ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
All you needed to do was take one good scan of the Argos locker room late Saturday afternoon and it was pretty evident that this was a team still searching for answers.
Just prior to entering the locker room, the Boatmen had finished a 60-minute battle with the Montreal Alouettes in a game that unfolded in an all too familiar way – a defeat snatched away from the jaws of victory.
“There are great character guys on this team and we come in everyday and work hard. That is all we can do…keep going out there and working hard to try and get [a win]”
– Argos DB/DS Will Poole on keeping focused on a playoff push.
Facing the CFL’s premier opponent, the Argos had the Als in a situation that has plagued them all season long; they had a chance to put points on the board and possibly win the game. The Boatmen were down by only six points in the fourth quarter and the league’s best offence, led by Anthony Calvillo, was on the bench searching for answers.
A few miscues, combined with five earlier losses in the season by one possession or less and the Argos almost immediately returned to the feeling of ‘so close but so far away’.
However, once the aforementioned scan of the locker room was finished and players began to almost immediately shift their focus to next week, one thing was for certain: This team is by no means giving up hope at catching a playoff spot down the final leg of the 2009 season.
“Guys are committed to going out there and practicing hard”, said DB/DS Will Poole following the game. “There are great character guys on this team and we come in everyday and work hard. That is all we can do…keep going out there and working hard to try and get [a win]”.
Poole moved from his natural safety position over to the boundary cornerback spot for most of the game and despite a few hiccups in the secondary early, the defence, once again, put out a more than strong effort Saturday afternoon.
However, the Argos defence is not going to begin pointing fingers at those in the other two phases of the game.
“We lost as a team (Saturday)”, Poole continued. “It just doesn’t taste good. We go out there as a unit – offence, defence, special teams”.
When asked about the play of the defence, rookie DT Kevin Huntley echoed the sentiments of Poole, downplaying the significance of a unit that held the Montreal offence to 10 first half points.
“There is an old adage of the ‘small victory’. I don’t believe in that – it is either you win or you don’t. We continue to strive every week to get better and get the victories”.