Duval boots 7 FGs as Als rout Hamilton

Football Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal kicker Damon Duval tied a career-high with seven field goals as he helped lead the Alouettes to a commanding 37-14 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium.

Duval finished the night with 22 points as Montreal (3-1) logged its third straight win after losing the season opener to Saskatchewan in overtime, 54-51.

Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo also had a strong outing as he converted 28-of-38 passing for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns, getting his team into the end zone for the first time in six quarters when he struck in the fourth period.

Kevin Glenn, who was named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after completing 29-of-36 passes for 336 yards with three touchdowns in a 28-7 decision over Winnipeg, hit on 16-of-32 for 201 yards for the Tiger-Cats (1-3) before being pulled in favor of Quinton Porter late in the contest.

Duval started off the night's scoring for the Alouettes with a pair of field goals in the first half, converting tries of 24 and 47 yards to provide the home team with a 6-0 advantage.

Hamilton and Sandro DeAngelis finally responded when the kicker knocked through a 19-yard effort, capping a 16-play, 64-yard drive.

In the second period Duval struck again for the Als, this time on a 27-yard effort, making the score 9-6.

DeAngelis took his turn later in the frame, booting a 27-yard field goal, but shortly after Duval added a 61-yard single to make the score 10-6 at the break.

Montreal struck first in the second half as well when Duval made good on a 45- yard field goal try.

On the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing Hamilton possession, John Bowman stripped Glenn of the ball and the Als recovered, putting them in prime position for a major. Unfortunately, yet another Montreal drive stalled prematurely and Duval was called upon to convert a 22-yard attempt, making the score 16-6.

"We had to show everyone that we can play football up front," Bowman said after the game. "We knew we had to give our offense a chance. We had a rough first half, but we gave them enough to change in the second...especially when it was 13-6 with what was my forced fumble on Kevin Glenn."

A blocked punt and subsequent recovery by Montreal's Michael Giffin once more gave the Als the ball deep in Hamilton territory, but once again Duval was brought in to convert a 21-yard field goal.

"I hate to see a blocked punt at a crucial time in the game," Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille lamented. "The forced fumble by John Bowman was a big play...for whatever reason the play broke down."

Finally Calvillo and the Montreal offense broke through in the fourth quarter when the signal-caller threw off his back foot and found Kerry Watkins with a 32-yard score. A two-point conversion toss to S.J. Green made the score 27-6 with under 13 minutes to play in the contest.

Another stalled drive by Montreal brought out Duval who knocked through a 45- yard field goal to push the score to 30-6.

Hamilton turned to Porter to supply some energy and he responded by finding Arland Bruce III with a 16-yard TD strike, with a pass to Maurice Mann on the two-point conversion cutting the deficit to 30-14 with under six minutes remaining.

Following the three-minute warning, Avon Cobourne weaved his way on a 16-yard run down to the one-yard line for the Als, but a penalty on the next snap moved the ball back to the six-yard line. From there, Calvillo fired over the middle into the end zone for Kerry Carter to make the score 37-14.

Montreal sealed the decision when Shea Emry intercepted a Porter pass with 1:36 remaining and the Als ran out the clock with reserve QB Chris Leak under center.

"It comes down to making plays and we just didn't make enough of them," Glenn said of his efforts. "The Als didn't do anything different...we had chances to make big plays but we didn't make them."

Game Notes

The TD for Watkins was the first for the Als in 115:39, dating back to the fourth quarter of the Edmonton matchup on July 11...Duval entered the night having made a total of seven field goals through the first three games of the season...Montreal receiver Ben Cahoon, who had two catches for 37 yards, now has 967 catches for his career, ranking him third all-time in the CFL behind Terry Vaughn (1,006 receptions) and Darren Flutie (972)...Montreal was a perfect 9-0 at home last season, the first time since 1955 that the club posted an unblemished record...Montreal has now won five straight over the Ticats and 13 of the last 14 encounters...Hamilton has not won in Montreal since 2002...The last defeat for the Alouettes overall at home was October 26, 2008 when the squad bowed to Winnipeg, 24-23.