Montreal Alouettes receiver Brandon London, left, is tackled by Winnipeg Blue Bombers Demond Washington during first quarter Canadian Football League pre-season action Thursday, June 14, 2012 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
June 14, 2012 - 10:51 PM
MONTREAL - Bloi-Dei Dorzon scored on a 37-yard run as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their CFL pre-season schedule with a 22-10 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night.
Justin Palardy kicked three field goals and Eric Wilbur had two for Winnipeg.
Travon Patterson caught a touchdown pass for Montreal, while Sean Whyte had two field goals.
Announced attendance was 20,005, but there appeared to be fewer at Percival Molson Stadium for a game that most veterans on both clubs sat out and that produced few highlights.
Each team sat out its starting quarterback. The first backup for Montreal, Adrian McPherson, completed one of seven passes for five yards and threw an interception.
Winnipeg's Alex Brink went 6-for-12 for 69 yards and got six points on the board through a pair of field goals, then went in again late in the game when Montreal turned over the ball on downs and the Bombers picked up their final field goal.
The game picked up when third-string pivots Josh Neiswander and Joey Elliott entered the fray in the second quarter.
Alouette Neiswander's first drive went 71 yards, with promising running back and kick returner Noel Devine taking the ball to the Blue Bomber seven-yard line with a 26-yard run before Patterson caught with a TD pass at 4:42.
Elliott, playing for the first time since tearing a knee ligament last July 14 against Calgary, also looked sharp and turned a Johnny Sears interception into a Palardy field goal with 25 seconds left in the half for a 9-7 lead.
Justin Goltz went in for the Bombers in the third quarter and had a wild first drive. An initial stall was remedied as coach Paul LaPolice called a fake punt and Wilbur's pass to Anthony Woodson produced a first down.
Glotz then moved the ball to the 37, where Dorzan took the ball down the left side, breaking tackles until he crossed the line with Winnipeg's first TD of the game at 5:01.
Neiswander answered with a drive that produced a Whyte field goal at 8:46.
Newcomer Scott Riddle went in at quarterback for Montreal midway through the fourth quarter, and Elliott went back in briefly for the Bombers.
Kyle Graves, one of several Canadian quarterbacks in Montreal's camp who also kicked for Acadia, took over punting duties in the third quarter. He put his first out of bounds in the air, incurring a 10-yard illegal kick penalty. He got off a legal 33-yard punt before being penalized again on a kick.
Montreal lost receiver Brandon London early, as he landed heavily after being hit by Demond Washington while reaching for a McPherson pass.
Montreal closes its pre-season schedule with an afternoon game Tuesday in Toronto, while the Bombers return home to face Hamilton on Wednesday.
Notes: At halftime, members of the 1981 Expos were honoured, as Tim Raines, Larry Parrish, Andre Dawson, Wallace Johnson, Warren Cromartie, Bill Lee and others got a big hand from the crowd. A plaque honouring the only Expos team to reach the playoffs was unveiled.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012