Als' dominant defence subdues Tiger-Cats

There's nothing like a little embarrassment to fire up a defence.

Quarterback Adrian McPherson may have been the new name on the marquee, but it was an older set of actors who sent the Montreal Alouettes to a 27-6 win over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday.

The victory, one week after the Als were badly beaten at home by B.C., moved Montreal to 7-3 in the CFL's Eastern Division, while Hamilton lost for the first time in five games and fell to 5-5.

Montreal pivot Anthony Calvillo missed his second straight game with a bruised sternum and, after the offence had been so poor a week ago without him, many were calling this a near gimme for the Tiger-Cats.

Cue the Als' defence.

Led by linebacker Chip Cox, who had eight tackles, they smothered the Cats all day, allowing just 230 yards in total offence (49 of it on the last play of the game when it didn't matter), chased starter Kevin Glenn from the game and thoroughly dominated in every category.

"I thought our football team played very well together today," said head coach Marc Trestman, in his standard understated way. "I thought we were a team that really responded well to the environment and didn't stop playing until the end."

McPherson, meanwhile, came off the nine-game injured list to replace ineffective backup Chris Leak and had a strong afternoon for a guy with just five days of practice all season.

He went a solid 21-of-37 for 238 yards, one touchdown and an interception, plus 121 yards in scampers on the ground.

There were some signs of obvious rust, however, including overthrowing a couple of wide-open receivers on plays that could have gone for touchdowns.

But McPherson did the job asked of him, and left the rest to the defence.

"I was just doing what the coach tells me to do," he said. "They called the play. I executed the play. I don't care how we win, I just want to win."

The Alouettes had been a touch humiliated by that 38-17 loss to the Lions and they did not let it happen again, winning for the 19th time in the last 21 games against Hamilton.

Glenn was 11-of-27 for 159 yards and an interception, replaced for a while by backup Quinton Porter in the second half with not much better results.

Early error by Cats

McPherson didn't seem rusty on his first two possessions.

First, he marched the Als down for a field goal after the opening kickoff and then took advantage of a Glenn interception for a short drive that ended with a nice toss into the end zone to Kerry Watkins, making it 10-0 early on.

Those were the last points an awakened Cats' defence gave up the rest of the half until a Damon Duval field goal less than two minutes before the break.

Glenn, meanwhile, who tossed that pick on his first throw, worked things out later in the first quarter and, helped by a pass interference call to the Als, got within field-goal range for Sandro DeAngelis.

The Hamilton kicker, who has struggled outside the 35 this season, booted one left that seemed headed in the general direction of Hamilton harbour and the Cats were left without points.

Both teams settled into strong defensive efforts through the rest of the first quarter and into the second as neither attack could move the ball until Glenn found Arland Bruce III for a 57-yard gain with seven minutes left in the half.

DeAngelis, who hasn't missed inside the 35 this season, put a 33-yarder through to cut the lead to 10-3 Montreal.

After McPherson was picked off by Geoff Tisdale, who ran it back to the 10, Montreal held and DeAngelis hit from 24 yards out to make it 10-6.

Als take over

McPherson ran a professional-looking drive to open the third quarter.

A Glenn fumble had the Als in good field position, from where the young quarterback kept his cool and made some good plays, including a third-and-inches pass to Ben Cahoon for a first down and his own run for another.

S.J. Green came within an inch of a touchdown when he made circus catch in the end zone but just came down out of bounds, leaving Montreal to settle for a short field goal that increased the lead to 16-6.

Montreal came back again and stood first and goal inside the Hamilton 10, but again the Alouettes settled for a field goal.

Avon Cobourne scored with just over a minute to go in the game after the Cats turned the ball over on downs.

"We didn't execute at all, and they did," said Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille.