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MONTREAL -- With veteran Henry Burris at quarterback, maybe the Ottawa Redblacks wont be quite the pushovers most expansion clubs have been. Burris threw for 247 yards in one half of a game -- on pace for a nearly 500-yard outing -- as the Redblacks downed the woeful Montreal Alouettes 26-10 in CFL pre-season play Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium. Former Hamilton Tiger-Cat Chevon Walker ran in two touchdowns and caught a five-yard pass for another to lead the Redblacks, who will be on a bye when the regular season opens next weekend and wont make their debut until July 3 in Winnipeg. "We knew we had to play well," said Burris, who signed as a free agent with Ottawa. "The fact that we dont play next week, we had to have a good feeling coming out of this game because now we have a few days off. "We know we made an improvement from last week (a 21-17 loss at Saskatchewan) and we wanted to carry the momentum of playing good football into the Winnipeg game in a couple of weeks." Brett Maher added a fourth-quarter field goal for Ottawa when Thomas DeMarco was in at quarterback. The Ottawa defence held Montreal without a touchdown, although some of that had to do with Troy Smiths struggles to find his receivers. Delbert Alvarado had a pair of field goals and Sean Whyte had another for Montreal, which went 0-2 in the pre-season under new coach Tom Higgins, and looked shaky on both sides of the ball heading into their season opener June 28 in Calgary. "It was definitely a pre-season game," said Smith, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner who has the tall order of replacing future Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo as the Alouettes starting quarterback. "You understand things arent going to be as good as you want them to be all the time. "We did some positive things, we just werent able to capitalize on any drives." The less-than sellout crowd of 18,141 got their first look at former NFL star Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson, who is on a comeback after last having played in 2011. He made a 13-yard catch on the Alouettes first play from scrimmage but that was all. "Hopefully the timing with the guys will get better," said Smith. "Youve got to give Ottawa some credit. They played defence and came out with the win. Its very premature. Were embarking on something great. I can feel it in my bones. But you have to go through trials and tribulations." A lot of Ottawa players made it difficult for coach Rick Campbell to make his final cuts on Saturday, when all nine CFL teams have to trim rosters to 46 players. Burris had six players make at least two catches, while the defence held Montreal to 290 yards in net offence. "When the decisions are easy, its not good," said Campbell. "We had some guys make some big plays, but it is a pre-season game. Well watch film and evaluate it. "Were not going to pat ourselves on the back too much. Well get back to work and try to get better." Burris couldnt get a first down on Ottawas first three possessions, but adjustments were made. Then he couldnt be stopped the rest of the first half. He completed 17 of 22 passes, all against Montreals first-string defence. The Redblacks led 22-7 at the intermission. Smith completed nine of 17 for 122 yards in the opening 30 minutes and gave way to the equally ineffective Tanner Marsh early in the second half. Alex Brink also saw action. The Alouettes got on the board first with Alvarados punt single, but then Burris threw 28 yards to Dobson Collins to set up Walkers three-yard TD 12:16 into the game. Montreal answered with a field goal, but Kierrie Johnsons 36-yard catch to the Montreal one set up Walkers second TD of the night 44 seconds into the second quarter. Just before the intermission, Burris led an eight-play 85-yard drive capped by Walkers five-yard TD catch. With second and third stringers on in the second half, neither team was able to move the ball very far and spectators were streaming out by the end of the third quarter. Unusually for the pre-season game, there were relatively few penalties called and there were no fumbles or interceptions. Last week, Montreal blew a lead in a 28-23 setback at Hamilton. Their bright spots were Alvarados powerful kicking and some long returns by Larry Taylor, who returned to Montreal from Calgary in the off-season. Notes: The Alouettes were missing running backs Brandon Whitaker (sore leg) and Tyrell Sutton (hamstring). Their replacement Brandon Rutley had a quiet game 29 yards on nine carries. Linebacker Kyries Hebert didnt dress, but he has returned to practice after suffering a concussion June 7. . