In football, careers are often defined by the big game. On last Sunday night’s 96th edition of the CFL’s Grey Cup, both signal callers had something to prove. Both Calgary Stampeders’ Henry Burris and Montréal Alouettes’ Anthony Calvillo have been instrumental in their respective team’s success, but dubbed with a footnote, they “cannot win the big one.”
Coming into the game, the Alouettes were flying high with league MVP Calvillo and five all-stars, looking to cap off their storybook season with a win on home turf. But in the end, it was the other MVP candidate who won the rights to sip from Lord Grey’s mug. Burris, who completed 28 for 37 passes for 328 yards, and ran 9 times for 79, broke the hearts of 66,308 screaming fans in Olympic Stadium with a 22-14 win over the Montréal Alouettes, finally earning the respect he and his team so desperately craved.
“To finally be a champion, wow,” said a teary-eyed Burris, named the MVP of the game, to TSN. “I need to wake up, but the great thing about it is, it’s reality now!”
“We’ve been dragged through the dirt for a few years, and we did it to ourselves in many ways”, said Burris. “But that’s what allowed us to enjoy this occasion much more than if it came easy. We came to Montréal to win what we could control, because as good as this team was this season, it would have been an awful waste not to leave here with a championship.”
The Stampeders didn’t look like a championship team early on. Montréal pivot Calvillo picked apart Calgary’s defence, engineering an impressive opening drive before kicker Damon Duval booted a 14-yard field goal.
After Calgary’s DeAngelis replied with a 44-yarder, the momentum started to swing in the Alouettes’ favour in the second quarter. After linebacker Reggie Hunt picked off the lone poor pass of the game from Burris, Calvillo methodically moved the team down field and running back Avon Cobourne scored a 16-yard touchdown.
The Alouettes fired on all cylinders. After their defence held the Stampeders’ drive to a two-and-out, the special team stepped up as Larry Taylor returned the third down punt for 44 yards to the Calgary 43-yard line. Four plays later, Duval made his second field goal from 19 yards out, putting the Alouettes up 10-3 late in first half.
Burris showed us why he was the best player in the CFL West. On the final possession of the half, he began with a determined scramble for a first down that foreshadowed what was to come. Nik Lewis and Joffrey Reynolds caught consecutive bullets from Burris, who finished off with a 20-yard pass to Brett Ralph with 44 seconds left in the game.
“All along we wanted to get the running game involved and Henry Burris in the QB position was a big part of the running game,” said Calgary head coach John Hufnagel.
The key was Calgary’s defence readjustment. After giving up 10 points in the first half, Calgary defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones mixed in some zone coverage, with Calgary’s patented man-to-man, confusing Montréal.
The league’s most prolific offence squeezed out all but one point from a punt single in the second half. Calvillo, who went from the MVP to the MHP, “Most Helpless Player,” was sacked twice and threw two interceptions, swinging the game to Calgary’s favour.
“When you look at the big picture, those two plays really cost us the game.” said Calvillo, whose Grey Cup record fell to 1-5. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity [to win at home] and we just let it slip through our hands.”
He gave credit to the Calgary defence, especially defensive end, Toronto native Mike Labinjo, who knocked down four passes from Calvillo and recorded a sack.
“The old Calgary Stampeders team, if things didn’t go our way, we’d fold up like a cheap tent,” exclaimed Labinjo. “We learned from those punches to the gut. We’ve had a good nucleus for four years that’s been through a lot of B.S., so it’s an amazing feeling.”
But Labinjo wasn’t the only Canadian who had a great night. Niagara Falls native Sandro DeAngelis finished a perfect five for five, including a clutch 50-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that completed the scoring. He was named the most valuable Canadian of the game.
The two teams will now head to the off-season. The vindicated Stampeders will look to defend their title next season on home turf, as the devastated Alouettes face questions and doubts, wondering what could have been.
Prior to this year, the last time two MVP candidates played in the same Grey Cup was 1966 in Vancouver. Russ Jackson won the MVP, the late Ron Lancaster won the championship.
