Calvillo's milestones lift Als over Ticats

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo joined some elite company while leading the Montreal Alouettes to a 29-20 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday night at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Calvillo threw for 310 yards and picked apart the Hamilton secondary for three touchdowns strikes. Receiver Kerry Watkins contributed with seven catches and 99 yards.

The Montreal pivot joins Danny McManus, Ron Lancaster and Damon Allen as the only passers in CFL history to surpass 50,000 yards. He also passed legend Doug Flutie to move into fifth place on the all-time touchdown list with 271.

Calvillo said he began thinking about eclipsing the 50,000-yard mark 10 years ago, when he was playing for Hamilton.

"It was in the back of my mind, I thought about it," he admitted. "I thought it would be an amazing feat.

"I saw it up there and thought it would be a great achievement because only one person [Ron Lancaster] had done it."

Montreal (1-2) also earned its first victory of the season after starting 2007 with losses to Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.

The loss keeps the lowly Ticats (0-3) winless for the season.

Hamilton quarterback Jason Maas was replaced for the third straight week with rookie Timmy Chang. Maas completed only four passes in the second half, finishing the game with 211 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

The Alouettes put the game out of reach in the third quarter with a touchdown at 8:05 for a 26-10 lead.

Calvillo avoided the initial rush, rolled to his left and lofted a pass to a wide-open Danny Desriveaux in the end zone.

Hamilton had a promising drive snuffed out early in the fourth quarter when Maas's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Montreal safety Etienne Boulay.

Ticats head coach Charlie Taaffe then decided to bench Maas in favour of Chang.

The move paid off immediately, as Chang hooked up with receiver Brock Ralph on the second play of the drive for a 71-yard touchdown at 5:40 to cut Montreal's lead to 26-17.

Chang led another scoring drive that resulted in a 27-yard field goal by kicker Nick Setta with 5:06 remaining, bringing Hamilton to within six points.

"I thought we improved in a lot of areas," said Taaffe. "But we're an undisciplined football team in all phases … penalties and mental mistakes, that's what's holding us back.

"Until we change that, we're going to have a hard time beating anybody. But I was proud of their effort, they competed and played hard."

The Alouettes's defence stood firm in the final minute, forcing a three-and-out that led to a field goal by kicker Damon Duval to give Montreal a 29-20 advantage.

"It was certainly nerve-racking," said Alouettes head coach-GM Jim Popp. "No matter how, a win on the road is fantastic."

Despite some early success by Chang, Taaffe wouldn't revealhis starting quarterback for next week'sgameagainst the Grey Cup champion B.C. Lions.

"Timmy went in and hit the big ball but I didn't think he exactly set the world on fire where you go and change your quarterback," Taaffe said. "It's good, we're getting the chance to play two guys.

"I'm trying to play Timmy to get him work, get him ready. We'll see how it plays out. But I thought Jason Maas competed tonight and did a lot of good things in the game."

Calvillo completes first 14 passes

Calvillo began the game by completing his first 14 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

The Alouettes opened the contest with a four-play, 67-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead after a Calvillo-to-Kerry Watkins 27-yard hookup at 2:09 of the first quarter.

Calvillo continued his precision passing, hitting running back Mike Imoh in the flat on a five-yard touchdown pass just 31 seconds into the second quarter for a 14-0 Montreal edge.

The Tiger-Cats responded on the next possession, scoring their first touchdown of the season at 1:24.

Maas connected with receiver Talman Gardner, who beat Montreal cornerback Mark Estelle and raced down the left side of the field for a 67-yard score. Gardner finished with a game-high eight receptions for 143 yards.

The Tiger-Cats were forced to concede two points less than two minutes later when Maas bobbled a snap in the end zone, giving Montreal a 16-7 lead.

Duval and Setta exchanged field goals tocomplete the scoring in the first half.