Argonauts come up big when needed to topple Als and earn berth in Grey Cup game
Grey Cup #GreyCup
From start to finish on Sunday, the Toronto Argonauts were good — and at times just good enough when adversity struck — stepping up with big plays in key moments to outlast the Montreal Alouettes 34-27 in the East final and book their ticket to the 109th Grey Cup game next weekend in Regina.
It will be the Boatmen’s first appearance in the championship game since 2017 and they will face the winner of the West final between the B.C. Lions and the two-time defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers being played later on Sunday.
BMO Field wasn’t packed, but it was buzzing with football as the Argos rewarded the faithful with a solid, if not spectacular, victory in which the two side combined for more than 900 yards of offence.
Not much bad could be said about an Argos performance that had more moments of execution and poise than missteps.
Sure, they nearly let a 21-3 lead get away from them in the second half, but every time Montreal showed signs of taking over momentum, the Argos responded, twice answering Als scoring plays with ones of their own in the second half, including a 31-yard TD strike to Kurleigh Gittens Jr., in the final minute of the third quarter right after the visitors had made it 27-24 with a David Cote field goal.
“It was a team win and our defence did it in the fourth quarter,’’ said head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, adding that it was his offence’s best performance in the two years he has overseen the unit.
Overall, the Argos did play their best football of the season, especially at the end of the game. But they’ll have to be even better in Regina.
“It’s just one more step in the direction we want to go,’’ said quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has now played in back-to-back East finals without throwing an interception and earned his first-career post-season victory.
“We feel we can still improve,’’ said veteran middle linebacker Henoc Muamba, who is going to the Grey Cup for the first time since his rookie season in 2011 when he played in Winnipeg. “It’s big being here, but it’s not the prize.”
The best player on the field, hands down, was Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris, who threw only five incompletions in 30 attempts for 368 yards and a touchdown.
MBT wasn’t that bad — throwing for 299 yards and two TDs — but his day featured too many overthrows as well as a bench area meltdown with Dinwiddie over a challenge flag that wasn’t thrown.
For a change, though, the Boatmen’s running game played a prominent role, most notably in the final minutes. A Cote field goal with 4:25 to go in cut Toronto’s lead to 34-27 — a one-possession game. But the Als offence would never get its hands on the ball again as the Argos, behind the 1-2 punch of Andrew Harris and A.J. Ouellette, ran 12 consecutive plays to kill the clock.
Harris came back following surgery to repair a torn pec he suffered mid-way through the season and scored his first rushing major as an Argo on a six-yard run up the middle.
“Finally, finally,’’ said Harris of the game-opening touchdown. “The O-line did a helluva job. It was amazing to feel the energy from the team when I walked over the bench area.”
Ouellette scored Toronto’s second first-quarter major on a seven-yard swing pass, again following an Als field goal.
For the Argos, Harris will now be gunning for his third successive championship. Wide receiver Brandon Banks, meanwhile, will get a shot to finally win a Grey Cup following three losses in the big game when he played in Hamilton. And his former Ticats teammate, rush end Ja’Gared Davis, will appear in his sixth title game in his sixth season.
“It’s 6-for-6, but we have to finish it off for him,’’ said Harris.
A CRUEL LOSS
It was not exactly what star linebacker Wynton McManis envisioned when he made his return for this game following a knee injury that sidelined him for the final four games of the regular season.
McManis said he felt good going into the East final and was convinced he would regain his all-star form.
But the feel-good story ended abruptly in the opening half when McManis left the game with a suspected torn bicep and is questionable for the Grey Cup game.
“That’s been kind of our year,’’ said Dinwiddie. “Unfortunately, we’ve had injuries to some very good players. I feel for Wynton. I know he wants to play next Sunday.
“If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be sitting here. We have to find a way to win without him and that’s the way it is.”
Football is a cruel sport and McManis became the latest victim.
“I’m mad,’’ said Muamba, who lines up next to McManis. “You know he’s going to do all he can to play next week. If he can’t, we know he’ll be with us.”
Jonathan Jones, who filled in at weak side linebacker for McManis late in the season, did so again on Sunday.
ALS IS NOT WELL
By far the biggest blunder played out when no one on the Als defence bothered to cover wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, who lined up on the field side during a second-and-one situation in the second quarter.
The Argos had short-yardage QB Chad Kelly in the game and, when he broke the huddle, who noticed that no Alouette was assigned to Davis. Kelly dropped back and threw it to his wide open receiver, who could have walked into the end zone given how no Als defender was within 30 yards of him.
The catch-and-run covered 46 yards and gave Toronto a 21-3 lead.
Daniels ended the day with a team-high 108 yards.
Following his team’s loss, GM/interim head coach Danny Maciocia said that an injury prior to the pass forced the Als to use a different personnel group.
Daniels said the play call was, in fact, a pass, but never figured on being left alone.
In a seven-point loss, the easy score did end up costing the Als.
fzicarelli@postmedia.com