Argos start season on high note
TORONTO — So how about that Ricky Ray-Marc Trestman working relationship?
Call it a smashing success in the Toronto Argonauts’ first game of the 2017 Canadian Football League regular season.
Ray passed for a career-high 506 yards and the Argos beat the rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32-15 at BMO Field on Sunday.
There was the thought that Trestman, the quarterback guru back in the CFL after four years coaching in the National Football League, would be of great benefit for the 37-year-old Ray, whose best days in the CFL seemingly are behind him.
No one would have predicted the impact would round into form so quickly.
Ray was in synch with his receivers from the opening snap. Three of them — DeVier Posey (147), S.J. Green (124) and Jeff Fuller (104) — had over 100 yards receiving as the Ticats defence was shredded time and again.
Ray was good on 32 of 41 passes. His counterpart, Ticats quarterback Zach Collaros, never could get on track against an aggressive Toronto defence.
If not for some spotty play by the Argos’ special teams — and a couple of drops in the end zone — Hamilton never would have stood a chance to mount something approaching a comeback.
We suppose that some people will tell their grandkids one day they were in the stands for Ray’s historic performance. Many of them might be lying, as the announced attendance was 13,583. That’s nothing short of embarrassing for the Argos franchise, which can’t get out of the uphill battle it fights to claim new fans. And don’t expect anything better (perhaps worse) when the B.C. Lions are the visitors on Friday night in Week 2.
Ray’s 506 yards were the thirdmost in a game in Argos history. The team record is 524, set by Tobin Rote in 1960. Ray’s previous career high was 505 yards, done in a game in 2013.
Green showed no rust in his first game in Double Blue, making several acrobatic catches. Green, who had 95 yards receiving in the first half, was playing in his first game since last June 30, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury while playing for the Montreal Alouettes.
The Argos immediately killed any possible Ticats momentum from a touchdown late in the first half with a quick strike of their own to start the third quarter.
On Toronto’s first play from scrimmage, Ray went over the middle to to hit Posey for a 79-yard touchdown, Toronto’s longest completion of the game. Posey beat Demond Washington in coverage and raced to the end zone without the worry of being tackled.
The Argos led 15-12 at halftime, but the score could have been lopsided if not for some excellent special teams play on the part of the Ticats.
In the final seconds of the half, Lirim Hajrullahu attempted a 24-yard field goal. It was blocked by Will Hill and bounced directly into the hands of Richard Leonard, who ran it back 84 yards for a touchdown. Collaros then found Brian Tyms for a two-point convert.
It wasn’t just that a Hajrullahu field goal would have given Toronto an 18-4 lead. On the previous play, Posey dropped a Ray pass in the end zone, denying the Argos what appeared to be a fairly easy touchdown. Really, the Argos should have been heading to the locker room with at least an 18-point lead.
The Argos scored the first points of the game at 6:17 of the first quarter. A 12-yard field goal by Hajrullahu was necessary after Fuller, wide open in the end zone, bobbled a Ray pass and could not control the football before he fell out of bounds.
It was 5-0 Argos later in the quarter when Sergio Castillo conceded a two-point safety.
The Argos scored their first touchdown of 2017 on the first play of the second quarter when backup quarterback Cody Fajardo plunged in from one yard for a 12-0 Toronto lead. That was made possible when Fuller redeemed himself, hauling in a 31-yard pass from Ray to get Toronto to the one-yard line.
Hamilton scored its first point on a 54-yard single and Castillo later booted a 34-yard field goal.