Redblacks vault back to top of CFL East

This time, the Ottawa Redblacks showed up for their fans.

A stout defence and a specialteams touchdown sparked the Redblacks to a 29-12 victory against the Toronto Argonauts in a Canadian Football League showdown before a sellout crowd of 25,088 at TD Place stadium on Friday night.

The result was crucial for the Redblacks in many ways.

It was just their second homefield win in six games in 2016, it improved their overall season record to 6-5-1 and it lifted them back into first place in the CFL’s East Division, at least temporarily, one point ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who will take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina on Sunday.

Perhaps even more significant than that, however, it allowed the Redblacks to extend their lead over the Argonauts (5-8-0) to three points and it clinched the season series against their rivals from Toronto. The Redblacks now head to Vancouver for a Saturday night showdown with the B.C. Lions next weekend.

The smallest Redblack of them all, Jamill Smith, made the game’s biggest play when he fielded a missed field-goal attempt by the Argos’ Lirim Hajrullahu at the one-yard line, weaved through a crowd of wouldbe tacklers and sprinted the rest of the way for a 109-yard touchdown return in the second quarter.

When the second half began, rookie Jason Lauzon-Séguin was at left tackle and Nolan MacMillan, who last played in the 2015 Grey Cup and hadn’t seen any action this year because of a wrist injury, was at right tackle.

Chris Milo added a 44-yarder on the first drive of the second half, making it 19-3, and then the Argos inserted recently acquired Drew Willy at quarterback in place of Dan LeFevour.

After the Argos produced a 27yard field goal from Hajrullahu, Milo got those points back with a 29-yarder, but then Willy threw a 43-yard rainbow to Vidal Hazelton and an 11-yarder to Kevin Elliott for a touchdown.

The two-point convert attempt failed, leaving the Redblacks with a 22-12 lead and seven minutes to kill.