MONTREAL - Avon Cobourne led the Montreal charge with a touchdown and a dominant rushing and receiving performance as the Alouettes rolled to a 48-17 victory over the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL East Division final Sunday afternoon.
Jamel Richardson, with two long TD grabs, and Adrian McPherson also scored, Tim Maypray got one on a punt return and Jerald Brown got another on an interception return before 58,021 at Olympic Stadium.
Damon Duval added two field goals for Montreal, which advanced to the Grey Cup game for a third year in a row and an eighth time since 2000.
They will face the West Division champion next Sunday in Edmonton.
Jermaine Copeland scored a late TD and Noel Prefontaine booted three field goals for the Argonauts, who showed no punch on attack in their first division final since 2007. Toronto has not been to the Grey Cup game since they won in 2004.
The pre-game attention was on the Argonauts' league-leading rusher Cory Boyd, who left early in the fourth quarter with an injury after a middling performance. It was Montreal tailback Cobourne who stole the show with 163 yards on the ground plus a few catches out of the backfield.
The Alouettes entered the game as the 10-point favourite and took a 17-0 lead in the opening 8:46. Toronto quarterback Cleo Lemon did not complete a pass or earn a first down in the first quarter and was 3-for-9 for only 57 yards in the first half, while Montreal's Anthony Calvillo piled up 212 yards on 11 throws.
After a field goal on their first possession, the Alouettes scored on their second as Calvillo found Richardson wide open for a 53-yard catch and run at 6:36. Only 2:10 later, Maypray flew up the middle for an 85-yard TD punt return.
Lemon led a drive from his own 30 that produced Prefontaine's 32-yard field goal 4:30 into the second quarter, but Calvillo answered with a 10-play march capped by back-up QB McPherson's one-yard TD.
After another Toronto field goal, Cobourne got the ball five plays in a row for Duval's answering boot to end the half.
The Alouettes threatened again to open the second half, but a drive stopped when Sean Smalls picked off Calvillo in the end zone. Their next possession went to the Toronto 22, where Cobourne took the ball around the right side for a TD.
Richardson added another on a 44-yard catch 7:11 into the fourth quarter.
McPherson then took over at QB while Toronto turned to Dalton Bell, who promptly was picked off by Brown for a late TD. Bell bounced back with a 10-yard TD pass to Copeland that stood up to video review, plus a two-point convert.
Notes: Cobourne tweeted before the game that it was "the biggest game of my career." It was his first career playoff 100-yard rushing game. . . Linebacker Shea Emry and defensive lineman J.P. Bekasiak picked off Lemon passes. . . Last year, Montreal swamped B.C. 56-17 in the East final. . . The Alouettes did not kick to Chad Owens until they had a comfortable lead. The league's top returner nearly broke his first one, but was pushed out of bounds by Duval. . . Montreal cornerback Mark Estelle limped off with an apparent right leg injury in the fourth quarter.
