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Smith improves as Alouettes top Lions

Jul 5, 2014 - 3:14 AM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Troy Smith threw for 187 yards and rushed for another 55 as the Montreal Alouettes earned their first victory of the season by topping the British Columbia Lions 24-9 at Percival-Molson Stadium.

Smith completed 17-of-29 pass attempts for Montreal (1-1) and Brandon Whitaker rushed for 76 yards and a score on 12 attempts. S.J. Green collected three receptions for 66 yards and Brandon London contributed 51 yards on a team-high five catches.

"There was a sore feeling in our mouths after last week. You don't want to do that two weeks in a row," Smith, who completed only 18-of-41 pass attempts in the season opener, said. "We were good today and that was the difference."

Kevin Glenn only completed 13-of-25 pass attempts and was intercepted twice for British Columbia (0-2). He was also sacked five times.

"I'm not worried about pressure that I'm going to get sacked," Glenn said. "Once you start thinking about the rush as a quarterback, that's when you lose sight of everything."

Ernest Jackson had game-highs of six receptions and 72 yards and Courtney Taylor caught five passes for 52 yards and a score in the losing effort.

A costly mistake by Glenn led to the first score of the game. Scott Paxson intercepted a pass from the BC quarterback and then lateraled the ball to Chip Cox, who returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

The Alouettes would add to their early lead with a 32-yard rushing touchdown from Whitaker later in the first quarter.

Sean Whyte knocked in a pair of field goals near the end of the second quarter, one from 34 yards out and the other from 27, as the Alouettes entered halftime leading 20-0.

The Lions finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter, when Paul McCallum connected on a 24-yard field goal with 9:19 left in the period.

Whyte was able to inch Montreal ahead a bit more in the fourth quarter when he missed a 43-yard field goal attempt that went for a single early in the frame and connected on a 47-yard field goal with 2:34 to play.

The Lions would cut into the lead near the end of the game, when John Beck, who replaced Glenn during the team's final drive, threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Taylor with just over a minute to play.

However, the ensuing two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the Alouettes ran out the clock to collect the victory.

Game Notes

Glenn has thrown six interceptions in the first two games ... Adam Bighill recorded a game-high eight tackles for British Columbia ... John Bowman recorded four sacks for Montreal ... The Alouettes finished with 390 yards of total offense after managing only 175 in the season opener ... These two teams will meet again on July 19.