Anthony Calvillo threw two touchdown passes to S.J. Green to stake Montreal to a 24-0 first half lead before he was carted off the field with an apparent rib injury, but the Alouettes held on to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 39-17 on Thursday night.
With 4:52 to play in the second quarter, Calvillo dropped back to pass and was drilled to the turf by Winnipeg defensive end Odell Willis, seemingly falling on the football and damaging his ribs.
He lay motionless for several minutes as the sellout crowd of 25,012 went dead silent with concern for their future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Calvillo finally sat up and slowly got to his feet, drawing loud cheers from the Percival Molson Stadium faithful. But they went silent again moments later when, after taking only a few wobbly strides, Calvillo kneeled down on one knee and lay back on the turf.
A cart was brought on the field to take Calvillo to the sideline and he was seen leaving the stadium on a stretcher just before the end of the first half, leaving the Montreal offence in the inexperienced hands of Chris Leak.
Linebacker Chip Cox scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery and was tackling everything in sight for the Alouettes (6-2), who extended their regular season home winning streak to 13 games.
Running back Brandon Whittaker rushed for two insurance touchdowns starting in place of the injured Avon Cobourne, and Montreal kicker Damon Duval kicked four singles.
Jovon Johnson had an interception and a 74-yard punt return touchdown for the Blue Bombers (2-6), who lost their fourth in a row and fell further into last place in the East Division.
Brock Ralph caught a touchdown pass and Winnipeg's new kicker Justin Palardy made a 45-yard field goal on his only attempt of the night to account for all the points by the Blue Bomber offence.
Steven Jyles, getting his fourth start of the season in place of the injured Buck Pierce, had a difficult night. He lost two fumbles and was an erratic 11-of-22 for 123 yards, though he wasn't helped by his receivers who dropped several easy catches that would have gone for big gains.
Jyles was replaced by Alex Brink with just under five minutes to play in the fourth and the Bombers trailing 32-17.
Jyles did have a big night on the ground with 76 yards rushing, and running back Fred Reid added 103 yards on 13 carries.
The Alouettes were leading 24-0 when Calvillo left the game having completed 13-of-21 passes for 164 yards, and it didn't take long for the momentum to shift towards the Blue Bombers.
Just as Calvillo was being taken out of the stadium, Jyles found Ralph with a 29-yard touchdown pass with just 50 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to 24-7.
Palardy's field goal at 4:02 of the third made it 24-10 and Johnson's 74-yard punt return touchdown at 13:15 of the third made it a one-possession game going into the final quarter.
Meanwhile, Leak was having no success, going two-and-out on his first two series and throwing an interception to Johnson on the Winnipeg one-yard line in the third quarter.
Whitaker gave the Alouettes some breathing room at 2:20 of the fourth when he scampered into the end zone from 19 yards on a draw play to make it 31-17 Montreal.
Duval's fourth single of the game made it 32-17 before Whitaker scored on a 10-yard run at 13:36 to ice it for Montreal.
The game began according to script for the Alouettes as they jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter on two Duval singles and the Cox 14-yard fumble return touchdown at 9:41 of the first.
Calvillo then found Green for two touchdowns within the opening minutes of the second, first on a 10-yard pass 15 seconds into the quarter and again at 2:24 on a 35-yard connection.
Duval added another single at 7:36 of the second to make it 24-0 Montreal, but Calvillo was hurt just under three minutes later and it was suddenly a new game, except Winnipeg couldn't complete the comeback.
Notes: Calvillo played his 218th game as an Alouette, joining recently retired centre Bryan Chiu atop the franchise list. Slotback Ben Cahoon played his 215th game in an Alouettes uniform, and caught at least a pass in his 135th straight game...Calvillo has missed six games since joining the Alouettes in 1998, and Montreal has a 2-4 record in those games. In the 30 games where Calvillo didn't start, including his early years when he was the backup to new Hall of Famer Tracy Ham, the Alouettes are 15-14-1...Winnipeg did not dress Pierce (knee), defensive halfback Brandon Stewart, running back Yvenson Bernard and safety Ian Logan... The Alouettes did not dress Cobourne (ankle), linebacker Diamond Ferri (illness), receiver Eric Deslauriers and offensive linemen Skip Seagraves and Dylan Steenbergen...
