BY PERRY LEFKO
sportsnet.ca

Damon Duval went from potential goat to Grey Cup hero in a manner of seconds.

CALGARY – Damon Duval received a second chance to make good and this time he didn’t miss.

The Montreal Alouettes kicker, who set a Canadian Football League record for scoring in the regular season, struggled badly against the Saskatchewan Roughriders throughout the 97th Grey Cup on Sunday at McMahon Stadium.

He had trouble with his punting, shanking a couple badly, one of his kickoffs sailing out of bounds without landing in the field of play, resulting in a penalty that cost his team valuable yardage.

He had a chance to make good on the final play of the game but missed a 43-yard field goal, only to receive a second chance because the referee penalized the Roughriders 10 yards for fielding too many players.

He nailed his next try form 33 yards and became the hero.

"You’ve got to give credit to all these guys," he said of his teammates. "They busted their butts for 60 minutes, they gave me three seconds to walk on the field and put the ball through to give them the W," he said. "It hasn’t even set in right now that we’re finally the Grey Cup champions."

He had a feeling he’d miss the first try.

"I was way too fast," he said. "I saw the flag go before the ball had even crossed the goal line and at that point I looked up and thanked the Man upstairs because there’s not too many opportunities as a kicker you get a second opportunity and a second chance. He gave me one today and I was able to put the ball through for all these guys and this organization."

Duval said the ball slipped out of his hands on the shanked punts, so he put on a glove in the second half to help with the grip.

"Luckily I got a chance to redeem myself and come back and just do my job, man, that’s all it was, nothing more, nothing less," he said.