October 18, 2014

Crowded House: Als top Argos; create bigger race in East

Adam Gagnon

CFL.ca Staff
#MTLvsTOR | #CFLPink

TORONTO — The East Division playoff picture is no more clear after the Montreal Alouettes stymied the Toronto Argonauts 20-12 Saturday afternoon.

On the strength of a dominant defence that held Ricky Ray in check all afternoon and timely throws by quarterback Jonathan Crompton, the Als moved into first place by way of the tie-breaker.  They and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats sit with 7-8 records, setting up a pivotal set of games next week between the Argos and Ticats and the Als and REDBLACKS.

The Argos opened the game with the ball and quickly went to work on three consecutive plays for first downs, however, a fumble by running back Curtis Steele inside the Montreal 45 yard line quickly handed over possession to the Als.  The fumble was forced by veteran defensive back Chip Cox but a quick two-and-out by Crompton and the Alouettes offence ensured that the Boatmen got out unscathed.

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Crompton and the Als were coming off their most impressive performance of the season in a 40-9 drubbing of the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home.  The Argos on the other hand had a flare for the dramatics in their one-point win over Hamilton in a contest that saw them mount an impressive comeback, outscoring the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-3 in the final frame.

Crompton finished 19 of 28 for 219 yards and 1 touchdown pass. Ray, meanwhile, finished 25 of 40 for 202 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Argonauts got on the board 7:03 into the opening frame when Swayze Waters booted a 30-yard field goal to finish off a 9-play, 52-yard drive where Ricky Ray connected with Chad Owens and LaVon Brazill.

The Als followed suit with a 35-yard from Sean Whyte who was set up by a 25-yard pass from Crompton to Brandon London and aided by a 15-yard Roughing the Passer call on the Argonauts.

The Montreal defence got a quick stop before Crompton led an impressive 9-play, 98-yard scoring drive, while leaning on the veteran presence of SJ Green.  After getting into Argos territory off an 18-yard completion to London,  Green hauled in an 18-yarder of his own before snagging the 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Als a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Coming off an impressive 400-plus-yard performance vs. Hamilton, Ricky Ray was looking to follow up his Offensive Player of the Week honour by solving a stingy Montreal defence which has afforded Tom Higgins and his staff to experiment on offence all season until finally landing on Crompton as their man under centre.

Held once again to a field goal, Ray set up Waters to nail a 49-yarder with 11:17 remaining in the half to cut the Alouette lead to 10-6.

Fast-forward three possessions and the Argos seemed to have life off a 21-yard Owens punt return which set the Argos up instantly at the Montreal 42 yard line.  A swing pass to the shifty slotback on the next play proved costly though, as Owens was stripped of the ball and it was recovered by linebacker Marc-Olivier Brouillette.

The Alouettes couldn’t capitalize though and the remainder of the half went by without incident as Montreal entered the locker room with a four-point lead.

Crompton was 13 of 17 for 130 yards in the first half but it was his 20 yards rushing on the ground that kept two drives alive including the series that led to the touchdown pass to Green.

The Alouettes put the first points of the second half on the board and it was all due to the tremendous kicking of Whyte.  First, the veteran pinned the Argos inside their own five yard line with a near-perfect punt and by flipping the field, was able to knock through a 37-yard field goal five plays later to increase the Montreal lead to 13-6.
Crompton and the Alouettes offence, which had been up and down all game, finally got into gear late in the third quarter as the former Eskimo QB spotted Green who leaped for a 32-yard completion which set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by backup QB Tanner Marsh to extend the Montreal advantage to 20-6, 18 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The 10 points after half helped pad the lead but the story was all field position in the third quarter.  With Whyte spotting the ball another time inside the Argos five and the Als defence taking away Ray’s first, second and third options, dump passes to the Argo tailbacks just weren’t cutting it for Toronto.  As a result, Montreal didn’t start a drive from their own end all quarter.

Toronto’s defence gave a helping hand to Ray and the offence by forcing a Crompton fumble early in the fourth but the Argos could only muster a 37-yard Waters field goal which was set up by a 13-yard Steve Slaton scamper.

Time continued to tick on the Argonauts and despite pulling out the miracle win a week ago, there was a sense of urgency in the air as Ray and the offence took over following a blocked punt by James Yurichuk.  

A 48-yard Waters field goal with 3:11 left put the Argos to within one score, 20-12 and then the Argos got a stop and forced a punt to take over possession with 2:27 left in the game.

Ray spotted John Chiles over the middle for a gain of 20 and then connected with Owens for gains of 6 and 9 but on third-and-one and with the clock as the enemy, Ray snuck forward in short yardage only to be stopped short of the first down by an Als defence that was dominant all game long.

The Als took over with 1:40 and iced it on the next play when a draw play to Sutton went 22 yards into Argos territory.

Next week is critical for both teams as the Eastern playoff picture could become a bit more clear or all the more jumbled depending on the results.  The Argonauts face the Hamilton for the second time in three weeks which could cause a log jam atop the Division.  Montreal plays Ottawa as they try and stay in the picture with their Ontario rivals.