ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – With both teams desperate to get back into the win column, tension was high as the 1-4 Argonauts took a trip to Montreal to take on the 1-3 Alouettes on Friday night.
Linebacker Shea Emry faced his old team for the first time since signing with the Argos in the offseason. He had spent his first six CFL seasons in Montreal prior to joining the Boatmen.
The Als opened the scoring on the first drive of the game when Sean Whyte kicked a 58 yard punt into the Argos end zone for a single point.
Following a quick Argos three-and-out, Montreal continued to establish a balanced attack handing the ball off to RB Brandon Whitaker and passing to Duron Carter and Mardy Gilyard. Whyte finished off the drive with a 49-yard FG to make it 4-0 at the 6:59 mark.
Toronto responded with a couple of nice plays by RB Steve Slaton, who put the Argos into good field position with back-to-back 10 and 18-yard receptions. However, July Special Teams Player of the Month Swayze Waters wasn’t able to cash in the FG.
Waters quickly shook it off, booting his next attempt from 30-yards out to put the Argos on the board, down 4-3 heading into the second quarter.
Als backup quarterback Alex Brink started the second in place of former Heisman Trophy-winner Troy Smith, who was 4/7 for 27 yards at the break. Brink led a conservative attack on his first drive, leading to another punt from Whyte that bounced into the end zone for his second rouge of the game. 6-4 Montreal.
Toronto appeared to pick up some momentum on the next drive when WR Maurice Mann hauled in a 25-yard grab from Ricky Ray to put the Argos into Alouette territory, however WR Darvin Adams fumbled a short reception on the next play. Jerald Brown recovered and the Argos offence was glued to the bench once again.
Ricky Ray, playing without his top four wide-outs Chad Owens, Andre Durie, Jason Barnes and John Chiles, struggled early on to find any chemistry with his receivers. Aside from a few short yardage plays to SB Anthony Coombs, Ray was unable to get into any sort of rhythm.
Having made his previous nine FG’s heading into tonight’s matchup, Waters missed his second of the night when his kick from 41 yards out ringed off the left goal post.
Ray bounced back on his next drive with a couple of short completions to Maurice Mann and Jarred Fayson, which led to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Steve Slaton with 0:44 left in the half. The marker was Slaton’s first career CFL TD. Waters completed the conversion, putting Toronto up 10-5 at the half.
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Following a lengthy kick return from Robert Gill to start the half, Slaton continued to carry the offence with a 30-yard run and a short touchdown pass from within the Alouette 10-yard line. Toronto led 17-5 after Slaton’s second score of the game.
Already badly hampered by injuries, the Argos lost Coombs to a shoulder injury midway through the third quarter, with backup SB Natey Adjei not dressed.
The Argonaut defence played a much tighter game in the third quarter, highlighted by a Jermaine Gabriel sack that forced the Als to punt it away from deep inside their own red zone. The Argos were unable to take advantage on the ensuing drive. The teams headed into the fourth quarter with Toronto up 17-5.
Following a pair of incompletions from within their own 15 yard line, Whyte took a knee in the Als end zone for an Argos safety. 19-5 Toronto with 12:25 remaining.
It was a repeat performance of their previous drive minutes later, as a stuffed run and incomplete pass from Montreal’s ten yard line led to a second consecutive knee by Whyte for another safety. 21-5 Argos.
The Alouette passing game was non-existent for the majority of the second half, as the Argos secondary played a disciplined game that led to a number of Montreal three and outs.
Toronto added another field goal with 1:45 left to push the score to 24-5.
Montreal’s first play on the ensuing drive was a Brink pass attempt to WR Eric Deslauriers that was intercepted by LB Jamie Robinson, who took it to the house for six points. Waters added the conversion making it 31-5 with 1:33 remaining.
The Argos ran the clock out to finish the game, which ended with a final score of 31-5.
Ray completed 19 of 33 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Slaton led the offense with 52 yards on the ground and two passing touchdowns. Mann had 5 receptions for 75 yards, now having eclipsed the 70-yard mark in both games this season. Emry had four tackles in his return to Montreal.
The Argos defence also limited Montreal’s attack to 167 yards.
Having improved their record to 2-4, the Argonauts now enter an 11-day break before their next game against Winnipeg at home on August 12. The Argos currently rank first in the East division.