ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – All dressed up in pink, the Argos hosted the Bombers in week 18 action with the opportunity to lock up the East Division with a win.
Helping to tackle women’s cancers, both teams wore various pink gear including shoes, socks, tape, skull caps and gloves with a portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
The Argos received the opening kick and started the game on offence with Ricky Ray making his first appearance at Rogers Centre since his shoulder injury in Week 9.
CFL YAC leader Andre Durie got the first pass from Ray, taking it for a first down, but the Argos stalled on the next two plays and were forced to punt.
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Winnipeg’s first drive went nowhere, and then it was time for Ray to go to work.
A 14-yard run through a giant hole by the returning Chad Kackert set up a deep pass on the next play to WR Dontrelle Inman to put the Argos in Bomber territory.
On the next play, Ray found SB Romby Bryant for his first touchdown in Double Blue, giving the Argos an early 7-0 lead on a drive that went for 99-yards on five plays.
Once again the Bombers could get nothing going on offence and after a nice kickoff and no yards gained, the Argos fielded the punt and started their possession on the 50-yard line with great field position.
The Argos took advantage and drove for the field goal. Swayze Waters connected from 36-yards out to extend the Argos lead to 10-0.
Finally the Bombers offence got on track and saw them drive all the way to the end zone.
In the red zone, the violence of football reared its head as Argos DB Neiko Thorpe suffered a serious injury attempting to tackle Bombers RB Will Ford. Thorpe remained down for several minutes and after having his jersey removed and pads taken off, he was loaded onto a stretcher and carted off the field. Thorpe was able to give a peace sign to the crowd who departed the field to a chorus of supportive cheers from the crowd at Rogers Centre.
When football finally resumed, the Bombers were able to punch the ball in on a TD pass to SB Wallace Miles as Winnipeg cut the Argos lead to three points.
After the Argos responded with a field goal of their own, the Bombers went right back down field and responded with three points of their own.
The night of Romby Bryant continued on the Argos next drive as after marching down the field, Ray found Bryant in the endzone for his second TD of the night. 20-10 Boatmen with 4:30 left in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff the Argos tacked on an extra single as Waters’ kickoff travelled 76-yards and Ford was forced to concede the single point. 21-10 Argos.
Before the half came to an end, the Bombers were able to tack on an extra touchdown and bring the score to 21-17.
The team’s would go into halftime at that scoreline, while Ricky Ray put on a stellar performance completing 21 of 22 passes for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half.
The chippy play continued into the second half as the penalties on both sides continued to mount.
Winnipeg got the third quarter’s first big momentum swing as the Bombers would strip SB Jason Barnes in the red zone taking away a clear chance for points for the Boatmen.
The Bomber offence could not put up points and were forced to punt back to the Argos.
Ray continued to be locked in under centre as he would string together 21 straight completions to set a club record for consecutive completions. He broke his own record of 18 which he set earlier in the season. The CFL record is held by Argos receivers coach Jason Maas who completed 22 straight on October 4, 2008 as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos.
Unable to get into the end zone, Waters connected on another field goal to extend the lead to 24-17.
After the Boatmen tacked on another three pointer, the Bombers responded with a field goal of their own to continue to hang around, bringing the score to 27-20
Following a single to bring the score to 27-21, the Argos looked to put the dagger in the Bombers on their next drive.
Slowly moving down the field, completions to Owens and carries from Chad Kackert brought the Boatmen into the red zone.
The Bombers however, did not quit.
On a beautiful misdirection play, Durie took a swing pass down to the 3-yard line only to have the ball knocked lose by a Bomber defender. The Bombers recovered and took over close to their own goal line.
Max Hall could get nothing going and after getting hit by Marcus ball on second down, was forced from the ball game. Pinned on their goal line, the Bombers conceded the safety to put the Argos up 29-21 with just under four minutes remaining.
Getting the ball back, the Argos would finally bury the Bombers. Ray went downfield to Inman and connected on the 69-yard touchdown to put the Argos up 36-21.
That is how the game would end with Ricky Ray completing 39-of-45 passes for 505 yards, marking the first time Ray has surpassed the 500-yards mark in his career.
With the win, the Argos lock up the East Division and will get a first round bye in the 101st Grey Cup Playoffs. They will host the Eastern Final on November 17. Get your tickets now HERE.