Week two review

The talk of the week around the Canadian Football League was Montreal running back Mike Pringle. The nine-season veteran has racked up 12,357 yards in his career and is only a stone's throw from the 16,116 racked up by Saskatchewan running back George Reed between 1963 and 1975. The 3,759 yards is attainable given he runs for at least 1,800 yards this season and next season. But in the meantime, Pringle and the Alouettes had other things in mind, such as their week two opponent Calgary.

The Stampeders rode into Montreal on Thursday still stinging from their 48-20 loss to Winnipeg from the week before. They had given up four rushing touchdowns and allowed 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Head coach Wally Buono talked about his rushing defense playing more aggressive. But this was against a powerful Alouette offense, and the Stamps would have to be at their best. But their best wouldn't be good enough; Mike Pringle tied his own team record for rushing touchdowns in one game with four as the Alouettes beat up on the Stampeders 32-14. Pringle ran for scores of one, four, forty-seven, and two yards and also notched 169 rushing yards as well. The Stamps kept the game close until Pringle's forty-seven yard romp with only 3:35 left in the third quarter upped the score to 25-6.

The Alouette defense played strong once again, shutting down the Stamps offense for the majority of the contest. The Montreal side recorded three sacks against the Stamps' quarterback platoon of Marcus Crandell and Ben Sankey. It was not until late in the fourth quarter when the Stampeders finally scored on Crandell's one-yard scamper, the first touchdown the Als have allowed all season. Their streak of not allowing a touchdown was halted with 1:40 left in the game, ending at 118:20. Montreal has outscored its opponents 59-17 in the two games they have won. By the way, Pringle is now up to 12,326 yards, which leaves the record count at 3,590.

Meanwhile, in the Canadian Steel City, the Hamilton Tiger Cats looked to finally get their offense going as they hosted the defending Grey Cup champion BC Lions. The Tiger Cats would get their first touchdown of the season, but from an unexpected source. Defensive end Joe Montford picked up a Damon Allen fumble and rumbled 42 yards to give the Ti-Cats the lead with only 3:02 gone in the game. Hamilton would win this game with its defense and Montford was the star of the game. Along with the touchdown, he also recorded two sacks and picked off Allen in the Ti-Cats 26-5 win.

The Tiger Cats held the vaunted Lion rushing attack to only 48 yards rushing, 199 total. Sean Millington led all Lions with 35 yards and Robert Drummond finished with only nine yards on three rushes. The Ti-Cats also tallied three safeties thanks to Lions long snapper Jason Kralt, who sent three snaps over the head of kicker Matt Kellett. On the other side of the ball, the Ti-Cats ran roughshod over the defending champions. Ronald Williams ran for 103 yards, his second straight game over the century mark. But overall, the Ti-Cats also struggled again to score, as the teams other thirteen points came off the foot of kicker Paul Osbaldiston.

Friday night began with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers looking to continue their winning ways. This time, they would travel to Toronto to face the Argonauts. Would Khari Jones and the Bomber offense come up big once again? Jones stayed true to form early and often in the game, passing for 347 yards total in giving the Bombers a 30-16 victory over the Argonauts. He also helped break another curse, helping the Bombers win for the first time in Toronto since August 9, 1994. Jones and the Bombers began where they left off last week, scoring seventeen points in the first quarter thanks to scores by Troy Mills (his third of the season) and Arland Bruce.

The Argos finally scored their first touchdown of the season with only twenty-five seconds remaining in the opening quarter via a Kerwin Bell to Alfonso Browning strike to close the gap to ten. But the Bombers played more effectively and essentially closed out the game in the middle of the final period. Jones connected with Milt Stegall to give the Bombers a 30-13 lead. The Bombers are 2-0 for the first time since 1990, when they won the Grey Cup. Kerwin Bell suffered yet another injury in the second quarter for the second straight game. Playing with a sprained left ankle, Bell came up limping after tweaking his right calf. He did finish the game, passing for 362 yards but was picked off twice.

Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton was host to the final game of week two of the 2001 CFL season as the Eskimos faced the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The visitors were looking to start 2-0 for the first time since 1989, the season when they won their last Grey Cup. Quarterback Marvin Graves got the Riders off to a fast start. He connected with former Green Bay wide receiver Roell Preston, who weaved his way between defenders and scored on a seventy-eight yard play to give the Riders a 7-0 lead. The Eskimos would tally a Sean Fleming field goal at 7:27 of the second quarter to close the gap to 7-3.

Neither team would score again until Nealon Greene connected with Rick Walters for a nine-yard touchdown strike to give the Eskimos their first lead at 10-7. The Riders tied the score at ten when Paul McCallum put one between the poles at 1:56 into the last period. Nearly three minutes later, Fleming answered to put the Eskimos up for good. McCallum had a chance to tie the score once again with 7:44 remaining, but his 46-yard attempt sailed left and gave the Riders the lone single of the game. Both teams had a hard time putting the ball in the end zone and both quarterbacks had tough outings. Graves finished with 213 yards with a TD pass and two interceptions while Greene had 261, a TD, and was picked off twice as well. Both quarterbacks were also sacked three times. The difference was the running game; the Eskimos ran for 166 rushing yards. Mark Nomra running for 112 yards of his own and Greene ran for 54.

Week three games: Week three begins on Friday night, when Toronto, in search of their first win, hosts intra-province rival Hamilton. The rematch of the East division final will take place when Montreal travels to Winnipeg in a battle between the lone 2-0 teams in the league. In another heated rivalry, the first Battle of Alberta game will occur as Calgary looks to win their first in Edmonton. The final game of the week will take place on Saturday night when defending champion BC hosts upstart Saskatchewan.