With 4:52 to play in the second quarter, Calvillo dropped back to pass and was drilled to the turf by Winnipeg defensive end Odell Willis, seemingly falling on the football and damaging his ribs.
He lay motionless for several minutes as the sellout crowd of 25,012 went dead silent with concern for their future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Calvillo finally sat up and slowly got to his feet, drawing loud cheers from the Percival Molson Stadium faithful. But they went silent again moments later when, after taking only a few wobbly strides, Calvillo kneeled down on one knee and lay back on the turf.
A cart was brought on the field to take Calvillo to the sideline and he was seen leaving the stadium on a stretcher just before the end of the first half, leaving the Montreal offence in the inexperienced hands of Chris Leak.
Linebacker Chip Cox scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery and was tackling everything in sight for the Alouettes (6-2), who extended their regular season home winning streak to 13 games.
Running back Brandon Whittaker rushed for two insurance touchdowns starting in place of the injured Avon Cobourne, and Montreal kicker Damon Duval kicked four singles.
Jovon Johnson had an interception and a 74-yard punt return touchdown for the Blue Bombers (2-6), who lost their fourth in a row and fell further into last place in the East Division.
Brock Ralph caught a touchdown pass and Winnipeg's new kicker Justin Palardy made a 45-yard field goal on his only attempt of the night to account for all the points by the Blue Bomber offence.
Steven Jyles, getting his fourth start of the season in place of the injured Buck Pierce, had a difficult night. He lost two fumbles and was an erratic 11-of-22 for 123 yards, though he wasn't helped by his receivers who dropped several easy catches that would have gone for big gains.
Jyles was replaced by Alex Brink with just under five minutes to play in the fourth and the Bombers trailing 32-17.
Jyles did have a big night on the ground with 76 yards rushing, and running back Fred Reid added 103 yards on 13 carries.
The Alouettes were leading 24-0 when Calvillo left the game having completed 13-of-21 passes for 164 yards, and it didn't take long for the momentum to shift towards the Blue Bombers.
Just as Calvillo was being taken out of the stadium, Jyles found Ralph with a 29-yard touchdown pass with just 50 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to 24-7.
Palardy's field goal at 4:02 of the third made it 24-10 and Johnson's 74-yard punt return touchdown at 13:15 of the third made it a one-possession game going into the final quarter.
Meanwhile, Leak was having no success, going two-and-out on his first two series and throwing an interception to Johnson on the Winnipeg one-yard line in the third quarter.
Whitaker gave the Alouettes some breathing room at 2:20 of the fourth when he scampered into the end zone from 19 yards on a draw play to make it 31-17 Montreal.
Duval's fourth single of the game made it 32-17 before Whitaker scored on a 10-yard run at 13:36 to ice it for Montreal.
The game began according to script for the Alouettes as they jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter on two Duval singles and the Cox 14-yard fumble return touchdown at 9:41 of the first.
Calvillo then found Green for two touchdowns within the opening minutes of the second, first on a 10-yard pass 15 seconds into the quarter and again at 2:24 on a 35-yard connection.
Duval added another single at 7:36 of the second to make it 24-0 Montreal, but Calvillo was hurt just under three minutes later and it was suddenly a new game, except Winnipeg couldn't complete the comeback.
Notes: Calvillo played his 218th game as an Alouette, joining recently retired centre Bryan Chiu atop the franchise list. Slotback Ben Cahoon played his 215th game in an Alouettes uniform, and caught at least a pass in his 135th straight game...Calvillo has missed six games since joining the Alouettes in 1998, and Montreal has a 2-4 record in those games. In the 30 games where Calvillo didn't start, including his early years when he was the backup to new Hall of Famer Tracy Ham, the Alouettes are 15-14-1...Winnipeg did not dress Pierce (knee), defensive halfback Brandon Stewart, running back Yvenson Bernard and safety Ian Logan... The Alouettes did not dress Cobourne (ankle), linebacker Diamond Ferri (illness), receiver Eric Deslauriers and offensive linemen Skip Seagraves and Dylan Steenbergen...
