Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
TORONTO – Dan LeFevour passed for 329 yards and Brandon Whitaker galloped along the ground as the Toronto Argonauts, without Ricky Ray, held off another Hamilton comeback with a 33-21 win over the rival Tiger-Cats.
LeFevour completed 75 per cent of his passes against his former club as the Argonauts defence dialed up their best performance of the season in the win.
In fact, the Argonauts defence was so dominant in this one that it held Ticats QB Zach Collaros to under 250 yards passing.
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It was going to be tough for these two teams to live up to the first of the home-and-home last Monday where they turned in an instant classic. The two clubs combined for 85 points – an all-time record between them – and an offensive airshow to the tune of over 700 yards and seven touchdown passes between the starting quarterbacks was the headline.
The story surrounding the quarterbacks carried well into the week leading into this one as it was revealed that Argonauts veteran Ricky Ray sustained a fractured rib in the loss forcing him to miss the next 4-6 weeks.
As a result it was Dan LeFevour making his first career start in Double Blue, just a month after joining the club and looking to replace Ray who owns the league’s third-best Quarterback Rating.
Anyone asking how LeFevour would fare after almost two years between starts were answered with a 7-play, 71-yard touchdown drive which he marched with confidence and finished with a completion to Tori Gurley on a corner route.
For Gurley, his third touchdown in the two-game series.
Lost in last week’s defeat to the ‘Cats was a dominant first quarter by the Argos defence before Collaros and company had a chance to snuff out their game plan. Pressure was the name of the game in the first half as the Toronto defensive line dialed up the heat on the Tiger-Cats’ firs three possessions. Getting to Collaros made him force a pass into to Terrence Toliver which was batted and knocked into the hands of TJ Heath who returned the interception to the Hamilton 40 yard line.
The turnover set up a 35-yard field goal for Lirim Hajrullahu – who already had a make to extend the Argos lead to 13-0 as the second quarter got underway.
Collaros tried to take advantage of some open space due to the rush by the Argonauts and on a second-and-14, he exposed Toronto’s blitz. The Argos sent the house, Collaros dropped back and delivered a strike to Toliver who got in behind CB AJ Jefferson and battled his way into the endzone for a 59-yard major.
Lefevour looked to answer after completing 8 of his first 10 passes. He promptly delivered first down passes to Kevin Elliott and Kenny Shaw but his first blemish would come at the hands of DE Adrian Tracey who made a play on a bootleg, knocking down a pass into the flat and intercepting it near mid field to stall the Argos drive.
The turnover led to a 51-yard Brett Maher field goal to cut the Argos lead to 13-10.
The previous pick seemed to rattle the Argos pivot as his next pass would result in the same way. Another intermediate pass over the middle was read perfectly by a dropping Larry Dean. The middle linebacker snagged the errant toss and returned it to the Toronto 10 yard line. Four plays later Jeremiah Masoli seized the lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
As the second quarter ticked down, the Argos were just trying to get to halftime before more momentum slipped away. A 41-yard punt return from Brandon Banks didn’t help their cause antoher Maher boot followed to increase the Hamilton lead to 20-13.
The Argos added a field goal right before half that may have done more to calm LeFevour’s nerves – who completed four passes on the drive – than it did putting points on the board.
The second half began with the Tiger-Cats holding a four-point lead but it was the Argonauts who would seize momentum and the lead back in quick order.
On the first play from scrimmage, LeFevour chucked a pass up for Gurley who out-jumped a pair of Ticat defenders and hauled in an unreal 45-yard pass. A play later, Whitaker took a handoff, countered an off-tackle run back to the middle and raced through the teeth of the Hamilton defence, scampering 36 yards for a touchdown.
Hamilton followed with a two-and-out but could not get a punt away to flip the field back in their favour. For the second straight week, the Argos blocked a Maher punt to gain instant field position for their quarterback. A Justin Hickman block and recover led to a 6-yard run by Whitaker to open the Toronto lead to 30-20 early in the third.
With LeFevour back in a rythem and the special teams coming up with a huge play it was the defence’s job to set the tone in the third and their defensive line obliged. On almost every play from scrimmage, Collaros was seeing a blitzing Toronto Argonaut, keeping him on the turf and the ‘Cats off the scoreboard.
As the ‘D’ held Collaros in check, LeFevour went over the 300 yard passing mark for the day with a big first down completion to Elliott to set up a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13.
Despite the one-sided second half, the Tiger-Cats were still within striking distance and looking to cut into the lead with a touchdown. Collaros completed four straight passes for 70 yards to get the Tiger-Cats in the redzone. With just over 5 minutes remaining, Collaros dropped back, locked in on a receiver over the middle but Heath once again stepped in the passing lane and intercepted throw in the endzone.
LeFevour and the Argos killed the clock with the help of another turnover to seal the win as they take a big win into Winnipeg next week to play a red-hot Blue Bombers squad. Meanwhile the Tiger-Cats return home to take on the Montreal Alouettes.
