Alouettes' Durant exacts revenge on Roughriders in season-opening win

The CFL season officially got underway Thursday night in Montreal, and it was the home team coming away victorious as the Alouettes held off the Saskatchewan Roughriders for a 17-16 victory.

Thursday's matchup was a duel between two starting quarterbacks looking to take down their former teams, and in the end it was Darian Durant of the Alouettes who had the last laugh over Kevin Glenn of the Roughriders. Durant completed 20 of his 31 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, while Glenn connected on 31-of-44 passes for 298 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The game got off to a slow start, as each team shut the other out through one quarter of play. As the second quarter waged on, Durant finally opened the scoring with a 65-yard toss to B.J. Cunningham to put the Alouettes ahead 7-0.

Durant's counterpart wouldn't allow the first half to tick away without firing back, however, as Glenn connected with Bakari Grant for a 19-yard touchdown in the final two minutes. Roughriders kicker Tyler Crapigna added a last-second field goal to give the Riders a 10-7 lead heading into halftime.

After a second Crapigna field goal extended the Riders' lead to 13-7, Durant once again led a charge downfield capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Jackson. The score remained 14-13 until halfway through the fourth quarter, when Crapigna added his third field goal of the night, retaking the lead at 16-14.

The Alouettes would not go away, however, as kicker Boris Bede knocked through an 18-yard field goal, which stood as the winner. Glenn brought the Riders back into field-goal range, but Crapigna couldn't make it 4-4 as his game-winning field-goal attempt sailed wide right and sealed the Alouettes' victory.

Saskatchewan's Cameron Marshall led all rushers with 84 yards on 11 carries, while Cunningham hauled in a game-high 90 receiving yards on four catches.

The Alouettes will look to carry the momentum of their Week 1 victory into a road matchup with the Edmonton Eskimos on June 30, while the Roughriders will look to rebound at home against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 1.