Drummond, Allen lead B.C. to Grey Cup

CALGARY (CP) - Robert Drummond and Damon Allen scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to power the B.C. Lions to an exciting 28-26 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday.

Montreal capped a wild fourth quarter when Anthony Calvillo's 59-yard touchdown pass to Ben Cahoon made it 28-26 with 44 seconds left. But Calvillo's pass to Thomas Haskins for the two-point convert missed.

B.C. clinched the win when receiver Alfred Jackson corralled Montreal's onside kick attempt.

It was the final game of B.C. kicker Lui Passaglia's illustrious 25- year Canadian Football League career. He kicked what proved to be the winning field goal.

Drummond was named MVP while fellow Lions running back Sean Millington was named top Canadian.

"Their running game just took it to us," Montreal coach Charlie Taaffe said. "We struggled stopping the run. With a team like that, if they can run the ball on you then obviously it puts that much more pressure on your defence.

"But it was a great Grey Cup game, a two-point game. It doesn't get much better than that."

Drummond opened the fourth quarter by taking a third-down gamble 44 yards for a touchdown. Drummond, playing in his fifth career Grey Cup, took the handoff deep in the B.C. backfield, exploded through the line and sprinted untouched to the end zone to put B.C ahead 19-10.

On the ensuing possession, Montreal drove to the B.C. 44 before appearing to lose the ball on Calvillo's fumble. But game officials instead penalized Calvillo for intentional grounding, allowing the Alouettes to pull to within 19-13 on Terry Baker's 51-yard field goal.

B.C. countered with a smart eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Allen's one-yard run — his second TD of the game — at 8:38 for a 25- 13 lead. The two-point convert was unsuccessful.

However, Montreal running back Mike Pringle, who had a CFL-record 19 rushing touchdowns this season, scored from five yards out at 11:11 to pull the Alouettes to within 25-20.

Passaglia, who had missed three of four first-half field goals, cemented the victory with a 29-yard boot at 13:35 as B.C. became the first team in CFL history to win the Grey Cup with a losing record.

The Lions finished third in the East Division with a 8-10-0-1 mark before advancing to the league championship with road playoff wins over Edmonton and Calgary.

The Lions' fourth-quarter fireworks took Passaglia off the hook. Passaglia's first-half struggles Montreal to remain within nine points despite being decidedly outplayed.

Passaglia added three converts, a field goal and two singles.

Jock Climie, playing in the first Grey Cup of his 11-year career, had Montreal's other touchdown. Baker kicked two field goals and two converts.

Sunday's game was not a sellout, hardly surprising given the absence of the home-town Stampeders. Still, the McMahon Stadium gathering of roughly 43,822, some 2,000 short of capacity, was in a party mood, waving banners and bouncing beach balls throughout the game. And at halftime, people who usually two-stepped to country music shook to the rock of the Guess Who.

B.C. dominated the opening half, holding the ball for 19 minutes, 32 seconds and rolling up 262 total yards, compared to just 102 for Montreal.

The Lions' front wall controlled the line of scrimmage, opening huge holes for Millington — who ran for 94 of the team's 114 first-half yards — and protecting Allen.

But Passaglia's missed field goals — two from 47 yards, another from 39 — allowed Montreal to hang around despite being soundly outplayed.

That allowed Montreal to pull to within 12-10 early in the third, when Calvillo hit Climie with a one-yard touchdown catch.