Pipkin shows he should be Als’ starting QB
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this breaking news item: the Alouettes won a football game Friday night.
And, while their 25-22 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Molson Stadium might not have been an esthetic work of art, it ended a six-game losing streak and was the team’s first home victory in more than a calendar year.
And the Als did this despite some questionable decisions by Mike Sherman, their first-year head coach. Sherman, who’s still relatively new to the Canadian Football League, decided to punt rather than gamble on a thirdand-one play in the second quarter — hardly a vote of confidence for his struggling offence.
The kick was returned 33 yards by Martese Jackson and eventually led to a Toronto touchdown.
Then in the third quarter, rather than attempt a 47-yard field goal at the east end of the stadium, where Boris Bede has struggled, Sherman had him punt. It resulted in a single when it was more important to trap the visitors deep in their own territory.
“I felt like our defence was holding their own,” Sherman explained. “We went for it last week ... or two weeks ago ... and didn’t make it. If we were facing a different (more experienced) quarterback, maybe my decision would have been different.”
Sherman has an important decision facing him before the Als’ next game, next Friday night, at Ottawa: who to start at quarterback.
Antonio Pipkin was making his second-consecutive start for the concussed Johnny Manziel, whom the Als basically have staked much of their future on. And Pipkin continued his impressive play, completing 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards. He also scored a pair of touchdowns on short runs.
While he was intercepted once, midway through the third quarter, Pipkin couldn’t be faulted for a catchable pass that deflected off the hands of Ernest Jackson directly to linebacker Alden Darby, who returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.
“We’ll go back to look at the tape,” Sherman explained. “I don’t want to make this type of decision after an emotional win.”
Truthfully, the decision should be academic. The Als have lost two games with Manziel at quarterback and are 1-1 under Pipkin. Manziel, quite frankly, has yet to build up the necessary cachet to have been anointed the starter. This isn’t Anthony Calvillo we’re talking about. Pipkin deserves to remain Montreal’s starter, at least for now.
“The organization is headed in the right direction,” said Pipkin, only 23. “We took some great steps this week in practice. We took some great steps in leading up to this game. Our confidence. Going out and expecting to win. We’re going in the right direction.”
With the score tied, 22-22, late in the fourth quarter, Pipkin displayed composure and poise that belied his lack of experience, driving his team from their own 36 to the Toronto nine-yard line before Sherman again decided to play things conservatively, settling for Bede’s 27-yard field goal rather than attempt a pass into the end zone.
Pipkin completed five consecutive passes on the drive.
“That comes from the guys in the huddle having confidence in you,” Pipkin said. “Those guys do everything they’re supposed to do. I just try to do my part and get those guys the ball. Those guys are playmakers.
“That’s not my call, but I’ll be ready,” Pipkin said about the possibility of starting against the Redblacks.
Pipkin distributed the ball to seven different receivers, although none was able to surpass 100 yards. Eugene Lewis was his favourite target, catching six passes for 79 yards. B.J. Cunningham chipped in with five receptions for a team-leading 85 yards. Even Jackson, despite his blunder, caught four for 75 — although 52 of that total came on one play.
“He (Pipkin) has been here a long time. He knows us,” Cunningham said. “He can make plays, with his arms and his legs. He keeps his head downfield when he scrambles. It’s our job to just follow him.
“Just his poise. He stayed calm in the huddle,” Cunningham continued. “He’s managing us and the clock at the same time, trying to drive the clock down at the end. The way he just handled it. He kept everybody calm. No finger-pointing or yelling in the huddle.
“It felt good to get a win in front of our home fans. It’s a new half of the season. Hopefully this will jump-start us into the next half so we can get some wins going.”
Montreal’s much-maligned defence came to play as well, handing quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson his first defeat following two dramatic onepoint victories. Rush-end John Bowman, who returned from a partially torn bicep, had a sack and a forced fumble. Linebacker Chip Cox forced and recovered a fumble.
But middle-linebacker Henoc Muamba had the biggest play, hitting James Wilder for a six-yard loss that forced Zack Medeiros into a 54-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the fourth quarter — one that struck the left upright. That’s how close it came to overtime.
“This is a team game,” said Muamba, refusing to take any credit. “In the middle of the game I missed a couple of tackles on Wilder. Come back and make a better play next (time).
“A play doesn’t care who makes it. When your number’s called, you have to make it. I was supposed to blitz on that play. I blitzed and recognized what was going on. I made the play.”