Argos are headed to Grey Cup
Boatmen to face Calgary after thrilling last-minute victory over Roughriders
TORONTO — It was vintage Ricky Ray.
After struggling for three-plus quarters, Ray rallied Toronto to a wild 25-21 Canadian Football League East Division victory over Saskatchewan in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.
With the Argonauts trailing 21-18 and going against a stiff 54 kilometre-an-hour wind, Ray marched his offence 67 yards to the Roughriders’ one-yard line, setting up Cody Fajardo’s winning one-yard TD run with 23 seconds left.
“To be put in that situation and see the guys go out and execute really well ... and go down and score, it feels awesome right now,” Ray said. “It feels really awesome.
“They (game-winning drives) are all special but just being in this moment right now, man, with everything that was on the line, this one feels pretty good.”
Ray kept the drive alive with a clutch 22-yard completion to running back James Wilder Jr. on a third-and-five gamble. That put Toronto at the Saskatchewan 18 with 1:08 remaining.
“We got great coverage, he ran a great route and made a big catch to keep that drive going,” Ray said.
Saskatchewan’s defence had done well to that point containing Ray, who finished 28-of-39 passing for 266 yards with a TD and interception.
Christion Jones put the Riders ahead 19-18 with 2:45 remaining with a 79-yard punt return touchdown. Later, Rider quarterback, Canadian Brandon Bridge of Toronto, hit Duron Carter on the two-point convert. Bridge attended the University of South Alabama
“It’s tough when you lose a ball game of this magnitude but on top of that when you play good defence all day and it’s right there when you need it and you just can’t get a stop,” Saskatchewan head coach/GM Chris Jones said.
“We got some shots on (Ray) but he’s a tough guy, he got right back up and made the play when he needed to.
“Yeah, he made a perfect throw there to Wilder when he had to have it. That’s vintage Ricky Ray.”
Christion Jones, despite registering the game’s biggest play to that point, admitted he didn’t feel comfortable when Toronto took possession.
“You get a guy like Ricky Ray and those great receivers and that great running back (Wilder) and they’ll make you sweat,” he said. “They executed and did what they needed to do. “We didn’t.” Toronto cemented the win when Akwasi Owusu-Ansah recovered Carter’s attempted lateral.
The Argos return to the Grey Cup for the first time since winning in 2012 and will face the Calgary Stampeders in Ottawa.
Both offences struggled, committing a combined seven turnovers (four interceptions, two fumbles, once on downs).
But Toronto was opportunistic, scoring 17 points off the Riders’ miscues, delighting the enthusiastic gathering of 24,929.
Among those attending were Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and head coach Mike Babcock, who donned his Riders’ apparel sitting next to Argos owner Larry Tanenbaum, who’s also the chair of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Leafs.
“We didn’t do much offensively until the last drive of the game,” Toronto head coach Marc Trestman said. “We did enough to win. We’ve had a number of endthe-game drives whether we’ve won or lost.
“Vintage Ricky Ray. You can put quotes around anything you want. He’s the guy who’s driven this whole thing through the whole year.”
It’s certainly been a turnaround year for Toronto after missing the playoffs in 2016 with a 5-13 mark.
GM Jim Barker was fired before head coach Scott Milanovich resigned to join the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ray’s future in Toronto was also in question after injuries had limited him to 12 regular-season appearances over the previous two years. When Trestman was hired, he boldly named Ray his starter.
Ray certainly fulfilled that confidence. He started 17 regularseason games and surpassed the 5,000-yard passing mark.