Montreal Alouettes (9-1-0) at Ottawa Renegades (3-7-0)
From The Sports Network
By Ted Michaels, CFL Editor
DATE & TIME: Friday, August 29, 7 p.m. (et).
Game notes: The Labor Day weekend means the unofficial start of the second half of the CFL season, and it also means traditional rivals battle each other in the Labor Day Classics. First up, two teams, two hours apart: one trying to keep their A game going, while the other needs to start a win streak.
The defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes have won six in a row, their latest victory coming last Thursday, a 46-22 trouncing of the Toronto Argonauts, in front of Montreal?s 42nd straight sell-out at Molson Stadium.
It was a case of more of the same for the Alouettes. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was red-hot again, completing 28 of 35 passes for 438 yards and four touchdowns. His 400-plus yard performance was the first for a Montreal quarterback, since 1997, and it moved him past Tom Burgess into tenth place on the CFL?s all-time passing yardage list. Calvillo had a lot of success with two receivers: Ben Cahoon had ten catches for 176 yards and one touchdown, while Jermaine Copeland had two TD?s among his nine catches for 208 yards. Copeland?s 200-yard game was the first for a Montreal receiver, since 1983. Here?s an indication of how productive the Montreal offense was in the first half alone. Calvillo was good on 20-24 attempts, for 236 yards and 2 TD?s.
As impressive as they were offensively, let?s credit the Montreal defense as well. They held Toronto?s Michael Jenkins to just 75 yards rushing, gave up 225 yards in net offense, and sacked the Argos Damon Allen two times.
And, both sides of the ball did what they had to. One look at the total time of possession clearly illustrates that. Montreal had the ball for 36:30, compared to just 23:30 for Toronto.
Ottawa heads into this one after a 12-day break. They last played on August 17, losing 51-41 in Regina to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was their third game in eleven days, and perhaps it showed. They led 21-8 after the first, and 25-16 at the half. Ottawa?s offense was a thing of beauty in the opening fifteen minutes, scoring three touchdowns on their first four drives.
Quarterback Kerry Joseph capped off drives of 57 and 71 yards with two, one-yard touchdown plunges, and he also hit DJ Flick with a 37-yard TD pass. But, things unraveled quickly on the opening kickoff the second half, when Kevin Nickerson ran 96 yards, untouched for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, an Ottawa punt was also taken back all the way, this one for 87 yards, and the Renegades were in trouble.
Ottawa did fight back in the fourth, outscoring Saskatchewan 15-7, but it wasn?t enough. Joseph completed 16-24 passes for 213 yards and two interceptions to go with his TD pass to Flick, who was the primary target for Joseph. Flick had eight catches for 197 yards.
Ottawa may add two familiar names to it?s roster for this one. Defensive end Michael Boireau, a former second-round NFL pick, was released by Cleveland Browns this week. He played 13 games in Ottawa last season, and recorded three sacks. Llewellyn (Yo) Murphy, played with BC Lions in 1993 and 94, then, went to the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe for three seasons. He bounded around after that, from the Vikings practice roster for a year, to the Tampa Bay Bucs for two years, then to St. Louis for another two, before playing three games in Kansas City last season. Murphy is penciled in to start at slot, and also return kicks.
The numbers: Montreal and Ottawa have met three times since Ottawa came back into the CFL. The Alouettes have taken 2 of 3, winning both games in Ottawa.
Keys to the game: if the Renegades want to make up some room in their playoff hunt, now is the time. Six of their remaining eight games are against Eastern opponents. Ottawa is getting their act together offensively. In their last four games, they?ve averaged 23 first downs, 450 yards and 31 points per game. Defensively, they?ve allowed an average of nineteen first downs, and 300 yards per game in the same span. One big line-up change for Ottawa in this one. Running back Darren Davis was released by the Renegades on Tuesday after violating team rules. This means Josh Ranek will stay as the main tailback, at least for now. Ottawa will have to keep the ball away from the potent Als offense if they have any change of winning. They can only do that if they can run. And, it says here, they can?t.
