MONTREAL 38 EDMONTON 25
Anthony Calvillo passed for four touchdowns as the Montreal Alouettes vaulted into sole possession of first place in the CFL East Friday with a convincing 38-25 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Alouettes improved to 4-3, jumping ahead of both the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Ticats, who have three wins apiece.
The Eskimos dropped to 4-3 with their first loss at Commonwealth Stadium, remaining in a first-place tie in the West with the B.C. Lions.
Montreal wasted no time getting on the board on their first possession with a surgical march down the field capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Calvillo to fullback Patrick Lavoie.
Montreal's next drive wasn't nearly as clean as Calvillo was picked off on his own 32-yard line by linebacker J.C. Sherritt. But on the very next play, Edmonton gave it right back as Steven Jyles was intercepted on the goal line by Montreal's Kyries Hebert.
The Alouettes forced another turnover late in the opening quarter as the Esks turned over the ball on downs at their own 32 after a botched punt attempt.
Calvillo made the most of the gaffe, passing for a 30-yard TD to Brian Bratton for a 14-0 lead.
Montreal continued to dominate into the second quarter as Calvillo found Victor Anderson for a 21-yard passing TD. He followed that up with a 37-yard pass to Brandon London to set up a one-yard plunge by Adrian McPherson for a 28-0 lead midway through the second.
Edmonton responded with a punt single.
With a minute remaining in the half a pass interference call in the end zone led to a one-yard plunge by backup quarterback Kerry Joseph as the Eskimos cut the score to 28-8 at the half.
The two teams traded field goals in the third before Calvillo struck again, hitting S.J. Green for a 62 yard gain before finding Green again for a 13-yard touchdown and a 38-11 lead heading into the final quarter.
Edmonton came back with a single on a missed field goal before adding seven points on a 19-yard scoring pass from Jyles to Greg Carr on the heels of a Rod Williams interception.
The Eskimos made the score look much more favourable with five minutes remaining as a Montreal punt hit an Alouettes player and was scooped up for a five-yard TD by Clint Kent.
The Alouettes return home to face Hamilton on Thursday. The Eskimos are off until Aug. 27, when they travel to Toronto to face Ricky Ray and the Argos.
Running back Cory Boyd made his debut for the Esks. The leading rusher in the CFL through six games, Boyd was released by the Toronto Argonauts and signed by Edmonton in a flurry of activity Sunday.
Boyd was used sparingly behind Hugh Charles.
