Boyd Gets Second Shot At Als

THE CANADIAN PRESS

MISSISSAUGA – For three weeks, Cory Boyd and the Toronto Argonauts have openly expressed their desire for a second shot at the Montreal Alouettes.

The Argos get their wish Saturday night when they face the defending Grey Cup champions in the rematch at Rogers Centre.

Toronto started off fairly well against Montreal when the teams met for the first time July 29 at Molson Stadium, holding a 10-7 lead in the second quarter before heading into halftime trailing 17-10. But the Alouettes completely dominated the second half en route to a lopsided 41-10 victory.

Boyd, who has run for a CFL-high 648 yards, and the upstart Argos (4-2) have looked forward to the rematch with Montreal (5-1) not to gain redemption, but rather for a second chance to measure themselves against a team regarded as the CFL’s best.

“They (Alouettes) are a championship-type team and that’s something we’re trying to build off of,” Boyd said. “They’re setting the tone in the East and so now we have to model ourselves after them.

“But at the same time we don’t want to be them, we want to be greater. That’s our motivation, not just to be better than the next team but be better than what we showed previous weeks.”

Toronto head coach Jim Barker likes the idea of facing a tough opponent within a short period of time, and with good reason. After opening the regular season with a 30-16 road loss to Calgary, the Argos beat the Stampeders 27-24 two weeks later at Rogers Centre, the Stamps’ lone loss so far this season.

“It’s exciting for us because the feeling you have after a game like that is never good and to be able to come back later like the Calgary game where we had the same feeling is good,” Barker said. “We didn’t play the way we can the last quarter and half of that game (against Montreal), we got away from who we are and what we’re about.

“We need to just get back to that.”

Toronto’s defence will definitely have veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to contend with. Calvillo suffered a dislocated finger on his passing hand in last week’s 30-26 win over Saskatchewan but that won’t stop him from facing the Argos.

“The hand is good,” Calvillo said. “It comes down to a small tape job just to protect the joint.

“It’s sore throwing, but once the game comes around I won’t have to worry about it. It’s a matter of getting treatment, let it heal up, get some rest and get ready to play.”

Calvillo played a significant role in Montreal’s first win over Toronto, completing 30-of-36 passes for 394 yards with two touchdown strikes. But running back Avon Cobourne was also a major contributor, rushing for 115 yards and two TDs while adding eight catches for 116 yards.

“Avon Cobourne is a great player, he’s going to get some runs,” Barker said. “But he shouldn’t have the kind of night like he had the other night.

“Our guys are a proud bunch and know the task at hand. The thing for us is to do what we do.”

Toronto only ran the ball 16 times against Montreal for 92 yards. Boyd has run for over 100 yards in four of the Argos last five contests, the exception being a 53-yard performance on nine carries against the Alouettes.

While Boyd said he’s more than willing to shoulder an increased rushing workload, the success of the run game ultimately rests with the Argos’ front wall.

“We’re only going to go as far as our offensive line takes us,” he said. “If our line comes off the ball and plays as physical as it has the whole season I think we’ll be a pretty good team.

“That’s where it all starts.”

Barker said the Argos need improved play from both their offensive and defensive lines against Montreal.

“I felt like both sides of the ball their lines took it to our lines in the last game and that’s the only time this year I felt that was the case,” Barker said. “We need to take it to their line, whether that means running the ball but it also means in pass protection you’re able to protect at a better level than we did the last time against Montreal.

“It’s an all-around line versus line, physical mentality that we’ve tried to develop here that I think we got away from a little bit. When you sit back and try to come from behind sitting in the pocket trying to throw the ball all the time, that’s not the way for our team to do that.”

The bad news for the CFL is Montreal coach Marc Trestman doesn’t believe his club is playing its best football yet.

“We’ve had some tremendous moments offensively, defensively and on special teams, but I don’t think we’ve played a complete game where we’ve had all sides of the ball playing at the highest level,” he said. “That’s part of the growing process of a season.

“One thing we’ve done is played high-energy, 60-minute football for the last five weeks.”

Despite its impressive record, Montreal hasn’t always been dominant.

Last week, the Alouettes took a 24-10 halftime lead over Saskatchewan, then had to hold off a hard-charging Riders team for the four-point victory.

Montreal took a similar advantage into halftime in the season opener against Saskatchewan, only to have the Riders rally for the thrilling 54-51 overtime victory at Mosaic Stadium.

“Saskatchewan took care of Montreal with a two-and-out and then held the ball,” Barker said. “Then there was another two-and-out and they held the ball again . . . that’s how you keep Anthony Calvillo under control by keeping him on the bench.

“You get out of rhythm very quickly when you’re sitting on the bench.”

A fact not lost upon Toronto receiver Jeremaine Copeland.

“It comes down to us executing and not shooting ourselves in the foot on drives,” he said. “We’re going to have to do what we can to keep the ball and try to keep their offence off the field and when our defence goes in get two and out.

“I really think that’s something we can do and is what we’ve been preparing for all week.”