On a night when the stars were missing, the understudies did a pretty fine job.
But B.C. Lions rookie quarterback Tony Corbin, subbing for injured Damon Allen, came up short when he needed it most.
Corbin, making his first Canadian Football League start, threw both of his interceptions against the Montreal Alouettes with the game on the line during the final two minutes of play last night.
The first went into the arms of William Loftus near midfield with just less than two minutes to go and the Lions trailing by three. Then, after Terry Baker punted for a single point to give Montreal a four-point lead, Corbin rallied his team again, throwing a pass into the end zone, which was picked off by Eric Riddick with no time left on the clock, giving the Alouettes a 23-19 victory.
The interceptions spoiled an otherwise fine night for Corbin, who repeatedly stood his ground and brought his team back against the Alouettes' defence.
"If we don't come out on top we're not happy," said Corbin, who completed 21 of 37 passes for 258 yards. "It was my first full game and definitely you can build on it. You're going to get better as you get more starts."
Trailing 22-11 early in the fourth quarter, Corbin took B.C. deep into Montreal territory, then capped it off with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Alfred Jackson.
Jackson, who suffered a knee injury, left the game on a motorized cart after catching a two-point conversion to make the score 22-19 with 8:16 to play.
Meanwhile, for Montreal, Thomas Haskins, taking over the starting role for injured Mike Pringle, carried the ball 15 times for 96 yards and added another 56 in receptions before leaving with a hamstring injury early in the fourth quarter. He was replaced with Eric Lapointe.
"I felt real good," said Haskins, who is used primarily as a receiver by Montreal when Pringle is healthy. "It was one of those nights where I was blessed to have that big offensive line in front of me, and we were communicating. We were able to establish the run in a way we haven't against B.C. the last few times."
The hero of the day for Montreal was Baker, who kicked two field goals in pouring rain during the third quarter and punted superbly, repeatedly taking advantage of the Lions' poor field position at key times.
His 50-yard punt for a single point on Montreal's final possession turned out to be the difference that took the field-goal option away from B.C. in the final seconds.
"I just got a grip and got it off because I saw they had 11 guys up and they had come close earlier in the game," Baker said of the single.
Without workhorse Pringle in the game, quarterback Anthony Calvillo shared the running with Haskins, Heppell and Lapointe. Calvillo ran seven times for 44 yards, while Lapointe and Heppell each carried the ball a half-dozen times.
Meanwhile, the Montreal defence, led by lineman Steve Charbonneau, who returned after missing four games because of an injured hand, held the Lions' duo of Sean Millington and Robert Drummond to a total of 61 yards.
Montreal's success against the run was crucial when rain came down heavily for the entire 15 minutes of the third quarter. While the Als moved the ball, utilizing Haskins behind an offensive line that featured two tight ends, and cashed in a pair of field goals, the Lions got nothing.
"In the third quarter, we couldn't do anything offensively," Lions head coach Steve Buratto said. "Montreal did a good job and made some yards when they needed to and made some big kicks. Anthony [Calvillo]is a more experienced quarterback and was able to throw some control things that Tony doesn't know to do because of his inexperience."
For the first time since the opening week of the season, the Alouettes did not score a touchdown on their first possession of the game.
They took an early lead, however, when the Lions' first possession ended with a snap from centre that sailed above the head of punter Matt Kellett for a safety.
On their third possession of the game, the Alouettes opened up a 9-0 lead on Bruno Heppell's third touchdown of the year.
But Corbin replied with a 15-yard strike to rookie Ryan Thelwell to make the score 9-7.
Calvillo then hit Tyree Davis, who was streaking along the sideline, for a 38-yard touchdown pass before a 27-yard field goal by B.C.'s Matt Kellett made the score 16-10 at halftime.