Argonauts.ca staff
TORONTO – Week two of the 2015 CFL season saw the Argonauts travel to Saskatchewan to take on the Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium. It was a matchup of ‘backup’ quarterbacks as Trevor Harris faced off against Riders QB Kevin Glenn, who will start the rest of the 2015 season after Darian Durant suffered an Achilles injury in week 1.
With the loss of K/P Swayze Waters to a hamstring injury, Laurier grad Ronnie Pfeffer made his CFL debut for the Argos. He was pressed into action early but responded with the poise of a CFL veteran, nailing a 50-yard field goal on Toronto’s first drive in his first action as a pro.
The Roughriders drove the length of the field on the ensuing drive, but stingy red-zone defence by DE Jason Vega and the Argos resulted in a chip shot field goal attempt for K/P Paul McCallum, which he converted easily to to bring the Riders level.
The two scoring drives took up the majority of the first frame, and the game headed into the second quarter with the score deadlocked at three points apiece, with Toronto driving.
The start of the second quarter saw Trevor Harris finish an Argos drive with his fourth touchdown pass of the year, as CFL rookie WR Kevin Elliott scored his first career touchdown just one play after taking a big hit from Roughriders DB Tyron Brackenridge. Pfeffer was successful on the convert and the Argos took a 10 – 3 lead.
The Argos continued their bend-but-don’t-break defence on the ensuing drive, allowing the Riders into the red zone before holding them to another field goal.
Harris was forced into his first turnover of the 2015 season on the ensuing drive, with Riders LB Jake Doughty making an acrobatic play for the interception in Argos’ territory. Once again the Argos’ D stood tall, and McCallum kicked home his third field goal of the first half to cut the Argos’ lead to one.
Saskatchewan took their first lead of the night with just eight seconds remaining in the half, as Ryan Smith hauled in a 28-yard touchdown from Glenn. After a successful challenge for defensive pass interference on the two-point conversion attempt, Jerome Messam pounded the ball home to put the Riders up 17 – 10 heading into the break.
Saskatchewan started the second half with another long, time-consuming drive, but were held to a field goal after a penalty nullified a touchdown. Toronto faced their largest deficit of the season, down 20 – 10 early in the second half.
The Argos and Riders exchanged singles on each of the next two drives before Argos DB Brandon Underwood forced a fumble, recording his second turnover of the year. The Argos weren’t able to capitalize on the ensuing drive, however, and trailed by 10 with 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Argos’ DB A.J. Jefferson saw an interception bounce just out of his reach on the Riders’ next drive, but redeemed himself just a few plays later with an interception he returned for a touchdown. Jefferson red Glenn perfectly on a short sideline route and ran untouched 100 yards to the end zone to bring the Argos within three.
Pfeffer came up big for Toronto just one series later, nailing a 39-yard field goal to tie the game at 21 just after the three minute warning.
The Riders received the ball with under two minutes to go, and a 45-yard completion down the left sideline from Glenn to Ryan Smith gave Saskatchewan a short field. Backup quarterback Brett Smith pounded the ball in from the one to give the Riders a seven-point lead with just over a minute to play in the game.
QB Trevor Harris and the Argos faced a lengthy field after a penalty on the first play of the ensuing drive, but a deep completion to WR Tori Gurley and an incidental pass interference on Saskatchewan put Toronto in striking distance. With just six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Harris found SB Chad Owens in the end zone, and a successful point-after from Pfeffer sent the Argos into overtime for the first time since 2009.
Toronto elected to play defence to start overtime, and the Roughriders took possession of the ball on the 35-yard line. Toronto couldn’t stop Glenn and the Riders offence, as WR Rob Bagg took a reverse handoff into the end zone from a yard out. A new CFL rule requires teams to go for the two-point conversion after a touchdown in overtime, but RB Jerome Messam came up short.
Harris got his crack at Saskatchewan’s defence next, and a great catch by Owens gave the Argos a fresh set of downs at the 25 yard line. A roughing the passer penalty on the Riders moved Toronto even closer, and Harris capped the short drive with a touchdown pass to RB Brandon Whitaker. A sack on the ensuing two-point conversion kept the teams deadlocked, and they headed to a second round of overtime.
Toronto took the ball on the next possession and were aided by another pass interference by the Riders, which brought them inside the 20. Harris then found Gurley for his third touchdown of the day, and Anthony Coombs showed tremendous body control on the two-point conversion, reaching out to give the Argos an eight point lead.
The ensuing drive by the Riders saw Glenn hook up with WR Chris Getzlaf for a long touchdown, but they couldn’t connect for the two point conversion and the Argonauts sealed the victory.
RB Brandon Whitaker led all Argonauts with 116 yards from scrimmage, with the Argos defence recovering three turnovers to bring their total on the season to nine. Trevor Harris threw four touchdowns to four different receivers, and now has nine touchdown passes in his three CFL starts.
Toronto won in overtime for the first time since September of 2009, when they downed the TIger-Cats 25 – 22 at the Rogers Centre.
The Argonauts next take the field next Monday, when they face off against the Calgary Stampeders.