CFL.ca Staff
MONTREAL — The Toronto Argonauts broke open a defensive stalemate in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the final frame to beat the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 on Monday afternoon.
The victory, the Argos’ third in a row, moves them into a tie for first in the East with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Rakeem Cato was hurt just before the halftime whistle and was replaced by Anthony Boone, who was benched in the final frame for Tanner Marsh. Boone finished the game with 51 yards and a pick while Marsh threw for 119 yards, a touchdown and interception.
Toronto took advantage of a fourth quarter fumble and interception by Marsh with the game still close as Tori Gurley and Brandon Whitaker both found the end zone.
The Alouettes almost successfully staged a late comeback after BJ Cunningham scored and Montreal recovered the onside kick with 53 seconds left. Samuel Giguere made a one-handed grab to give the Alouettes a new set of downs before Marsh connected with SJ Green but the comeback bid fell short as Montreal ran out of time.
Both offences struggled to get much going on offence from the opening whistle.
A strong kick return from Dionate Spencer got things underway for the Argos, who moved downfield on a big Gurley reception before Spencer opened up the scoring with a touchdown grab. The catch was less than two minutes into the game and gave Toronto a quick 7-0 lead.
Justin Palardy missed his first field goal attempt of the game, a 56-yard try, with just over four minutes remaining in the opening frame but the Alouettes could not capitalize on the return from Stefan Logan and were forced to punt away.
The second quarter started with Trevor Harris throwing a pick to Henoc Muamba, who was making his Alouette debut after signing with the team as a free agent. He finished the game with five tackle and an interception. Boris Bede would nail a field goal to put Montreal on the board and cut the deficit to 7-3.
Facing a third and two at midfield midway through the second quarter, the Als opted to punt and pinned the Argos deep in their own zone. After Harris could not move the chains and a penalty for an illegal punt, the Alouettes started their next drive just outside of the red zone. Following a Nik Lewis reception, Tyrell Sutton punched the ball in for a Montreal touchdown and gave the Larks their first lead of the game. Bede missed the point after attempt so the Als led 9-7.
In the final minutes before halftime, Thomas Miles brought down Cato with a sack. Cato sustained an upper-body injury and did not return to the game. He threw for 72 yards on 9-of-12 passing and rushed for 15 yards on three attempts before getting hurt. Boone took over duties at quarterback.
Struggling throughout the game on punts, Anthony Alix was replaced by Dave Stala in the second half before Palardy took over punting duties.
As Boone and the Alouettes approached the red zone midway through the third quarter, he was intercepted by Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, who returned the ball 62 yards to midfield for the Argos. Adrian McPherson squeezed in a new set of downs on third-and-inches which led to a 36-yard field goal by Palardy in the last minute of the third quarter to give the Argos the lead again, 10-9.
The Alouettes added a single point to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter as both offences continued to be shut down.
On the next possession, the Argonauts got two successive first downs on passes to Vidal Hazelton and Chad Owens as they looked to retake the lead. Gurley recorded his ninth touchdown catch of the year to give the Argos a 17-10 advantage with seven minutes left in the game.
With Boone ineffective in getting points on the board, the Alouettes used Marsh under centre as Montreal hoped to rally. On his second play at pivot, Marsh fumbled the ball on a sack and the Argos recovered in scoring territory. Palardy missed a 36-yard field goal attempt but scored a single point for an 18-10 lead.
The next drive by the Alouettes was over as soon as it began after Travis Hawkins picked off Marsh at the 30-yard line on the first play of the possession. Whitaker scored a rushing touchdown with 2:14 remaining as the Argos lead grew to 25-10.
SJ Green moved into the Alouettes top five list in receiving yards in the last minute of play.
Next week, the Argonauts host the Stamps while the Alouettes host the Ticats looking for a season sweep.
