ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
HAMILTON– Ricky Ray and Henry Burris are used to rivalry games, they’ve just taken it on the road to the East and it is official, the QEW rivalry is back.
The first quarter lead off with a kick-off by rookie Anthony Alix and for the first few series it looked like the defences would be dictating the tempo in this one.
Stunted drive after stunted drive plagued the first quarter as neither offence could get their game off the ground. Multiple penalties by the Argos, including a costly offside by Chad Owens on a long play to Andre Durie forced the offence to remain stagnant.
On the ensuing punt, a Jeff Johnson unneccessary roughness penalty would give the Ticats great field position and they would not waste the opportunity. Henry Burris would connect on a 34-yard TD pass to Chris Williams, which would be his longest reception of the season to date. 7-0 Tiger-Cats.
Then would come the turning point of the first half. WR/KR Chad Owens would fumble the ball in a pile on, giving the Ticats their first turnover of the season. Coach Milanovich would challenge the play but come up empty handed.
Using the easy field position, Burris would throw a perfect ball to Andry Fantuz for an easy TD. Fantuz’s first in a Ticats uniform.
The second quarter wouldn’t bring any better luck. Following another two and out by the Argos offence, the Ticats would take the punt return all the way back to the house. The culprit was Chris Williams again, earning his second punt return touchdown in consecutive games. Only three minutes into the second quarter and already 21-0 Ticats.
The Argos would finally get on the board after a 15-yard kick by Noel Prefontaine with 8:33 left in the first half. Surely, Scott Milanovich and company wanted to come away with more points from the red zone but two incompletions into the end zone forced just the kick for Prefontaine. 21-3 Ticats.
After conceiding a single, the Argos marched the ball down the field and Prefontaine converted on another field goal from 37 yards to make it 22-6.
After the defence forced a two-and-out from the TiCats offence, the Argos were given the opportunity to work a true two-minute drill. Ricky Ray found Spencer Watt for two consecutive first downs, before Chad Owens was pulled in the endzone, giving the Argos two opportunities from the one yard line.
The “big team” came in and sealed it, with Jarious Jackson wrapping up the touchdown. 22-13 TiCats with one minute left in the first half.
The Argos offence would get the ball back after a Pat Watkins forced fumble on special teams. A 44-yard field goal attempt from Prefontaine missed wide right, and then the unexplainable happened. Chris Williams retrieved the ball in the endzone, made a few Argos miss, and brought the ball 120 yards into the Argos endzone with no time left on the clock.
29-13 TiCats at halftime.
Coming out firing in the second half, the Argos would once again get stopped deep in Ticats territory. That’s when back-up kicker Anthony Alix would come into the game and attempt his first kick of the 2012 season. An 18-yard completion by the Alix-Trevor Harris combo would put the score at 29-16 Ticats.
The next Argo possession would be all about Cory Boyd. A 30-yard run (his longest of the season) would set up the DoubleBlue in excellent field position. Again the offence would stall deep in Ticats territory and the Argos would settle for the rouge after a missed 24-yard kick from Alix.
Following some back and forth battles for field position, the Argos would get back into the ball game. With 13:56 left in the second quarter, Cory Boyd would cap off an Argo drive with a 4-yard rumble into the endzone. Alix would convert and the Boatmen had officially battled their way back into this game.
On the next possession, the big play would finally come. Evan McCollough would intercept a Henry Burris pass and the Argos would take over in Ticat territory with a chance to take the lead.
The Ticats D would hold strong again and the Argos would have to settle for a 19-yard field goal from Alix. 29-27 Ticats with over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The miracle comeback however, was short lived as the Ticats responded with a drive of their own. Burris would march his offence down the field and eventually convert on a 6-yard pass to full back Darcy Brown. 39-27 Ticats.
That is how the game would end as the final seven minutes would tick away and would be capped by a Ray INT with 1:57 left.
The Argos will look to bounce back against the Winnipeg Bluebombers (0-3) on a short week as they host them on Wednesday, July 18 at Rogers Centre.
By The Numbers:
Ricky Ray was 12 for 27 with 232 yards passing and one INT. He passes Doug Flutie for #7 on the All-Time CFL passing yards list.
Cory Boyd rushed for 168 yards on the ground: a personal career high. His previous career high came on August 6, 2010, a 164 yard effort against the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Argos leading receiver was Andre Durie with 9 receptions for 72 yards.
Dontrelle Inman recorded the Argos longest reception on a 38-yard catch. He totaled 56 yards on three receptions.
Anthony Alix kicked his first ever CFL field goal in this game, an 18-yard completion.
The Argos leader on defence was Robert McCune, with 5 tackles.
Evan McCullough had 4 tackles and 1 INT in his first start of the season.