CALGARY - It took a lucky break on the final play of the game, but the Montreal Alouettes' run of Grey Cup futility is over.
Damon Duval was given another try, thanks to an illegal substitution penalty, after missing what
could have been the game-winning kick. He made good on his second chance
from 33 yards to lift the Alouettes to a stunning 28-27 victory over
the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a classic CFL championship game on
Sunday.
It was a shock ending for most of the sell-out crowd of 46,020 at
McMahon Stadium, where the seats looked to be tinted Roughriders green
from fans who had spent most of the game watching their underdog team
outperform the Alouettes on a mild evening.
Quarterback Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes, both shaking off a
reputation for coming up short in the big game, battled back to erase a
16-point deficit in the final 10:52 of play and end a four-game Grey
Cup losing streak over the past seven years. They posted their sixth
Cup win, despite not leading until the final play.
"Heartbreaking, happy, sad, suspenseful - it was everything wrapped
into one," said Montreal's veteran centre Bryan Chiu. "I guess that's
what the CFL's about - a game like that."
The Roughriders fell short in a bid for a second Grey Cup in three years and are now 3-14 all-time in championship games.
Duval's first fluttering attempt from the 43 was nullified by a
penalty against Saskatchewan for too many men on the field, which
immediately drew comparisons to the Montreal Canadiens' notorious Game 7 NHL semifinal in 1979. Don Cherry's Boston Bruins were called for too many men late in the game and the Habs went on to win.
The Roughriders were tossing their helmets in the air in celebration
as they started to invade the field - until the missed field goal was called back.
The second attempt sailed through, and this time it was the Montreal
bench that erupted.
"I just rushed it," Duval said of the first try. "It took off like a
bullet out of the gate and I knew before I kicked the ball there was no
way I was getting my hips around to get it through.
"But luckily before the ball was even going I saw the flag and
thought, OK, the man upstairs has given us another opportunity and
we're walking out with a win now."
It was only their second win in seven Grey Cup appearances since
2000, when they were beaten 28-26 by the B.C. Lions in Calgary after
failing to make a two-point convert in the dying seconds.
"It's sweet to come back and do this here," said Chiu. "It's come full circle."
The Montreal comeback started just after Roughriders quarterback
Darian Durant - a lock for Grey Cup MVP until he threw two second half interceptions - looked to have put the game
away with a touchdown on a 16-yard run at 4:08 of the fourth quarter.
But running back Avon Cobourne, who was named most valuable player for his 85 yards on 16 carries and 64 more on six catches, ran it in
from the three at 7:55.
Six minutes later, veteran slotback Ben Cahoon - who was named top Canadian -
snagged an 11-yard Calvillo pass for a score. Montreal missed a two-point
conversion attempt to give Saskatchewan a two-point lead with
1:45 left to play. After an unsuccessful drive that lasted two plays, the Riders backed up Montreal with a long kick from punter Louie Sakoda.
But the Als were able to move the ball, after they nearly coughed it up on the return. With 10 seconds left, Calvillo hit Kerry Watkins
to put Montreal in range for a field goal and the unlikely win.
"There was ebb and flow in this game, but in the end, Lady Luck came
into play for a moment and we were able to take advantage of it," said
Marc Trestman, a champion in his second year as head coach after losing the
Grey Cup to Calgary last year in Montreal.
Saskatchewan coach Ken Miller looked to be in a state of disbelief
after the game. He would not name the culprit, saying only that a
player on the field for Duval's first kick should have come off but
didn't.
"It was a situation that should have been recognized by what we were
doing," said Miller, whose club was the least penalized in the league
this season. "It's just total, 100 per cent disappointment."
Jamel Richardson also had a touchdown for Montreal. He went over 100 receiving yards in his second straight Grey Cup game,
with 113 on eight catches.
Andy Fantuz also scored a TD for the Roughriders while Luca Congi had four field goals and Sakoda added a single.
Montreal was expected to win easily after a team-record 15-3 season,
but 10-7-1 Saskatchewan's defence countered their every move early on,
holding them to just three points in the first quarter, their lowest
total of the season. A pair of Montreal fumbles
helped the Riders take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
Durant mixed the pass and the run, moving the ball consistently to
set up points against the team with the league's top
defence, especially against the ground game.
His first drive led to a Congi field goal attempt that sailed wide, but the second produced a three-pointer.
Late in the first quarter, Marcus Adams stripped the ball from
Calvillo and big Keith Shologan lumbered to the Montreal eight. On the
next play, Durant found Fantuz open in the end zone on a slant pattern
for a 10-0 lead.
The Alouettes looked to have their offence back on track when a pair
of passes to Cahoon set up a 28-yard Duval kick early in the second
quarter. They were pressing again but missed a chance to add to the
score when fullback Kerry Carter fumbled on the Saskatchewan 17.
The usually reliable Duval shanked a second punt in a row, which traveled only seven yards. Congi turned the mistake into a 44-yard
field goal and Sakoda followed with a single on the ensuing kickoff.
"The ball slipped out of my hands, but in the second half I put a glove on my right hand and fixed that problem," Duval said.
On the next-to-last play of the first half, Durant found Fantuz on the
Montreal two, a play that stood up after video review showed he stayed
in bounds. Congi closed the half with a nine-yard field goal.
Calvillo, given the game ball by his teammates, led a nine-play
drive early in the third, capped by an eight-yard TD toss to
Richardson. The Riders answered with a Congi field goal and Durant's TD, which looked to have
sealed the win.
"We were in the locker-room at half time and we regrouped," said
Cobourne. "We didn't come out with the intensity we needed and it
showed.
"But then we got that feeling in our hearts. Once we started
playing, we are the best team in the CFL for a reason: because we make
plays."
The Alouettes reached their seventh Grey Cup since 2000 with a 56-18
blowout win over B.C. last week, while the 10-7-1 Riders downed Calgary
in the Western final. Both teams were playing in their 17th Grey Cup game.
Notes: Cahoon got the 18 yards he needed to pass former Alouette Hal
Patterson's record of 580 receiving yards in Grey Cup games. He
now has 620. The record had stood since 1964… Montreal and Regina
played in the 1931 Grey Cup, but it was Montreal A.A.A., and not the
Alouettes, who won 22-0… Montreal special teams tackler Paul Waldu, a
Regina native, was not in the lineup, while rookie J.P. Bekasiak
dressed as a back-up offensive lineman in place of Shawn Mayne… The Riders scratched Hugh Charles, Clifton Washburn, Kevin Scott and Joe
Sykes.
