MONTREAL — There was no fourth-quarter comeback this time.
The Argonauts, winners of three games in a row in which they had pulled off late rallies, were reminded by the high-powered Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night that they’re not ready to run with the big dogs.
Quarterback Anthony Calvillo picked apart the Toronto defence and Avon Cobourne had his best game in the Canadian Football League with 231 total yards on offence, including two touchdowns, as the defending Grey Cup champions took the wind out of the Argos’ sails with a 41-10 victory before a capacity crowd of 25,012.
The Argos, who play in Edmonton next week, fell to 3-2. The Alouettes have the top of the East Division to themselves with a 4-1 record.
Jamel Richardson added two touchdowns for the Als, who have won 11 consecutive home games. S.J. Green had one major.
Calvillo’s savvy ensured that the Argos remained winless at Molson Stadium since 2005. He was successful on his first eight passes and the Argos defence didn’t really have an answer. His counterpart, Cleo Lemon, was not good, other than a 55-yard pass to Brandon Rideau. The offensive line, for the most part, gave Lemon time to set up in the pocket — or roll out if he had to — but the first-year CFLer completed just eight of 17 passes.
Runningback Cory Boyd failed in his attempt to become just the second Argo in team history to rush for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games.
Boyd did it in the Boatmen’s three wins but ran for just 52 on Thursday night. Bill Symons is the only Argo who managed the feat, accomplishing it in 1968.
The Alouettes scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to put enough distance between themselves and the Argos.
Cobourne ran in from one yard, but the back-breaker came next.
Chad Owens, in his first game in Montreal since the Als traded him to Toronto in June, fumbled at the Montreal 50. Eric Wilson returned the football 50 yards to the Toronto five-yard line, and Calvillo then found Richardson for an easy score.
Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon moved into sole possession third place on the CFL career list for receptions when he made his 966th catch early in the third quarter, a five-yarder from Calvillo. Cahoon had tied Allen Pitts for third place with his first catch of the game.
The Argos probably would have held a lead at halftime had it not been for a bone-headed penalty by Ejiro Kuale. Thanks to a contacting-the-kicker call on Kuale, the Argos were down 17-10 after two quarters.
Kuale knocked over Damon Duval, not only erasing a good return by Owens, but it gave the Alouettes a first down at their own 47-yard line.
Two plays later, Calvillo completed a short pass to Cobourne, who then turned it into a 47-yard gain, getting past halfback Evan McCollough before he was brought down by Willie Middlebrooks at the three-yard line.
Backup quarterback Ricky Santos, who comes in for short yardage, then found Richardson for a one-yard touchdown pass for a 14-10 Montreal lead.
Battle of attrition
The first quarter was a battle of attrition, as both teams had only one drive after the Argos went two-and-out on their first possession.
Calvillo hit Green for an 11-yard touchdown pass at 6:16, giving Montreal a 7-0 lead after a Duval convert.
But the Argos answered immediately on a drive that took 17 plays before they got to the end zone.
Lemon called his own number from three yards out.
The Argos then took a 10-7 lead after Adriano Belli forced Cobourne to fumble, with the recovery by Jason Pottinger. Toronto took over on its own 37-yard line and Lemon unloaded on the following play, finding Rideau for a 55-yard gain.
But the Argos had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Grant Shaw, followed by a 19-yarder from Duval.
