ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – 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. Buckle up for the second half.