Argos Season Ends With Loss To Als
Posted November 12, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There won’t be any Double Blue in this year’s Grey Cup.
The Montreal Alouettes made sure of that Sunday, outlasting the Toronto Argonauts 33-24.
The CFL East Division final wasn’t even as close as the score suggests. Montreal dominated most of the way, in front of a noisy 35,607 at Olympic Stadium.
Thyron Anderson and Robert Edwards were the catalysts for the Als, as the former hauled in a 52-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Calvillo and the latter scampered for a score on the ground that put the Argos down early. At one point Montreal led 23-3.
A fourth-quarter rally pulled Toronto within six points, but the fourth field goal of the game from Als kicker Damon Duval sealed things with 51 seconds left to play.
Montreal also got a big score from cornerback Mark Estelle, who had a 78-yard interception return off Damon Allen.
So instead of the Argos, who needed late-game magic from backup quarterback Michael Bishop the previous week just to get to this game, it will be Montreal representing the East in the Grey Cup final.
It will be their second championship game in a row and the fifth in seven years. Amazingly, it was the fifth straight year Toronto and Montreal met in the Division final.
Bishop did make an appearance for the second straight game after 43-year-old starting pivot Damon Allen was pulled halfway through the third quarter. But even TD passes to Arland Bruce and Michael Palmer wouldn’t be enough.
The Boatmen also a score from running back Ricky Williams, who plunged in for a one-yard major with just over two minutes to play. It was a positive end to a less-than-productive season in Toronto for Williams, and likely marked his last game with the club.
In 2005, it was the Edmonton Eskimos that handed Montreal a 38-35 loss in the championship, but this year they’ll meet the B.C. Lions in Winnipeg for the Canadian Football League’s biggest prize.
