ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
With files from The Canadian Press
CALGARY – With one kick from the left leg of Noel Prefontaine, a huge weight was lifted off the collective shoulders of the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night.
Prefontaine lined up a 43-yard field-goal attempt for the win with a calm that comes from 14 years of kicking in the CFL. The 37-year-old made it look easy with just 17 seconds remaining in the game. The Toronto Argonauts downed the Calgary Stampeders 23-21 in the season-opener for both clubs Friday and also ended a five-year losing streak at McMahon Stadium.
“We just came back on the winningest team in the CFL last year at their home field. We hadn’t won here since 2005. It’s huge for our momentum. We came on the road, got a victory, first game of the season, it’s big man. We’re looking to climb this ladder and keep going in the right direction right now.”
– Argos SB Jeremaine Copeland
“There’s nerves, but there’s also a sense of calmness that I’ve been there before and done it in games,” Prefontaine said following the game. “This is what they pay me to do. This is my responsibility as a kicker, to go in there and make those money kicks.”
Prefontaine is one of only six players left from the July 1, 2005 roster that last left Calgary with a win (22-16).
Another player who was in that game was Argos SB Jeremaine Copeland, albeit as a member of the Calgary Stampeders, who says that although it is only the first win, starting the season off with a victory can go a long way in shaping how the team positions itself for the first half of the year.
“We just came back on the winningest team in the CFL last year at their home field,” said Copeland. “We hadn’t won here since 2005. It’s huge for our momentum. We came on the road, got a victory, first game of the season, it’s big man. We’re looking to climb this ladder and keep going in the right direction right now.”
Perhaps more important than snapping the losing streak in Calgary was earning a big confidence boost on what looks like an unforgiving road trip to start the year with four of the Argos’ first five games being played away from Rogers Centre against teams that include division rivals Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes.
“When you’re on the road three times, to be able to start off with a win and a win in this manner, where we brought it down a kicked a field goal to win it at the end, it sets you off in the right track,” explained GM and Head Coach Jim Barker.
The Boatmen will surely enjoy Friday’s win but a week from now they visit Winnipeg for the second time in three weeks after defeating the Bombers in the final pre-season game. A four-win team last year, the Bombers also came up with a surprise Week 1 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.