Als fly into playoffs

THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes are back on top of the CFL East Division, but they nearly threw it away with a fourth quarter letdown against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Montreal prevailed 27-25 to take over sole possession of first spot and guarantee at least one home playoff date as they posted their fourth straight win on a wet Sunday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium.

The Alouettes saw a 15-point lead dwindle to only two in the final four minutes of play. Only a failed two-point conversion attempt kept Hamilton from tying the game, as Chip Cox chased back to tip Quinton Porter's pass away from receiver Aaron Kelly in the end zone.

"We did what we had to do defensively, but I'd like us not to be in that position," said Cox. "We've got to stop giving up big plays in that situation.

"You have to take the first 56 minutes into account, but, you know me, I'll look at the last four. We've got to continue to play hard."

Montreal (10-5) has a two-point lead over the Blue Bombers going into a battle for top spot on Saturday in Winnipeg. The Ticats return home to face B.C. the same day.

A week after setting the all-time passing yards record, Anthony Calvillo threw for 341 yards, including touchdown tosses to Brandon Whitaker and Kerry Watkins. Sean Whyte added four field goals for Montreal.

Justin Medlock went 4-for-6 on field goals for Hamilton (7-8) and that was all of their scoring until late TDs from quarterback Kevin Glenn and receiver Dave Stala.

Whyte's last field goal had put Montreal up 27-12 at 11:41 of the fourth quarter, but Glenn answered with a drive he finished off himself by scrambling 15 yards into the end zone.

The Ticats got the ball back when Montreal coach Marc Trestman opted to run on third and one and back-up quarterback Adrian McPherson was stopped perhaps two inches short of the first down, which turned the ball over on downs at the Alouettes' 40.

Glenn hit Kelly with a pass at the Montreal six but was injured on the play. Porter came in and hit Stala with a TD pass with 57 seconds remaining. Kelly was open for the two point convert, but Cox just got a hand on the ball.

"It was a busted coverage," said Porter. "We kind of improvised because he was wide open. He didn't run his normal route.

"In that case, we don't know what kind of ball to give. All you can give is a nice high ball that you hope is away from the defender enough and we just didn't come up with it. You don't see who is underneath. You see that (Kelly) came away from his guy. And Chip actually did a really good job to rally on that. I didn't think he'd be there at all. I thought it was wide open.

"If I would have put more on (the pass), it would have been good, but the play doesn't call for that sort of throw. It calls for a high throw in the corner."

Coach Marcel Bellefeuille said this week that the struggling Glenn was his starter but would be on a short leash. As it turned out, Glen played the first series, then Porter took over for the rest of the first half. Glenn came back to start the second half.

"We wanted Quinton to play in the first half to establish the perimeter," said Bellefeuille. "We started him the first series and let Montreal settle into whatever pattern of defence they were going to play.

"Quinton had a chance to look at it and see it before he went on the field. We were trying to get a situation where we would try to wear down the D-line a bit for this last little stretch in the fourth quarter, as you could see."

Bellefeuille did not say if he will continue to use two quarterbacks in games, but said it "served us well today. Both guys went in and did a lot of positive things, if that's any indication.

"Especially with Kevin getting hurt, I wasn't taking a quarterback off the bench who hadn't played all game to go in the last minute and make a big play. I took someone who had already been in the game."

Glenn completed 16 of 24 passes for 201 yards but threw two interceptions. Porter was 11 for 18 for 103 yards and a TD.

Montreal gave up the ball twice on fumbles, including one by Perry Floyd on the opening kickoff that put Hamilton up 3-0 only 2:44 into the game.

The two teams split their four meetings this season, but Montreal won the season series by outscoring the Ticats by a single point, 117-116. The Alouettes will play at least one home game in the post-season for the 14th time in 16 years since they returned to Montreal in 1996 after a 10-year hiatus.

A key moment came midway through the fourth quarter when Chris Williams was unable to hang onto a pass into the end zone under close coverage from Seth Williams. On the next play, Cox intercepted and it produced Whyte's fourth field goal of the day, which proved to be the winning points.

A cool, light rain made for messy football, with plenty of turnovers and penalties.

Late in the first half Calvillo led an 11 play, 101 yard drive capped by a 20 yard TD pass to Whitaker, who caught the ball at the sidelines, put a fake on two defenders and tip-toed 10 yards along the sideline into the end zone.

It was the running back's eighth TD of the season, his sixth via the pass.

Montreal's first possession of the second half was a 10 play, 93 yard drive finished by Calvillo's 22 yard TD pass to Watkins.

On Hamilton's next play from scrimmage, Glenn was picked off by Diamond Ferri.

The Ticats lost running back Terry Grant to a possibly season-ending ankle injury early in the game when Eric Wilson fell on him after a Cox tackle. Bellefeuille said linebacker Jamall Johnson, receiver Chris Williams and kick returner Marcus Thigpen were also injured, forcing adjustments to play calling.

Montreal receiver Jamel Richardson caught nine passes for 107 yards, to give him 100 catches for the season. He became only the second Alouette to reach 100 after the retired Ben Cahoon, who had seasons of 112 and 107 catches. The league record is a whopping 160 by Toronto's Derrell Mitchell in 1998.

Richardson, with his 10th 100-yard game of the season, saw his league-leading receiving yards total jump to 1,559. That gives him a shot at the team record of 1,914 yards by Hal Patterson in 1956, which is fifth all-time. Former Calgary Stampeder Allen Pitts has the CFL mark of 2,036.