Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
MONTREAL — Darian Durant threw two touchdown passes while Tyler Crapigna’s last-play field goal sailed wide, sending the Alouettes to a 17-16 season-opening win over the Roughriders on Thursday night in Montreal.
Durant threw touchdowns to B.J. Cunningham and Ernest Jackson while Boris Bede provided the game’s winning points with 2:29 remaining, making Durant’s first game against his former team a winning effort.
Crapigna had a chance to win the game for the Riders but missed right on a 45-yard attempt with no time left on the clock.
Bakari Grant scored the Riders’ only touchdown while Crapigna hit on three of four tries in a losing effort for Saskatchewan. But in the end, the Riders will lament not only the missed field goal but also a pair of second-half turnovers in an otherwise spirited effort in front of 20,129 fans at Percival-Molson Stadium.
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For Durant, the narrow victory was a statement against the coach and general manager in Chris Jones that let him go this off-season. Durant completed 20 of 31 passes for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
While Kevin Glenn was sharp in his first game back with the Riders, completing 31 of 44 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown, the 38-year-old also threw a fourth-quarter interception.
Cunningham had a game-high 90 yards on four catches for the Als while Jackson, in his first game after leaving the Grey Cup-winning Ottawa REDBLACKS, was held to 16 yards on two catches.
On the other side, Duron Carter’s much-anticipated return to Montreal was largely uneventful. The three-year Alouette was held to 12 yards on two catches despite being targeted nine times. Instead, it was third-year Canadian receiver Nic Demski led the way for the Riders, making good on all seven of his targets for 87 yards.
While Cameron Marshall fumbled in the third quarter, his Riders debut was a productive one, checking in with 84 yards on 11 carries.
The first half of football in 2017 opened with some light sparring and two new-look teams feeling each other out. Glenn was on point early for the Riders but was plagued by drops, including two by Carter against his former team, while Durant took only what an aggressive Jones defence gave him throughout a scoreless opening quarter.
While the Alouettes played on a short field throughout most of the first half, it wasn’t until the Riders flipped field position that Durant got his team on the board. With the game still scoreless, Durant unloaded on a deep ball and found a wide open B.J. Cunningham, the former Michigan State Spartan running untouched, 65 yards, for the game’s opening score.
Cunningham’s romp, after the first 25 minutes of the game failed to generate any scoring, seemed to set the wheels in motion. Demski continued his productive opening half with three catches on the Riders’ ensuing drive while Glenn got on a roll with six completions on his next seven passes, setting up a first down at the 19.
On the very next play, Glenn hit Grant in stride and the first-year Rider ran the remaining distance himself, capping off a 10-play, 77-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown.
The play didn’t come without controversy as it appeared Travis Hawkins stripped the ball at the goal line, but the ruling was upheld, the command centre later stating that while the ball was moving, it was not clearly out of possession prior to breaking the front plane of the goal line.
With a quick stop on defence followed by a 34-yard field goal by Crapigna, the Riders suddenly took both momentum and a 10-7 lead into the half.
The spark carried the Riders into the third quarter, when Marshall’s powerful 26-yard run eventually set up a 41-yard field goal by Crapigna. But the Alouettes were quick to fire back. On the ensuing drive, following first downs by Tyrell Sutton and Tiquan Underwood, Nik Lewis picked up 21 yards on a catch-and-run on second-and-seven.
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After a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against Jovon Johnson, the Als needed only 12 yards for the end zone and those would come on the very next play from the newcomer Jackson. The former Ottawa REDBLACK shed the coverage of Chris Lyles to haul in his first as an Alouette, vaulting Montreal ahead 14-13.
The Riders dominated most of the third quarter, controlling the football for more than 10 minutes, but failed to take advantage. With the frame winding down and the Green and White on the doorstep, Marshall lost his grasp of the football and the Alouettes recovered, ending the threat and the third quarter with the slimmest of margins.
What happened next resembled a nervous game of hot potato. The Riders atoned for their fumble when Lewis was stripped of the football on his way to the ground after a second-down catch. But a few plays later, Glenn’s shot down the sideline was intercepted by a leaping Jonathon Mincy, putting the ball right back in the hands of the Alouettes’ offence.
Saskatchewan did get the football back and, despite the interception, Glenn was able to get right back into his rhythm. The veteran pivot moved the sticks twice on completions to Roosevelt — his fifth and sixth grabs of the evening — while an illegal contact penalty against Chip Cox kept the drive alive following a second down incompletion.
With Brandon Bridge under centre for a spell, Bridge’s second-down pass went over the head of a wide open Carter. Nonetheless, Crapigna’s third field goal of the evening put the visitors back in front, 16-14 with just under half a quarter remaining.
Just like he had done all game, Durant mounted a methodical response. The wily vet in his first game in new colours completed passes to Cunningham and Alex Pierzchalski, then it was Cunningham moving the sticks on third and short on a jet sweep, eventually setting up a go-ahead field goal from Bede and the fifth lead-change of the game.
With the Riders down 17-16 and 2:16 left in the game, Roosevelt kept his team’s hopes alive with a difficult grab in tight coverage on third down up across the Saskatchewan 40. Two plays later, again on third down, Glenn hit an open Caleb Holley in the flat down to the Montreal 48.
But after one more third-down conversion, Crapigna missed his first kick of the season, pulling the 45-yard attempt wide right, and it was a costly one for the Riders.
FANTASY IMPACT
Darian Durant racked up 17.3 fantasy points on Thursday night, the highest of any player in the opening game of the 2017 season.
Durant: 20-31, 233 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT | 18.2 PTS
Glenn: 31-44, 298 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 13.9 PTS
» PLAY CFL FANTASY
Off-season addition Grant hauled in six passes for 68 yards and a touchdown while Roosevelt caught seven passes for 59 yards. Holley added five more catches for 55 yards.
The Riders failed to record a sack on defence but Jovon Johnson stood out for that unit, making seven tackles and blanketing the Alouettes’ top pass-catchers all evening. Johnson, who attended camp with the Alouettes, was cut last Saturday before joining the Riders this week.
Also chipping in for the Alouettes was Lewis, who hauled in all five of his targets for 60 yards, and running back Tyrell Sutton, who rushed for 68 yards on 13 carries.
Kyries Hebert had the game’s only sack for the Als while Chris Ackie forced a fumble and Mincy recorded the game’s only interception.
The Als aim to start 2-0 on Friday, June 30 with a visit to Edmonton while Saskatchewan looks for a better break on Canada Day as the Riders open up new Mosaic Stadium vs. the Bombers.
