Als outlast Argos in regular season finale

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — The Montreal Alouettes earned a hard-fought 38-33 victory over their division rival Toronto Argonauts to close out their 2022 CFL regular season.

A pair of Montreal pivots made their season debut on Saturday. Dominique Davis and Davis Alexander each saw time under centre in the final game of the season.

Davis was limited to the first half of action but made the most of his opportunity, completing 92 per cent of his passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, also adding his 13th rushing major on a goal line sneak.

Alexander assumed command of the offence late in the game’s first half, and finished his afternoon completing eight passes for 89 yards, while adding a goal line touchdown of his own in the win.

Toronto’s Chad Kelly made his debut as the starting quarterback and showed flashes of excitement. Playing in all four quarters, Kelly completed 23 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns, while finding the end zone with his legs in the loss.

Davis wasted no time making an impact in the game, with just his second passing attempt of the afternoon the Montreal offence was given a free play as the Toronto defensive line jumped offside. The Als pivot took advantage of the opportunity, launching a ball deep downfield that fell into the hands of Cole Spieker for a 53-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

The Als veteran quarterback continued to make plays with their second possession of the first quarter. After a pass interference called against the Argos that pushed Montreal into the red zone, Davis called his own number and carried the ball nine yards for a score.

However, a review by the officials reversed the touchdown as Davis was ruled down on the one-yard-line. The call once again went to Davis as he plunged forward for the short-yardage major, and his 13th rushing touchdown of the season, giving the Als an early 14-0 lead.

Following the score from Montreal, the Argonauts offence would manage a response as they engineered a seven-play scoring drive, resulting in a pair of firsts. With the ball on the Montreal 27-yard-line, Kelly dropped back into the pocket, scanned the field and found Dejon Brissett in the end zone for the score, giving Kelly his first career touchdown pass and Brissett his first career touchdown reception.

On the ensuing possession, the Montreal pivot continued to build upon what was a monumental first half. The Montreal signal caller completed four consecutive passes to push the ball into scoring range. Faced with a first-and-10 from the Toronto 31-yard-line, Davis was looking towards the end zone and found Canadian receiver Kaion Julien-Grant for his second touchdown pass of the game, giving the Als a 21-7 lead to end the first quarter of play.

The second quarter of action opened with a pair of big defensive plays for both teams. Needing a first down, Kelly looked to pick up the yardage through the air for Toronto. However, Montreal’s Chris Ackie tracked down a tipped-ball for an interception. On the ensuing possession, the Argonauts would then force a turnover of their own as Shaquille Richardson came away with a interception on a tipped ball from the Alouettes.

Following the interception from Richardson, Kelly and the Argos offence would not waste the second-chance to find points early in the quarter. Kelly completed three consecutive passes for 28 yards to push the Double Blue into scoring range. He then delivered a high-arcing ball that receiver Juwan Brescacin managed to secure as he made a highlight-reel catch for his first touchdown of the season.

Nearing the end of the game’s first half, the Alouettes offence would sustain a lengthy 11-play scoring drive that would take over five minutes off of the game clock. Davis Alexander would take over for Davis at quarterback for Montreal on the drive, converting a critical short-yardage sneak to extend the drive.

Two plays later, with the ball on the Toronto one-yard-line Alexander would again be relied upon to convert from short-yardage, and delivered as he surged forward for his first CFL touchdown.

With under a minute remaining in the game first half, the Argonauts found themselves with an opportunity to cut into the Montreal lead before halftime as a 14-yard completion to Brissett would set up the Toronto inside the Montreal five-yard-line. Faced with a second-and-goal, Kelly called his own number and muscled his way into the end zone for his sixth rushing touchdown.

Toronto would opt to keep their offence on the field and attempt the two-point conversion following the score from their quarterback. Kelly pulled the ball on a play-action pass and fired a strike to rookie Daniel Adeboboye in the end zone as the first half ended 27-21 in favour of the Alouettes.

The Argonauts opened the second half of action with an electrifying moment from their special teams unit. Toronto return specialist Jeremiah Haydel fielded the kickoff from Montreal’s David Cote, and exploded up the sideline for an 87-yard kick return touchdown, tying the game on the first play of the new half.

Impactful special teams play would continue with the third quarter, a two-and-out from the Montreal defence would force Toronto to punt from inside their own five-yard-line. Alouettes defensive lineman Jabari Ellis would manage to block the Argos punt, sending the ball tumbling towards the end zone. Ellis doubled down on the big-play as he recovered the loose ball for an Alouettes score as they regained a one-score lead.

With time winding down on the third quarter, the East Division rivals would exchange a pair of field goals. Toronto’s Boris Bede converted a 19-yard attempt, before Montreal’s David Cote split the uprights with a 41-yard make as the Als took a 38-31 lead into the final quarter of action.

Toronto appeared to be in position to find points to open the final quarter of action, faced with a third-and-four the Boatmen opted to leave their offence on the field. Kelly delivered a quick pass in the direction of Tommy Nield who appeared to secure the catch and have first down yardage, but the ball was jarred loose and ruled an incompletion as the Als took over possession on downs.

With their offence on the field following the turnover, the Als would be backed up in their own territory as they started the drive from their own 10-yard-line.

On the first play of the drive, the Boatmen brought heavy pressure forcing Alexander to try to use his legs to buy time. The Toronto pass-rush proved to be too much for Alexander as he was forced to throw the ball away to avoid a sack. However, Alexander was called for an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety for the Argonauts defence.

With under three minutes remaining in the game the Toronto defence would once again come away with a big-play in the game. A hard hit on Montreal running back Jeshrun Antwi by Argonauts defensive back Josh Hagerty would force the ball loose. Toronto’s Deshaun Amos would recover the fumble, giving his team an opportunity to overtake Montreal late in the game.

The Argos offence were faced with a crucial third-and-ten, however the passing attempt from Kelly was knocked down at the line of scrimmage, all but ending the hopes of a Toronto comeback win.

Looking ahead to next week, the Argonauts will have a bye as they prepare to host the Eastern Final from BMO Field on Nov. 13. The Montreal Alouettes will head home as they get set to the host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Semi-Final on Nov. 6.

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