THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL – The Toronto Argonauts haven’t been anywhere near the playoffs since 2007, so seen in that light this season’s run to the East Division final should be considered a wild success.
But in the aftermath of a 48-17 pummelling from the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes on Sunday, Argos head coach Jim Barker simply could not see it that way.
“I’m disappointed for our guys,” Barker said. “It has been a beautiful journey for our guys. But this is a beginning for us, it’s not an end. It’s about learning form this experience, like every loss we’ve had this year.”
The Argonauts won 10 games this year, including last weekend’s 16-13 victory over Hamilton at Ivor Wynne Stadium that marked the franchise’s first playoff triumph in four years.
Since Don Matthews took over as Argos head coach 10 games into the 2008 season, the franchise had won only three of its previous 26 games before Barker arrived on the scene.
The dividends were immediate as the Argos needed only four weeks to match that three-win total under Barker.
“Maybe tomorrow I’ll look back like that, but right now I feel disappointed for our players, I feel like I didn’t do enough,”
Barker said. “Every player in that locker-room, every coach in that locker-room gave it everything they had this week. They put their hearts on the line all week long.”
With an excellent defence to build around, the number one issue for the Argos this off-season will be the future of embattled starting quarterback Cleo Lemon.
He was clearly overmatched against Anthony Calvillo, finishing the East final with 169 yards on 11-of-21 passing with two interceptions and no touchdowns. He didn’t complete his first pass until the second quarter, by which point it was already 17-0 Montreal and pretty much out of reach for an offence that struggles to score.
While he wouldn’t assure that Lemon will be back next season, Barker pointed out that he led his team to 10 wins this season, more than the Argos had the two previous seasons combined.
Most importantly, Lemon got an endorsement from the man he faced off against Sunday.
“I think people haven’t given Cleo Lemon enough credit, he’s led his team to the Eastern final in his first year,” Calvillo said. “They always talk about how he hasn’t done it with his yards, but he’s done enough to help that football team win.
“I told him he had an amazing year at the end of the game, and to keep working because he’s only going to get better and that team is going to get better.”
Lemon said watching Calvillo pick apart what is a pretty stingy defence was inspiring, and shows him what he needs to do to get better.
“That’s the level I’ve got to try to obtain,” Lemon said. “Being a first year player, I’m getting to know the game and I’m just getting accustomed to it. That’s a guy you have to respect.”
This season also marked the arrival of Chad Owens and Cory Boyd as impact offensive players in the CFL, but neither were in the mood to bask in that Sunday.
Boyd had to be carted off the field with an abdominal injury he’s been playing with for weeks, but which was aggravated on a hit early in the fourth quarter.
“I just took a hit right there and it just sent a bad sensation through my body,” Boyd said, still hunching over in pain in the locker-room. “I couldn’t feel my right leg. The more I tried to just push through it, the more I felt sharp pains going down my leg.”
Owens, meanwhile, is practically guaranteed to be named the CFL’s outstanding special teams player, but that was of little solace.
“That’s good, but it’s not good enough,” Owens said. “My goal for this team was to win a championship, as it was for everyone on this team. We fell short of that, so I feel I fell short as a player. I didn’t do enough.”
Barker hopes that Owens, Boyd, Lemon and the rest of the Argos remember what the Alouettes did to them on Sunday because it represents a model for how to keep growing.
“We just have to get our organization better,” Barker said. “We have to get to a point where they are. We know the standard.”