ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – It was arguably the most important drive an Argos offence has had in three years, and it didn’t result in a single point. It barely even made it over midfield. However, beginning on the three-yard line, clinging to a three-point lead and buried under the shadows of their goalpost, the Argos orchestrated a 10-play, 51-yard drive that shaved nearly four minutes off of the game clock.
The Argos orchestrated a 10-play, 51-yard drive that shaved nearly four minutes off of the game clock to seal the win on Sunday.
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It served as a difference maker – aiding K Noel Prefontaine in pinning the Hamilton Tiger-Cats offence on their nine-yard line.
The man that spearheaded the drive was QB Cleo Lemon, who has been under the microscope all season long. Criticized for his lack of production despite leading his team to a playoff berth, Lemon was thrown into about as big a pressure cooker as one could find themselves as it relates to Canadian football.
With an entire city’s playoff fortune riding on his shoulders and engulfed in the hostile atmosphere that was Ivor Wynne Stadium, the look in Lemon’s eyes was not one of fear, nor panic, nor anxiousness. Rather, he was calm, collected and poised. He stepped into two strong throws with purpose; to go-to receiver Jeremaine Copeland and letting his team’s Most Outstanding Player, RB Cory Boyd, do the rest.
“I’m the leader of this team and I put all of the weight on my shoulders,” Lemon said when asked about the drive. “No matter what is said outside the locker room, I know that these guys have my back and I want to fight for these guys. We have a great team, these guys are special and I don’t want to let these guys down.”
“I’m the leader of this team and I put all of the weight on my shoulders. No matter what is said outside the locker room, I know that these guys have my back and I want to fight for these guys. We have a great team, these guys are special and I don’t want to let these guys down.”
– Argos QB Cleo Lemon regarding the team’s final drive.
Both of Lemon’s completions to Copeland came on second downs, and the first-year quarterback makes no bones about saying that he has no problem using the veteran receiver as a crutch when crunch time hits.
“He is a veteran guy and he has been there, done that,” Lemon said of Copeland. “Me and ‘Cope’ talked before that last drive and I have all the confidence in the world that he is going to make every play.”
Boyd, who rushed for 35 yards on the final drive, described the huddle on the last drive and said that if the Argos just persevered and did what they do best, there was no way that they were not going to come out on top.
“We wanted to be physical and execute coming off the ball ,” Boyd said. “The mentality in the huddle was they knew what was going to happen – let’s go with the mentality that they were not going to stop us.”