THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — Cory Boyd scored three touchdowns, including one in the final minute, as the Toronto Argonauts bounced back from a tough loss last week to beat the Edmonton Eskimos 29-28 on Friday.
Trailing 28-22 late in the game, the Argos engineered a 14-play, 94-yard drive that was kept alive by a dramatic catch by Jeremaine Copeland after the ball bounced off the fingers of a pair of Edmonton defenders. After two pass interference calls against the Eskimos, Boyd punched the ball in from the one with just 22.8 seconds left. The extra point gave the Argonauts a one-point victory.
With the win, Toronto improved to 4-2 and remained two points back of first-place Montreal in the East Division.
The Eskimos’ troubled start to the season continued as they fell to a disappointing 1-5, worst in the CFL.
Toronto showed some creativity on its opening drive with a flea-flicker play as quarterback Chris Lemon hit Brandon Rideau for a 36-yard gain to the Edmonton 33 but the Argos settled for a 35-yard Grant Shaw field goal.
On their next possession, the Argos took the ball 109 yards, capped by a 43-yard touchdown run by Boyd, who made the Eskimos defence look non-existent as Toronto took a 10-0 lead.
The Argos then added a single on a missed field goal for an 11-point lead after the opening quarter. The Argos had 181 first-quarter yards to Edmonton’s 56.
Edmonton finally got on the board early in the second quarter on a 48-yard field goal by Noel Prefontaine.
The teams exchanged singles from missed field goals before the Argos padded their lead with less than two minutes left on a 14-yard TD pass to Boyd, his second of the game.
Edmonton got into scoring range in the final minute after a successful punt fake but were only able to get a field goal out of it to trail 19-7 at the half.
The Eskimos got their first touchdown of the night on their first possession in the third as Arkee Whitlock took it in from the one yard out shortly after a critical 24-yard Fred Stamps reception on a pass from Ricky Ray.
Edmonton kept coming and put together a big-play drive to take its first lead 10 minutes into the third as Jason Barnes made a 45-yard circus catch in the end zone. He beat out Lin-J Shell and Evan McCollough on a jump ball and ended up catching the ball with his knees to put Edmonton ahead 21-19.
The Eskimos caught a big break early in the fourth as Jason Goss picked off Lemon and took the ball back 49 yards to the Argos’ 18. Jared Zabransky came in as quarterback and ran a bootleg into the end zone to give Edmonton a nine-point lead.
Toronto responded with a field goal to close the score to 28-22, setting up the last-minute dramatics.
The Argonauts return home to face Montreal on Aug. 14 while the Eskimos travel to Calgary on Aug. 15.
Notes: Boyd, who was celebrating his birthday on Friday, came into the game as the league’s leading rusher, averaging 6.5 yards per carry but was held to just nine carries for 53 yards in last week’s 41-10 loss to Montreal…. Eskimos receiver Fred Stamps hit the 3,000 career yards mark in the game, but then left it in the third quarter with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. … It was Edmonton’s first game since sacking general manager Danny Maciocia. … Of the quarterbacks who have started every game thus far, Argo rookies QB Cleo Lemon came into the game as the only one with a completion percentage below .600, standing at 57.6 per cent and three TD passes. … The Eskimos honoured former defensive back Ron Estay on Friday, putting his name on the Wall of Honour at Commonwealth Stadium. Estay won five Grey Cups during his tenure with the Esks between 1973 and 1982. The induction was part of a 1970s retro theme to the game that included both teams wearing the classic jerseys.