By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com

It was a very familiar scene at Canada Inns Stadium in Winnipeg Thursday night, the Alouettes falling just short of a victory due to a last-second field goal by a Blue Bomber kicker.

The only differences being this loss and last season’s playoff loss in Winnipeg are 1) thankfully the Alouettes will still be playing football next week, and 2) that it was Alexis Serna and not Troy Westwood who sent the Als home empty handed.

The loss also marks the first time that Montreal has finished the pre-season without a victory since its re-birth into the CFL in 1996.

Montreal fell to 0-1-1 to conclude the pre-season, coming up just short for a second straight week with a 19-16 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The game got off to a slow start as both teams generated very little offense in the first half.

Both teams failed to produce much offence until the fourth quarter, when rookie Alouette quarterback Adrian McPherson hit sophomore receiver S.J. Green to reclaim the lead in the fourth quarter.

After falling behind once again, McPherson was at it again, only this time he skied one out 60 yards to rookie Keith Godding late in the fourth quarter.

McPherson followed up a strong pre-season debut last week against Toronto with yet another impressive performance in Winnipeg. Regardless of the game’s outcome, the former New Orleans Saint remained satisfied with his and his team’s performance.

“I felt a little better this week than last, I felt like I improved over the week and I hope that I continue to improve the coming weeks,” he told CJAD radio.

Despite the 24-year-old’s very exciting pre-season, head coach Marc Trestman has made it clear on several accounts that Anthony Calvillo will remain number one on the team’s depth chart.

However, with an injury to slated number two passer Marcus Brady, McPherson may very step into the backup role.

“(The coaches) have already told me that Anthony was number one and Marcus was number two and that it was my job to learn from them. I’m just doing my job as best as I can,” he added.

In other injury news, defensive lineman Alain Kashama left the game with a leg injury, but was seen roaming the Alouettes’ bench with no signs of anything serious late in the game – minus a slight limp.

The Alouettes open their regular season with hopes of a victory next Thursday against the Tiger-cats in Hamilton (RDS, TSN, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD, CHOM).