Sports network predicted outcome: Montreal 26 Ottawa 21.
From The Sports Network
By Ted Michaels, CFL Editor
DATE & TIME: Friday, August 29, 7 p.m. (et).
Game notes: The Labor Day weekend means the unofficial start of the second half of the CFL season, and it also means traditional rivals battle each other in the Labor Day Classics. First up, two teams, two hours apart: one trying to keep their A game going, while the other needs to start a win streak.
The defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes have won six in a row, their latest victory coming last Thursday, a 46-22 trouncing of the Toronto Argonauts, in front of Montreal?s 42nd straight sell-out at Molson Stadium.
It was a case of more of the same for the Alouettes. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was red-hot again, completing 28 of 35 passes for 438 yards and four touchdowns. His 400-plus yard performance was the first for a Montreal quarterback, since 1997, and it moved him past Tom Burgess into tenth place on the CFL?s all-time passing yardage list. Calvillo had a lot of success with two receivers: Ben Cahoon had ten catches for 176 yards and one touchdown, while Jermaine Copeland had two TD?s among his nine catches for 208 yards. Copeland?s 200-yard game was the first for a Montreal receiver, since 1983. Here?s an indication of how productive the Montreal offense was in the first half alone. Calvillo was good on 20-24 attempts, for 236 yards and 2 TD?s.
As impressive as they were offensively, let?s credit the Montreal defense as well. They held Toronto?s Michael Jenkins to just 75 yards rushing, gave up 225 yards in net offense, and sacked the Argos Damon Allen two times.
And, both sides of the ball did what they had to. One look at the total time of possession clearly illustrates that. Montreal had the ball for 36:30, compared to just 23:30 for Toronto.
Ottawa heads into this one after a 12-day break. They last played on August 17, losing 51-41 in Regina to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was their third game in eleven days, and perhaps it showed. They led 21-8 after the first, and 25-16 at the half. Ottawa?s offense was a thing of beauty in the opening fifteen minutes, scoring three touchdowns on their first four drives.
Quarterback Kerry Joseph capped off drives of 57 and 71 yards with two, one-yard touchdown plunges, and he also hit DJ Flick with a 37-yard TD pass. But, things unraveled quickly on the opening kickoff the second half, when Kevin Nickerson ran 96 yards, untouched for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, an Ottawa punt was also taken back all the way, this one for 87 yards, and the Renegades were in trouble.
Ottawa did fight back in the fourth, outscoring Saskatchewan 15-7, but it wasn?t enough. Joseph completed 16-24 passes for 213 yards and two interceptions to go with his TD pass to Flick, who was the primary target for Joseph. Flick had eight catches for 197 yards.
Ottawa may add two familiar names to it?s roster for this one. Defensive end Michael Boireau, a former second-round NFL pick, was released by Cleveland Browns this week. He played 13 games in Ottawa last season, and recorded three sacks. Llewellyn (Yo) Murphy, played with BC Lions in 1993 and 94, then, went to the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe for three seasons. He bounded around after that, from the Vikings practice roster for a year, to the Tampa Bay Bucs for two years, then to St. Louis for another two, before playing three games in Kansas City last season. Murphy is penciled in to start at slot, and also return kicks.
The numbers: Montreal and Ottawa have met three times since Ottawa came back into the CFL. The Alouettes have taken 2 of 3, winning both games in Ottawa.
Keys to the game: if the Renegades want to make up some room in their playoff hunt, now is the time. Six of their remaining eight games are against Eastern opponents. Ottawa is getting their act together offensively. In their last four games, they?ve averaged 23 first downs, 450 yards and 31 points per game. Defensively, they?ve allowed an average of nineteen first downs, and 300 yards per game in the same span. One big line-up change for Ottawa in this one. Running back Darren Davis was released by the Renegades on Tuesday after violating team rules. This means Josh Ranek will stay as the main tailback, at least for now. Ottawa will have to keep the ball away from the potent Als offense if they have any change of winning. They can only do that if they can run. And, it says here, they can?t.
Sports network predicted outcome: Montreal 26 Ottawa 21.
