ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – Following the longest road trip in CFL history, the Toronto Argonauts were more than happy to return home to take on the Eskimos in Week 15. Coming off a 40-23 victory in BC and an ensuing bye week, the Argos were well rested as they began the final stretch of the 2014 regular season. At 4-8, they headed into this one neck-and-neck with Hamilton and Montreal for the East division lead.
The Eskimos came into this one hot, having shut out the Roughriders 24-0 last week, standing at 9-4 with the league leads in total yards per game and total yards allowed.
RB John White entered the game coming off a monster performance against the Riders, tallying a total of 202 yards and two touchdowns. With the Argos in the bottom three in the league in rush defence, White had an opportunity to continue his recent success.
The Double Blue got off to the start they were looking for. After forcing the Eskimos into a quick two-and-out on their first drive, Ricky Ray rewarded his defence with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Chad Owens early in the opening quarter. Swayze Waters hit the conversion to put Toronto up 7-0.
|
Related: Week 15 |
|---|
|
|
But the defence didn’t let up early on. On Edmonton’s next possession, Mike Reilly was being forced to do it all on his own. With his receivers unable to gain any separation from the defensive backs, he was sacked by DE Tristan Okpalaugo (his 9th of the season) to force another quick punt.
Ray continued to feed his favorite target early, as the Argonauts kept up their early onslaught with another Chad Owens touchdown pass, this one from 10 yards out. Waters hit the conversion making it 14-0 Argos with 6:30 left in the first quarter.
But much like earlier on in their season, special teams proved troublesome for the Double Blue. On the ensuing kickoff, Kendial Lawrence took the ball back 107 yards for a touchdown to put Edmonton on the board. The play was reviewed after the replay showed he may have stepped out of bounds at midfield, but the call was confirmed. Hugh O’Neill kicked the convert to cut the Toronto lead to 14-7 with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter.
Ray kept going back to Owens early, orchestrating a number of screen plays to move the chains. Their next series was five plays for 37 yards, capped by a 45-yard Waters field goal to put the Argos up 17-7 with under three minutes left in the quarter.
The score remained the same heading into the second quarter, as Ricky Ray completed seven of his first nine passes with two touchdowns to Owens. Toronto led Edmonton in total yards 105 to 31.
Waters, surely motivated by the love and affection of River’s Edge Goat Dairy’s “Swayze The Goat,” continued his hot start, kicking a 47-yarder at 10:21 in the 2nd quarter to put Toronto up 20-7.
(For those looking for an explanation of that last paragraph, CLICK HERE).
Mike Reilly brought Edmonton back into it minutes later, capping a 7-play, 75-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown run. O’Neill added the extra point to make it 20-14.
O’Neill’s ensuing kick was returned by Robert Gill, who fumbled the ball to give it back to Edmonton with good field position. Special team fumbles have plagued the Argonauts all season. As it happens, the Eskimos capitalized on the opportunity with a Reilly 15-yard touchdown pass to Kendial Lawrence. The extra point was good. The Argos, who led 14-0 early, now trailed 21-20 with 3:26 remaining in the half.
Ray nearly added another touchdown to his first half stats but was picked off in the endzone by Dexter McCoil, who also had two picks and two defensive touchdowns against Ray in Week 9.
Owens led the way for Toronto in the first half with 98 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, but it was overshadowed by Lawrence’s monstrous 175 all-purpose yards, also with two scores.
DB Brendan Smith, who’s a K/P returner, gave the Argos defence the boost they needed, picking off Reilly and returning the ball 37 yards minutes into the second half. Chad Owens had an outstanding diving grab to bring the Argos into the redzone, but Toronto settled for Waters’ third field goal of the game. The Double Blue re-take the lead, 23-21 with 6:52 remaining in the third.
Apart from Waters, no one was able to accomplish much on offence in the third. The score remained 23-21 Argos heading into the fourth.
Waters continued to prove that goat milk is a fine source of calcium, booting his fourth field goal of the game, this one from 28-yards out, to put Toronto up 26-21 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Waters continued to prove that goat milk is a fine source of calcium, booting his fourth field goal of the game, this one from 28-yards out, to put Toronto up 26-21 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
No, this isn’t a typo. Waters again. This time from 27 yards out, and it’s his fifth of the game. 29-21 Argos with just over ten minutes left to play.
Edmonton quickly responded with a 44-yard O’Neill field goal with 8:47 to go. 29-24 Argos.
Toronto continued to struggle in the red zone, and this time Waters couldn’t bail them out, missing the 22-yard chip shot. The safety increased Toronto’s lead to 30-24 with 5 minutes left to play.
Not to worry. After a punt from the Eskimos, the Argos mounted another drive and Waters got his chance at redemption, this time nailing the 40+ yard field goal to put the Boatmen up 9.
The Eskimos had one more drive in them however.
Marching downt he field, it seemed like the game was locked, but a penalty on a QB sack extended the drive and Reilly found WR Nate Coehoorn for the TD. Following a two-point conversion the Eskimos cut the Argos lead to just one single point.
The Boatmen would hold on as they recovered the onside kick and were able to kneel out the game. Moving to 5-8 on the year, the Argos will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a massive divisional game in week 16.