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Calvillo passes Alouettes to win in Edmonton

Aug 18, 2012 - 5:20 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Anthony Calvillo completed 22-of-32 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions as the Montreal Alouettes knocked off the Edmonton Eskimos, 38-25 on Friday at Commonwealth Stadium.

Calvillo, pro football's all-time leading passer, went over the 300-yard mark for the sixth consecutive game and running back Victor Anderson had a big game on the ground in his first career CFL start. Anderson ran for 102 yards on 18 carries for the Alouettes (4-3), who moved in sole possession of first place in the CFL's East Division.

"The guys are doing a great job of protecting up front. I'm not getting banged up, I'm not having to force the ball," Calvillo said. "We're balanced. We're rushing the ball 25 times a game as well. It's good when you can do stuff like that and not have to drop back and throw the ball the whole time."

S.J. Green caught 10 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, while Brian Bratton, Anderson and Patrick LaVoie added majors through the air for the Als.

Steven Jyles threw for 173 yards on 15-of-28 passing with one touchdown and one interception, while Fred Stamps hauled in four passes for 73 yards and Greg Carr caught a touchdown pass for the Eskimos (4-3). who suffered their first home defeat of the season.

"We knew Montreal was a good football team," Jyles said. "We knew coming into the ball game we had to play our "A" game to beat these guys. Today they brought their lunch bucket. We have to go and see the things they did to us that gave us problems, and make corrections."

Cory Boyd made his debut in the backfield for Edmonton after being released by the Toronto Argonauts earlier in the week. He wasn't much of a factor, running for just two yards on two carries.

Montreal struck first on the opening possession of the game, using six plays to go 66 yards before Calvillo connected with Lavoie for a 14-yard touchdown strike.

The Alouettes added to their lead late in the opening frame when Calvillo hooked up with Bratton down the left sideline for a 30-yard score, extending the lead to 14-0.

The Als bridged the first and second quarters with a five-play, 50-yard march that culminated in a short pass from Calvillo to Anderson which went for 21 yards and a score, good for a comfortable 21-0 lead.

The Alouttte offense got the ball again on their own 26 after a two-and-out and marched 84 yards in seven plays before Adrian McPherson stuck the ball across the goal line from the one, widening the Montreal advantage to 28-0 with less than eight minutes to go before halftime.

Edmonton finally got on the board with a single, then got their first major of the night following a two-and-out on the defensive end.

After a poor punt by Sean Whyte placed the ball on the Edmonton 43, Jyles completed a 10-yard pass to Cary Koch and 15 yards was then added to the end of the play for a roughing-the-passer penalty.

The infraction placed the ball at the Montreal 43 and the Eskimos finished the six-play, 67-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run from Kerry Joseph to cut the deficit to 28-8 at the break.

On the first second-half offensive play for Montreal, Anderson galloped through the line for 36 yards and had 15 more added to his run as a result of a penalty. Whyte finished the quick drive with a 27-yard field goal to extend the lead to 31-8.

Grant Shaw nailed a 40-yard field goal late in the third quarter to cut the Eskimos deficit to 31-11, but Calvillo found Green wide open down the middle for 62 yards on the ensuing possession and then hit Green again for a 13-yard score and a seemingly insurmountable 38-11 lead.

Jyles hit Carr with a 19-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, and the Edmonton defense came up with a fumble recovery for a scoop-and-score with less then five minutes to play, cutting the deficit to 38-25, but the mountain proved to be too large for the Eskimos to scale.

Game Notes

Montreal has now beaten the Eskimos five straight times and seven of the team's last nine meetings ... Boyd was leading the CFL in rushing with 447 yards on 82 carries at the time of his release ... Friday marked the fifth consecutive game in which Edmonton has tallied at least one interception ... The Eskimos fell to 1-2 this season when trailing at halftime.