Montreal Alouettes Avon Cobourne accepts his MVP trophy from CFL commissioner Mark Cohon after his team defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders to win the 97th CFL Grey Cup football game in Calgary, Alberta, November 29, 2009. REUTERS/Mathieu BelangerMATHIEU BELANGER/Reuters
Both Avon Cobourne and Ben Cahoon earned individual accolades for their part in leading the Montreal Alouettes to a thrilling 28-27 win Sunday over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the 97th Grey Cup.
Cobourne was named Most Valuable Player, while Cahoon was chosen as Most Valuable Canadian after both recorded fourth-quarter touchdowns to help the Alouettes rally from a 16-point deficit.
"I really haven't soaked that in yet," said Cobourne about being named MVP. "Right now it's just about the team. I can't really think about any individual accolades right now. It's a blessing to get it, but right now it's just awesome."
Like Cobourne, Cahoon also downplayed his post-game award.
"This was a team victory," Cahoon said. "It's kind of foolish to discuss an individual honour. Guys were making plays all over the place tonight. The most important thing is we got a championship and we won the Grey Cup as a team."
After running the ball just five times for 21 yards through two quarters, Cobourne caught fire in the second half and finished with 16 carries for 85 yards on the ground and added six catches for another 64 yards through the air.
After the victory, Cobourne expressed his gratitude towards Montreal coach Marc Trestman for getting him more involved in the offence in the second half.
"I just thank him for giving us the opportunity, my O-line and myself, to make the plays," he said.
In turn, Trestman commended Cobourne for making big plays when called upon.
"Avon is so much of our offence," Trestman said. "We always talk about that we're a throwing football team, but we work very hard in the run game as well. We felt we matched up very well with Saskatchewan. We had run effectively against them in each of our two games so we knew we had that in our back pocket."
Of Cahoon's five receptions for 57 yards, none were bigger than his touchdown catch with 1:45 left in the game that put the Alouettes in striking distance of the Riders.
"It was just unbelievable that we were able to fight, claw and scratch our way back into the game to have a chance at the end," said Cahoon, who credited quarterback Anthony Calvillo for turning a broken play into six important points.
"It was just Anthony scrambling and just flipping it out there. It wasn't anything special, but Anthony making a play with his feet and I was wide open."