The Canadian Press
Down three with 2:19 to play, his Edmonton Eskimos at third-and-eight at the 55-yard line, Jason Maas opted to play it safe.
Two-plus minutes can be a world of time in a CFL game. The coach that gives the go-ahead to his punter in these situations does so with the confidence that he’ll be sending his offence back out on the field for a last-minute drive. It’s a situation that the Esks have excelled in since Maas became the head coach. Mike Reilly led the league last year with six game-winning drives.
It might have come to that if it weren’t for James Wilder Jr.
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(Adam Gagnon, CFL.ca)
The Argos’ running back had four carries in the Argos’ game-ending drive, which included a backbreaking 18-yard gallop that got Toronto to Edmonton’s 50-yard line. The Argos were able to run out the clock, keeping the most dangerous QB in the league on the sideline the rest of the day, ensuring a much-needed first win of the year.
For the first time in the Argos’ three games this season, Wilder got back to his rookie-of-the-year ways from of 2017. His 120 yards and a touchdown on the ground were a season-best (he had 76 combined in the Argos’ 0-2 start) and the fifth 100-plus-yard game of his young career. The Argos are also 5-0 when he breaks the 100-yard rushing mark.
Probably as a byproduct of a cavalcade of tweets and short videos streaming through our timelines all day every day, we tend to forget what’s not right in front of us. It had been eight full months since we’d last seen Wilder trample a defence and in my case, at least, I forgot what a treat that is to witness.
Wilder’s a big guy — six-foot-two, 232 pounds — and he’s the perfect blend of power and finesse. There was his stop-and-start on the Argos’ second touchdown where he showed off his vision, going back to his right side to find the path to the end zone. There was the way he spun off of a tackle to keep running on the Argos’ go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. Then there was that 18-yard gain on the final drive of the game. He ducked and hopped over some downed Edmonton d-linemen, picked up a head of steam and broke four tackles before being brought down in Edmonton territory. Wilder is a punishing and productive running back and as we saw in the second half of last season, he adds a vitally important dynamic to Toronto’s offence (also to people’s fantasy teams).
Have we seen the last of Ricky Ray?
An interesting snippet emerged from James Franklin’s scrum on Friday. Franklin was discussing how Ricky Ray had been around the team throughout last week in meetings, helping them prepare for their game against Edmonton.
Franklin said that Ray had been very open and helpful with him, which he appreciated.
“Hearing it from him, he’s been in this offence longer than I have, he’s been in this league longer than I have,” Franklin said of Ray.
“He has been really helpful and said anything that I need, just to let him know. I always think that goes really far for me, because I know that he’s hopefully, he’s trying to come back, at least towards the half after the six weeks (on the injured list) or so. Him being helpful and trying to help me out, that says a lot about him.”
The Argos have said officially that they were waiting on pertinent medical info and that Ray would miss significant time this season. Franklin’s comment has been the only suggestion that Ray might be looking to get back on the field this season.
