us because we wanted to finish strong going into the playoffs."
The start was McPherson's second in three weeks. With Calvillo out with a calf injury, McPherson was 20-of-35 passing for 231 yards and
a TD while rushing 11 times for 95 yards in a 41-24 loss to Winnipeg on
Oct. 24.
"I thought he played well in the first game," Alouettes head coach
Marc Trestman said. "He protected the football well and if he does
that, this team will be in a position to win.
"I think we saw a team willing to give him the support he deserved."
Montreal picked up its eighth win in nine games and swept the season
series 3-0, outscoring Toronto 94-25. The Alouettes were 6-3 on the
road and a perfect 9-0 at home.
It was also a record-setting day for Montreal kicker Damon Duval. He
had a club-record seven field goals and 24 points to boost his
single-season points total to a league-record 242, breaking the mark of
236 set in 1991 by former Argo Lance Chomyc.
"He's as good as there is," McPherson said of his kicker. "As soon as we cross the 50-yard line, we know he's in range."
Leak finished 7-of-10 passing for 44 yards. He and McPherson did a
nice job of distributing the ball as 10 different Alouettes had catches.
"The thing about this offence is everyone is a valuable receiver," McPherson said. "Everyone is an option."
Montreal won convincingly with backups in
the lineup on both sides of the ball and the game having no bearing on
the East Division standings. Calvillo dressed for the game, but such stalwarts as
running back Avon Cobourne and kick-returner Larry Taylor did not.
That was of little solace to the sad-sack Argos
(3-15), who were still overmatched before a surly Rogers Centre
gathering of 28,293.
"The whole season was disappointing," said veteran defensive lineman Jonathan Brown. "That game was even worse."
The one-sided decision was the latest disappointment in what's been
a disastrous year for rookie head coach Bart Andrus. Toronto
finished the season on an eight-game losing streak and lost its last
four home contests to drop to 1-8 overall at Rogers Centre. The 3-15
record is the franchise's worst since posting a similiar mark in '93.
Toronto also fell to 0-6 against Montreal, its last win coming Oct. 20, 2007.
Afterwards, Andrus only spoke about the game and not what steps the organization might take in the off-season.
"Just the way the game unfolded was disappointing to me," said Andrus. "I see these guys doing better than this.
"It was not acceptable to me and these guys."
Andrus, who drew the ire of Argos fans all season for questionable
coaching decisions, did so again at the end of the second quarter. Facing
third-and-one from the Montreal 47-yard line on the half's final play,
he opted to punt rather than throw deep for a touchdown. The result was
Justin Medlock's 67-yard single, which cut the Als' half-time advantage
to 26-4 and drew a sarcastic cheer from the disgruntled Toronto
faithful.
Andrus, who's also Toronto's offensive co-ordinator, raised eyebrows again when
trailing 39-14 in the fourth. He had Medlock boot a 27-yard field goal
at 8:24 instead of trying for a first down.
The offence under first-year quarterback Stephen Reaves - who finished 23-of-40
passing for 209 yards and four interceptions - struggled to muster 157
total yards against the Als' top-ranked defence.
"A lot of good, a lot of bad," Andrus said of Reaves. "He got the baptism by fire against the toughest team in the CFL.
"He made some good reads, two of his interceptions came when he was hit throwing the ball."
Reaves stepped up and shouldered the blame for Toronto's offensive woes.
"I made bad decisions and put the defence in a bind by giving them
(Als) a short field," Reaves said. "I want to take a few of them back.
"Hopefully I'll learn from it."
It was Fan Appreciation Day at the Rogers Centre but the Argos
didn't give their fans much to cheer about, committing six turnovers.
Toronto's usually stout defence wasn't immune, either. While the unit
registered three sacks, it didn't get much pressure on either McPherson
or Leak and tackled poorly.
Kerry Watkins and Paul Woldu had Montreal's other touchdowns. Duval added the converts.
Jamal Robertson had Toronto's lone touchdown. Medlock had three field goals, a convert and a single.
NOTES - Back judge Don Ellis worked his 500th career game, making
him just the sixth official in league history to reach that lofty
plateau … Linebacker Jason Pottinger and safety James Green,
members of Toronto's special teams, didn't dress due to the flu.