Boatmen run wild on home turf
> ARGONAUTS 33 > ALOUETTES 19
ARGOS 33, ALOUETTES 19 Argo running back James Wilder Jr. capped a team-record two-game tally with 218 total yards in Saturday night’s win at BMO Field,
The Toronto Argonauts put together arguably their best first half of the season Saturday night as part of a 33-19 rout of the Montreal Alouettes at BMO Field.
The win, keyed by another solid air and ground game from James Wilder Jr., and first half interceptions from Alden Darby and Mitchell White, gave the Argos certain momentum heading into the final third of the season.
White also had a second interception — a pick in the end zone, in the fourth quarter — that gave him his first, two interception game as an Argo.
Toronto focused part of their prep this week on winning back to back games for the first time this season. That feat was long overdue, but the Argos made no mistake, scoring 26 first half points against the hapless Alouettes to bag that second consecutive win.
The win, with 12,862 looking on at BMO Field, also came on what might be the most important weekend of the season so far for the Argos.
For one, it sent Montreal to 3-10, marking their seventh straight loss, and kicking them down the standings, and all but out of playoff contention.
It also sent the Argos past Ottawa and into first place in the East Division, and came on the heels of an Ottawa loss Friday.
Ottawa entered this weekend with injury problems at quarterback, so it was imperative for the Argos — now 6-7 — to reign in the struggling Alouettes and jump back into first place.
The did just that, with Wilder highlighting a second consecutive, outstanding game performance, with a 75-yard touchdown ramble in the third quarter.
That came on the next series after Montreal’s Brandon Stuart recovered a Martese Jackson fumble on the Argo eight yard line. Montreal capitalized, with Tyrell Sutton punching into the end zone for the touchdown.
Montreal followed up with a twopoint conversion, to cut the Argos lead to 26-11 at the time.
For the Argos, the win also reflected a solid week of preparation, especially by the coaching staff, which guarded pointedly against taking Montreal lightly. Coach Marc Trestman made a point of showing his troops film of Montreal’s legendary quarterback Derien Durant and star running back Tyrell Sutton.
Both put up decent numbers in the end, but had to fight desperately for every yard. Durant completed 25 of 38 for 231 yards, most of them in the second half when the game was out of reach.
The three interceptions gave Durant 14 on the season, and he was sacked four times by the Argo defensive front seven, which also had an impressive outing.
Sutton, fourth in the CFL in rushing, had a particularly rough ride in the first half. He handled the ball five times, but managed only 14 yards on the ground. He fared a bit better in the air, with Durant finding him for three passes totalling 21 yards.
Overall, Sutton had 105 yards on 15 carries.
Durant and the struggling Alouette offence ran into deep trouble as the first half wound down: Durant was picked off twice, with Darby rambling 75 yards from the Toronto 35yard line for the touchdown and a 19-0 lead.
That came with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Durant went to B.J. Cunningham on a 28yard pass on the previous play; he went back to Cunningham, but Darby was right on the ball after it sailed over Cunningham’s reach. The rest was routine, with no Alouette near him as he rambled to the end zone.
Wilder Jr. coming off a breakout performance in Edmonton last weekend, where he posted 257 combined yards, 190 on the ground, carried 10 times Saturday for 141 yards. He added six catches for another 77 yards, with 218 combined yards overall.
Ray completed 18 of 24 pass attempts for 182 yards, including his 18th touchdown pass of the season.