Montreal Alouettes (left to right) Dahrran Diedrick, Brandon Whittaker, Kerry Carter and Avon Cobourne celebrate with the Grey Cup in the dressing room after the Alouettes beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-27 to win the 97th Grey Cup in Calgary, Sunday November 29, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

CALGARY - For most of the season the Montreal Alouettes rode the strong right arm of star quarterback Anthony Calvillo. But when they needed to mount a rally in the most important game of the year, they pinned their hopes on the broad shoulders of running back Avon Cobourne.

Cobourne rushed for 85 yards and a TD - 66 coming in the second half - to help rally the Alouettes to a thrilling 28-27 Grey Cup win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday night.

With the passing game unable to get anything going in the first half, it was Cobourne's running that helped buy Calvillo some time and space to get the ball moving in the second.

"I didn't feel like I could be stopped, I honestly didn't," said Cobourne, who was named the game's MVP. "I felt like if we needed something I was going to get it done.

"They called my number, I got it done."

Cobourne had enjoyed a lot of success during the regular season against Saskatchewan, collecting 247 total yards in leading the Alouettes past the Riders in their two head-to-head matchups.

And he provided a spark when they needed it most Sunday.

Montreal trailed 17-3 at halftime and had run for just 74 yards. What's more, the Als had given Cobourne - who ran for 1,214 yards and scored 13 TDs this season - the ball just four times for 21 yards. In the second half the Als ran for 117 yards to finish the game with 191 total yards on the ground.

"Avon is so much of our offence," said Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman. "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."

Montreal came out throwing in the first half, and with limited success as Saskatchewan's defence was able to consistently pressure Calvillo and force him out of the pocket. Saskatchewan's gameplan caused the Als to adjust, said Trestman.

"We were forced to run more because the coverages they were playing were making it very difficult for us to go deep," he explained. "They were all-out blitzing us on a number of occasions, a lot of them to their advantage and a couple of them we took advantage of and got some big plays because we were able to pick it up."

Another factor in Trestman's decision to run the ball more was crowd noise. The McMahon Stadium sellout of 46,020 was a huge sea of green and was rabid in its support of the Riders and disdain for the Alouettes when they had the ball.

"We knew the crowd noise was going to affect our passing game because we had to keep it very simple," Trestman said. "Normally we're a multiple motion offence.

"With the crowd noise we knew we had to limit what we were doing so we could do the things we were capable of doing. That was to stay onside and not beat ourselves."

Montreal's reliance on the run game was surprising given the club's offence led the CFL in passing, averaging almost 300 yards through the air per game. The Alouettes weren't a bad rushing team, averaging 119 yards per game, but Trestman had always stressed his was a passing club first.

Yet despite trailing in the second half, even late, Trestman stuck with the run game as Montreal mounted its rally.

"We just felt it was too sticky in the perimeter," he said. "They were playing us too tight, they were doing a great job of mixing their coverages and all-out blitzes.

"I just felt that if we were patient and we took a little edge off the quarterback, we didn't have to make a play on every single play and we'd have a better chance.

"I can honestly tell you a lot of it is feel during the course of the game. I can't say I stopped for a moment and said we'd do this and that. You keep looking up and the clock and you try to make decisions in the heat of the moment that are correct and make the proper call."

Calvillo, the CFL's outstanding player the past two seasons, said having Cobourne running so impressively anchored the Alouettes second-half comeback. Calvillo certainly did his part, though, completing 26-of-39 passes for 314 yards and two TD strikes.

"Without a doubt," Calvillo said. "It's always going to open up a lot of things when we can get the ball in his hands.

"It starts up front. The offensive line started giving him holes and he started putting us in better situations, second and short, second and medium. And even when we threw the ball, I made some dump throws and he made some things happen with his feet."

Added Trestman: "Avon sets the tone for what we do. The physical part of our football team, it starts with him and the guys up front. He stepped up and it was vicious out there, it really was, and he was able to match it."