Ray shines in Argos’ win
TORONTO (CP) — Ricky Ray showed Saturday just how valuable he is to the Toronto Argonauts.
Ray returned from a shoulder injury to throw four first-half TD strikes as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak with a 38-6 victory over the Montreal Alouettes.
Ray now has 100 touchdown passes for his Argonauts tenure, breaking Condredge Holloway’s club record (98) before a seasonhigh BMO Field crowd of 16,326.
Ray missed last week’s 21-9 loss in Montreal with a shoulder injury suffered in a 41-24 home loss to Calgary on Aug. 3.
With Ray sidelined, Jeff Mathews and Cody Fajadro were a combined 18-of-28 passing for 142 yards versus the Als.
Ray finished 35-of-43 passing for 377 yards on Saturday, the seventh time this year he’s surpassed the 300-yard plateau. The only blemish on his performance was Montreal’s Dominique Tovell returning a Ray deflection 61 yards for the TD to end the third.
Ray started impressively, going 5-for-5 passing for 65 yards in anchoring Toronto’s 76-yard, nine-play opening march. He capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown strike to S.J. Green.
“You don’t replace a guy like Ricky Ray,” said Green, who finished with nine catches for 145 yards and two TDs. “It was good to get back out there with Ricky and throw it around a little bit.
“You see a guy with his capabilities what we can do.”
Ray was 21-of-23 passing for 260 yards and the four TD passes in staking Toronto to a commanding 35-0 halftime lead.
Ray is the only player in CFL history to have 100 TD passes or more with two franchises.
Ray played his first nine seasons in Canada with Edmonton, throwing 210 touchdown strikes.
“That’s pretty cool,” Ray said. “I’ve been lucky, obviously, in my career to play with two really good franchises.” Toronto (4-5) moved atop the East Division while improving to 4-1 within the conference. The Argos and Als meet again Sept. 23 at BMO Field to decide the season series.
Tiger-Cats trade Chick to Eskimos
EDMONTON — All-star defensive end John Chick was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday by the Hamilton TigerCats. Edmonton also gets a fifth-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft, and Hamilton gets a second-round pick in return.
Chick, 34, has appeared in all eight of Hamilton’s games this season, recording 16 tackles, two QB sacks and a forced fumble.