Calvillo sets all-time completions record in Alouettes victory

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The Montreal Alouettes bounced back from a two-game losing streak with crisp execution by its offence, and quarterback Anthony Calvillo grabbed a new record along the way, as they feasted on the inconsistent Toronto Argonauts Thursday night.

Calvillo's offence was on fire in a bounce-back game as Montreal improved to 4-2. The pivot surpassed Damon Allen's all-time CFL completions mark, while running back Brandon Whitaker put up another big effort versus the Argos for 150 rushing yards, and fullback Dahrran Diedrick punched in three touchdowns and handed the sinking Boatmen their fifth straight loss, 36-23.

An 18-yard pass to receiver Brandon London in the first quarter gave the pivot his record-breaking 5,159th completion. Calvillo climbed to 30 completions for 349 yards as the night expired.

"[The record]wasn't too much in my mind," said Calvillo. "I knew if I could stay on my feet and let the guys block up front, that this was a big zone team, be patient, and the throws were going to come. I got myself mentally ready to handle this year and all the records coming up."

Calvillo dissected the Argos with ease on the first drive of the game at Rogers Centre, orchestrating six plays that ended in a 17-yard touchdown pass to slotback S.J. Green, who led Montreal with seven catches for 96 yards.

The Argos answered by moving the chains as well, but settling for a 14-yard field goal by Grant Shaw, playing in his second straight game in place of starting kicker and punter Noel Prefontaine, who is out with a quad injury.

The Als followed that up with a 12-yard field goal by Sean Whyte on the very next drive to extend their lead to 10-3.

But Toronto came charging back to tie it 10-10 and it looked like it would be a heated contest as quarterback Cleo Lemon -- back after missing last week with a broken tooth -- tossed a 20-yard pass to slotback Spencer Watt for the score.

The first turnover of the night -- the 20th of the season for the Argos -- came in the second quarter as defensive back Billy Parker picked off a Lemon pass, a catchable one that bounced off the hands of slotback Jeremaine Copeland. The Als made good on the take-back, marching down the field with long catches by Green and Jamel Richardson, and finishing off the drive with a two-yard score by Diedrick to re-claim the lead.

Once again, the Argos followed with a field goal, a 42-yarder by Shaw to sneak closer, 17-13. But Montreal immediately added another field goal to go up 20-13.

A mistake by running back Chad Kackert thwarted Toronto's drive to add a few more points to end the half. He didn't fumble in this game, as he has been known to do lately. Time expired on Kackert as he rumbled for too many yards trying to run out of bounds and give the Argos one more play.

"I was trying to get to get out of bounds before six seconds was up, and I thought in 20 yards I could have done it," said Kackert. "But it was a little too late, and I wasn't aware of the sliding rule and the clock stopping on the slide, so that's something I had to learn tonight the hard way."

The Als completely took over in the second half, and the Argonauts appeared inconsistent and undisciplined. A damaging 58-yard run by Whitaker quickly set up Diedrick to punch in his second touchdown, a single-yard push.

"I thought we played a competitive first half and then came out and played as bad a third quarter of football in every aspect as we could do," said head coach Jim Barker. "You can't play a third quarter like that against the Alouettes and expect to win a game."

Lemon appeared to get angry, at one point pushing Als linebacker Diamond Ferri for an unnecessary roughness penalty -- the quarterback later called it an attempt to rile up his teammates. Even as the Toronto defence staved off a Montreal touchdown by creating a turnover on a fumble recovery by cornerback Sean Smalls, the offence couldn't make anything of it, getting pinned inside their own endzone and conceding a safety.

It was Diedrick who added the next score, once again punching in a one-yarder to put Montreal up 36-13.

Toronto mustered another Shaw field goal in the fourth quarter and Lemon added a 22-yard touchdown pass to receiver Mike Bradwell, but it was too little too late.

"It was the story of our season, we come out on fire, we play well, and then coming out of the locker room, we're not putting it together," said Lemon. "We've got to continue to grow and continue to get better and find out what's the problem."

Lemon converted 25 of 41 passes for a solid 314 yards, while Kackert was held to 10 carries for 62 yards as 1-5 Toronto fell deeper into last place in the East.