Alouettes 43 Roughriders 10
REGINA — Anthony Calvillo’s two touchdown passes put him in some distinguished company Saturday.
Calvillo’s passes moved him into a second-place tie on the all-time list as the Montreal Alouettes dismantled the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders 43-10 to remain the CFL’s lone unbeaten team.
The two TD strikes boosted Calvillo’s career total to 333, leaving him tied with the late Ron Lancaster, who died last year and played for Saskatchewan for the vast majority of his career. Damon Allen, who retired following the 2007 campaign after 23 CFL seasons, leads the way with 394 touchdown tosses.
Calvillo finished the 24-of-34 passing for 281 yards and the two touchdowns.
After taking a 14-8 half-time lead, Montreal (3-0) broke the game open in the second half, outscoring Saskatchewan (2-1) by a 29-2 margin.
Calvillo threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Kerry Watkins at 3:52 of the third quarter before Avon Cobourne cemented the victory with a seven-yard TD run at 8:55 that put Montreal ahead 29-8.
Cobourne, who rushed for 145 yards and two TDs, became the first running back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Riders this season.
“It wasn’t me. It was my teammates,” said Cobourne. “I think I do have the best O-line in the league and they make it easy for me.”
The four-year veteran played a large role in the Alouettes’ second-half rebound. His work on getting the ground game going helped Montreal sustain long drives. The Als, who lost three fumbles in the first half, also stopped turning the ball over to ease the pressure on the defence, which had a solid performance.
“Our defence is ridiculous. I mean, number one in the league,” said Cobourne.
“The way we ended last year, they just stayed on a roll. Six turnovers. Countless two and outs. They pretty much kept the offence in the game because we started off way too slow.”