October 27, 2019

Argos get major contributions from young quarterbacks

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, the Toronto Argonauts’ Week 20 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS was an opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate their young quarterbacks heading into next season.

Starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson saw first-half action, but backups Dakota Prukop and Michael O’Connor took over under centre and made an impact in the third and fourth quarters respectively.

“The biggest thing was to be able to evaluate those guys on the field tonight, and I thought that they did a good job,” Argos head coach Corey Chamblin said after the win.

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» Watch: Worthy scampers around REDBLACKS for touchdown
» Watch: Canadian pivot O’Connor tosses first score

 

Prukop was highly efficient, completing six of eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to help give Toronto a commanding 32-8 lead entering the fourth quarter. The 26-year-old quarterback threw his first career CFL touchdown pass to Rodney Smith, and he followed it up with a touchdown to running back A.J. Ouellette.

“To finally get my shot at quarterback was really cool,” Prukop said.

O’Connor made a splash by putting the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. The Ottawa, Ont., native and former UBC Thunderbird sealed the victory against the REDBLACKS with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Smith. He completed five of nine passes for 51 yards in limited action, but he made his presence known right away with a 31-yard strike to Armanti Edwards on his first play.

O’Connor completed four straight passes on Toronto’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

“He’s a different type kid, and what I mean by that is he’s very mature.” Chamblin said of O’Connor. ” It’s always good to see him. The way he carries himself, he’s good in the locker room around the guys.”

“It’d be good to be able to look at the film and evaluate how he really played, but there was some exciting moments when he was in the game,” Chamblin added.

While O’Connor said he still has a lot of work to do to get better as a passer at the professional level, he hopes to one day serve as an example and help other Canadian quarterbacks reach the next level and achieve success.

“I definitely want to be an inspiration to young quarterbacks in this country, and the future is bright I think,” O’Connor said. “But at the same I still have a long way to go. Later in my career I’d like to help further Canadian quarterbacks in this country, but right now I’m just focused on keeping my job and trying to find success in this league.”

Getting a win against his hometown team was an added bonus for the 23-year-old pivot.

“I don’t really see into those things too much, but it was kind of neat to play against a hometown team,” O’Connor said.

Bethel-Thompson also performed well for Toronto, throwing a pair of touchdowns to extend his league leading total to 26. It still remains to be seen who will get the start in Toronto’s regular season finale next week against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“We’ll see how that goes,” Chamblin said. “But those guys (Prukop and O’Connor) definitely are going to play a lot more in terms of how we finish the season.”

The Argos will travel on the road to face the East-leading Ticats next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (EDT).