THE CANADIAN PRESS
CFL.ca Staff
OTTAWA- The Toronto Argonauts thwarted the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ plot for vengeance on Saturday night as Trevor Harris had two touchdown passes to Kevin Elliott to pace the Boatmen to a 35-26 victory at TD Place.
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The East Division is starting to look more like the Wild West as teams continue to shoot it out for a playoff spot. The Argos’ win creates a logjam in the standings, tying them for second in the East with the REDBLACKS and placing them just one win back of the division leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The victory ends Ottawa’s three game win streak and also breaks Toronto’s three game losing streak. The Argos last win was Week 9 against the REDBLACKS.
Henry Burris went 27-for-38 and 313 yards with one interception and found Greg Ellignson in the end zone twice. Chris Williams also had a strong performance with six catches for 101 yards, but the hard fought effort by Ottawa’s offensive core fell just short in the loss.
Toronto strong out of the gate and the first to strike on the opening drive of the game. Trevor Harris set the tone early, finding Chad Owens for 21 yards on the first pass of the night. The Argos continued to charge up the field and capped off the 10-play, 76-yard drive when Harris found Elliott in the front corner of the end zone to take an early 7-0 lead.
A quick two-and-out forced the REDBLACKS to give the ball back to the Argos. On the ensuing punt return, Owens dashed up the field and into the end zone for an 86-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.
Ottawa would put themselves right back into the game before the first fifteen minutes came to an end. Chris Milo notched a 39-yard field goal with just over three minutes left in the quarter. But the REDBLACKS were not finished there as Damaso Munoz intercepted the ball and returned it 40 yards for his first career pick-six to cut the Argos’ lead to 14-10 after one quarter.
Harris continued his strong first half by finding Diontae Spencer for 20 yards to place the Argos in the red zone. However, the Ottawa defence held strong and the Argos settled for a 23-yard field goal by Justin Palardy.
Toronto was able to capitalize on Ottawa’s troubles when they received the ball back as the REDBLACKS racked up 35 penalty yards on the drive. Harris and Elliott connected in the end zone for the second time of the game for a nine-yard touchdown as the Argos carried a 24-10 lead into halftime.
All three phases were on full display in the first half as the offence, defence, and special teams contributed touchdowns between the two squads. The Argos offence was dominant on the scoreboard and the stats sheet through the first 30 minutes, picking up 15 first downs and 222 total yards compared to Ottawa’s five first downs and 125 yards.
The first half was all Argos, but the REDBLACKS came out strong in the third quarter, looking to avenge the their most recent loss.
The REDBLACKS gambled on a third and inches midway through the third quarter and it lead to the offences most product drive of the game. Burris found Ernest Jackson for an 18-yard pass to move Ottawa deep into Toronto territory. A facemask call on the Argos placed Ottawa in the redzone, and Burris found Greg Ellingson on the next play for the offences first touchdown of the game.
The Ottawa defence continued to give their team a chance for a comeback as Abdul Kanneh made his third interception of the season to put the ball back in the hands of the Ottawa offence. Chris Milo made a 37-yard field goal to trail the Argonauts 24-20 entering the fourth quarter, setting up a thrilling finale in the battle of the Ontario capitals.
The Argos continued to try and put distance between themselves and the REDBLACKS in the final quarter. Harris continued his impressive evening by finding Tori Gurley streaming down the sideline for a 38-yard pass, just one yard short of the end zone. Adrian McPherson made the short dash in for a touchdown on the next play to once again give Toronto a double-digit lead.
The relentless REDBLACKS continued to fight back and responded with a touchdown of their own on the next drive. Burris first connected with Brad Sinopoli for a big 33-yard gain, and then found Chris Williams just two plays later, this time for 36 yards. Ellingson scored his second touchdown of the game to finish off the drive and a missed extra point would see the REDBLACKS trail 32-26 with 5:39 left in the game.
The riveting back and fourth action continued as Spencer returned the ball 41 yards on the kickoff to set up a long 50-yard field goal by Palardy and extend Argos’ lead to 35-26.
The REDBLACKS comeback plans were dashed when Burris was picked off by Greg Jones with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
The match was the first of a two-game set as the REDBLACKS will have another crack at the Boatmen on Oct.6. Toronto has next week off while Ottawa will face the Montreal Allouettes on Oct. 1.
