Sightseeing at Molson stadium

The Ottawa Renegades learned a pretty important lesson on Wednesday night; the Alouettes with Anthony Calvillo in the line up, are a much more impressive team than the one without AC at the helm. Last week AC did not even make the trip to Ottawa, Wednesday night he was itching to go. Calvillo looked to be in mid season form as the Alouette first stringers rolled up the score 31-1 by the half and a total domination of the self destructing Renegades. Calvillo’s first half stats show just how much he dominated the game, as he went 18 for 25, with 288 yards and two touchdowns.

Ottawa continued its plan to give a look see to as many players as possible, and many of those auditioning for jobs did not particularly endear themselves to coach Joe Paopao and his staff. Aaron Lockert, who is trying to win a spot as a receiver, fumbled the ball on his own thirteen yard line, setting up the ALS first touch down of the game. To make matters worse for Locker his main competition for the job, Jason Amrstead had a decent game in returning kicks.

Kerry Joseph started for the Renegades but did not have much success in generating some offence in his first thirty minutes. Joseph, who was under pressure for most of the half, spent an awful lot of time running the ball as his receivers found the Als coverage to be stifling. The excessive scrambling of Kerry’s led to a tweak of his hamstring, a situation that the Renegades will want to be careful with, Paopao said all is well with the ham at the moment. Joseph will give it a bit of rest now, before the Rens open the regular season next Thursday in Winnipeg.

Darnell Kennedy and Brad Banks shared time in the second half of the game as quarterback and Tyler Paopao, son of Coach Joe got into the game as well. As a matter of fact it was Paopao who engineered the final Rens drive, one that resulted in a Raymonn Adams touchdown, Those seven points, a safety and a single would account for all the Rens scoring in the game as they bowed out 38-10 to the high flying Als.

19,542 Alouette fans, a pre season record, crammed into Molson Stadium to salute their hometown heroes and Don Matthews’s team did not disappoint as they put on a clinic for the fans. The Als introduced some new wrinkles to an already imposing offence and showcased the receiving skills of Jermaine Copeland and Kwame Cavil. Defensively they kept the Rens penned in for most of the game, getting themselves into a defensive mindset for the season opener June 19th, when the Grey Cup Champion Eskimos come to town.

That should be a match up the Als are looking towards with much relish, as the rematch of last years Grey Cup game should be a great way to kick off the 2004 CFL season for both teams. The Als feeling as though there is a bit of unfinished business from the Regina plains last fall.