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted on Monday that Hemsky will be going to market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.MONTREAL -- There was at least one tight battle in Rachel Homans 10 straight victories at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Homan and her Canada rink from Ottawa had to fight back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton 7-6 on Thursday afternoon at the Maurice Richard Arena. Then the Homan rink posted an 8-5 victory over Newfoundlands Heather Strong (4-7) in an evening match to secure first place in the round robin portion of the tournament. "Its good to have a game like that," Homan said of her win over Saskatchewan (8-2). "All the time, every day, all week long would be tough, but it was a great battle by both teams." Homan mused this week about her chances to go undefeated in the Scotties, which hasnt been done since Linda Moore in 1985. Jennifer Jones, now competing for Canada at the Winter Olympics, went undefeated in the round robin last year in Kingston, Ont., but then was beaten by Homan in the final. She has one round robin game left Friday against New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford (6-4), who saw her playoff hopes dashed when Albertas Val Sweeting (8-3) scored three in the ninth and then stole one in the 10th to defeat Manitobas Chelsea Carey (8-2) 7-4. Sweeting clinched a playoff spot and ensured no tiebreaker games would be needed. Carey had a chance at a big score in the 10th, but her angle raise just failed to dislodge Sweetings shot stone. Carey needs a win over P.E.I.s Kim Dolan (3-7) on Friday to finish second and play Homan in the first versus second playoff game on Friday night. The loser of that game plays the winner of the third-versus-fourth game in the semifinal on Saturday. The bronze medal game and the final are on Sunday. Lawton, who lost to Manitoba in the round robin, is in third place. She has a game left against Yukons Sarah Koltun (1-9). Roars went up from the 2,415 spectators at the evening draw as Quebecs Allison Ross (2-9) ended her tournament with a 5-3 win over Ontarios Allison Flaxey (3-7). Flaxey plays Nova Scotias Heather Smith (3-7) on Friday. Going into the Saskatchewan game, Homans rink had outscored eight opponents by a combined 71-30 and had not had to play a full 10 ends. Some wondered if the one-sided wins would leave her vulnerable in the playoffs because she had yet to make any shots under pressure.dddddddddddd She answered that with solid play in a close match, although one in which Saskatchewans shot making faltered in the second half. "That wasnt our strongest game as a team," said Lawton. "We can pick it up. "Rachels team played great and put pressure on us. We can finetune a few of those shots and make them better." Lawton said the fact that her squad didnt have its A-game gives her hope if she ends up meeting Homan again in the playoffs. "I know we can play better and well come out and push them even more," she said. "We had the lead and played a strong first half, but in the second half we werent as strong and that showed on the scoreboard." Homan wrecked on a guard to let Lawton score three in the second end. Canada got two back in the third and another two in the seventh to make it 5-5. It was Lawtons turn to miss in the eighth with a draw that went a little long to give Homan her first lead with a steal of one. Lawton tied it in the ninth, but Homan had the hammer in the final end. She still hasnt had to throw a 10th-end last rock because Lawtons final steal attempt fell just short. Carey clinched a playoff spot in the afternoon with a 9-8 win over Flaxey on a point in an extra end. "Thats step one -- making the playoffs," said Carey. "If Im in the playoffs, Im a happy camper." Crawford downed Koltun 5-4 and Dolan beat Smith 7-5. Flaxey started the Scotties 1-5, but emerged as a spoiler Wednesday with victories over Alberta and the Yukon. She gave Carey a scare with a three in the sixth and another two in the eighth for a 7-5 lead. But Carey rallied with three in the ninth and held Flaxey to one in the 10th to force an extra end. In the morning draw, Sweeting earned a 10-3 win over Ross. Ross opened with the hammer but Sweeting had steals of two, three and two points over the first three ends for a commanding 7-0 lead before Quebec scored one in the fourth. The other early game saw B.C.s Kesa Van Osch claim a 7-3 victory over Strong. ' ' '
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