Montreal finishes regular season 15-3 thanks to 42-17 win over lowly Toronto
Adrian McPherson threw two TD passes as the Montreal Alouettes dispatched the Toronto Argonauts 42-17 for their club-record 15th win of the year in the CFL regular-season finale for both clubs Saturday.
Montreal picked up its eighth win in nine games and finished the campaign with a CFL-best 15-3 record. The East Division-leading Als swept the season series 3-0, outscoring Toronto 94-25.
The Alouettes finished 6-3 on the road and were a perfect 9-0 at home, a stat worth noting as they will host the conference final Nov. 22.
It was also a record-setting day for Montreal kicker Damon Duval, who had a club-record seven field goals and 24 points to boost his single-season points total to a league-record 242, breaking the mark of 236 set in 1991 by former Argo Lance Chomyc.
McPherson was 16-of-20 passing for 151 yards and added 55 yards rushing before giving way in the fourth quarter to backup Chris Leak, who was 7-of-10 for 44 yards. The two did a nice job of distributing the ball as 10 different Alouettes had catches.
A good sign for Montreal was winning so convincingly with a generous sprinkling of backups in the lineup on both sides of the ball in a game that had no bearing on the East Division standings. McPherson got the start ahead of veteran Anthony Calvillo — who dressed but was the No. 3 quarterback behind Leak — while such stalwarts as running back Avon Cobourne and kick-returner Larry Taylor didn't dress.
The sad-sack Argos (3-15) were still overmatched against a diminished Montreal lineup before a surly Rogers Centre gathering of 28,293.
The offence under first-year quarterback Stephen Reaves, 23-of-40 passing for 209 yards and four interceptions, struggled to mount any consistency against the Als' top-ranked defence until the fourth quarter. Toronto's usually stout defence did register three sacks, but generally didn't get much pressure on either McPherson or Leak and overall tackled poorly.
It was Fan Appreciation Day at the Rogers Centre, but the Argos didn't give their fans much to cheer about. Toronto committed six turnovers and finished with less than 200 total offensive yards.
The one-sided decision was just the latest disappointment in what's been a disastrous year for first-year head coach Bart Andrus. Toronto finished the season on an eight-game losing streak and lost its last four home contests to drop to 1-8 overall at Rogers Centre. The Argos dropped to 0-6 against Montreal, their last win over the Als coming Oct. 20, 2007.
Andrus, who has drawn the ire of Argos fans all season for questionable coaching decisions, did so again to end the second quarter. Facing third and one from the Montreal 47-yard line on the half's final play, he opted to punt rather than throw deep for a touchdown. The result was Justin Medlock's 67-yard single, which cut the Als' half-time advantage to 26-4 and drew a sarcastic cheer from the disgruntled Toronto faithful.
Andrus also raised eyebrows when trailing 39-14 in the fourth as he had Medlock boot a 27-yard field goal at 8:24 instead of trying for a first down.
A 3-15 record is Toronto's worst since '93 when it had a similiar mark under the coaching tandem of Dennis Meyer and Bob O'Billovich.
Brandon Whitaker, Kerry Watkins and Paul Woldu had Montreal's touchdowns. Duval added the converts.
Jamal Robertson had Toronto's lone touchdown. Medlock had three field goals, a convert and single.
The outcome was never in doubt as Montreal dominated play in the opening half, taking a well deserved 26-3 lead into the dressing room.
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