Argos win with late- game heroics
Toronto uses final drive to book their ticket to the Grey Cup
TORONTO — The Toronto Argonauts are going to the Grey Cup — by the skin of their teeth.
Quarterback Cody Fajardo, in the game on short yardage, scored a touchdown on a one- yard plunge with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, giving the Argos a 25- 21 victory against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the East final at BMO Field.
The Argos will meet the winner of the West final next Sunday in the Grey Cup in Ottawa.
It will be the Argos’ first appearance in the Grey Cup since 2012, when they beat Calgary at the Rogers Centre, and their first in the Marc Trestman era.
Before a crowd of 24,929 on Sunday afternoon, veteran quarterback Ricky Ray worked his magic on the Argos’ final drive, hitting James Wilder Jr. for a 23- yard gain and then Armanti Edwards for 16 yards to advance the Argos to the Saskatchewan one- yard line.
Fajardo went in on his second attempt.
“It sure felt good,” Ray said on the field after the game. “We just kept working hard. This team has a lot of guts. Guys got each other’s backs. We feel like we can play with anybody in this league.
“I love playing for this team. We have a lot of great guys and we have one more to go in Ottawa.”
The Riders erased a 15- point Argos lead in the fourth quarter to take a 21- 18 lead.
Quarterback Brandon Bridge took over from veteran Kevin Glenn in the second quarter and the Riders rallied in the final 15 minutes.
Christion Jones provided the goahead points when he ran a Lirim Hajrullahu punt 79 yards for a touchdown at 12: 16 of the fourth. That gave the Riders a one- point lead and it was three points when Naaman Roosevelt caught Bridge’s pass for a two- point convert.
Ray, who was not great prior to the final drive, then showed his experience and savvy to lead the Argos to the win.
Ray finished the game with 286 passing yards, completing 28 of 39 passes.
The Riders offence found life in the fourth quarter when Bridge connected with movie fan Duron Carter for an 11- yard touchdown at 5: 57, cutting the Argos lead to 18- 10. The touchdown pass was the first by a Canadian in a CFL playoff game since Russ Jackson in the 1969 Grey Cup.
Bridge, a Toronto native who played high school football at St. Marcellinus Secondary in Mississauga before going to play college ball at Alcorn State and South Alabama, was instrumental in the drive, running for 36 yards to get to the Toronto 11- yard line.
On their next possession, the Riders got a 28- yard field goal from Tyler Crapigna to close the gap to 18- 13.
Glenn was terrible, throwing three interceptions and completing just six of 13 passes for 87 yards.
The Argos led 17- 3 at the half following 30 minutes of offence from both sides that mostly was offensive, as good as the defences were.
Turnovers ( six) and punts ( nine) were the rule, and the Argos took better advantage, scoring all of their points following Roughriders turnovers.
Saskatchewan actually took a 3- 0 lead on their first drive, this after the Argos gambled on third- andone at the Riders’ 29- yard line.
Glenn was unable to connect with Carter twice in the end zone, leading the visitors to settle for a 16- yard field goal by Crapigna at 6: 21.
The Argos defence didn’t let the Riders get close to the end zone again for the remainder of the half.
Toronto got its first points at 9: 56 when linebacker Terrance Plummer intercepted Glenn and rumbled untouched 39 yards for the major.
Bridge relieved an ineffective Glenn for two Riders possessions in the second quarter, but could not move the offence.
Glenn came back in and quickly was embarrassed before he was taken out again.
The Riders got the football back after Ray was intercepted by Willie Jefferson, but got no momentum. In fact, it was worse than that.
Glenn threw interceptions on each of the Riders’ next two drives.
The first was by Argos defensive back Akwasi Owusu- Ansah, and combined with a Saskatchewan penalty, Toronto started at its own 47- yard line.
On the seventh play of the drive, Ray found DeVier Posey from 17 yards for a touchdown and a 14- 3 Argos lead.
Glenn, on his next throw, was picked by Cassius Vaughn. Toronto took over at the Saskatchewan 34- yard line and eventually got a 35- yard field goal from Hajrullahu to increase its lead by 14 points.
The Argos got the only point of the third quarter, coming when Hajrullahu was wide right on a 42- yard field goal on Toronto’s initial possession. The Riders conceded the single and the Argos were up 18- 3.
Following that, the clubs collectively had seven punts in the remainder of the quarter.