Argos’ defence sharp in soggy win over Als
Boatmen end pre-season on high note as coaching staff now turns attention to cuts
MONTREAL— This was not a meaningless CFL exhibition game for many of the Argonauts who will be looking for new jobs come Saturday.
Some careers were on the line on Thursday before an announced crowd of 16,325 fans at Percival Molson Stadium, where the Argos wrapped up their pre-season schedule.
The fact the Argos won 30-13 in the driving rain was of little consequence, especially since the Double Blue went with a vanilla package because they don’t like to tip teams off in the pre-season.
The Argos must reduce their roster to 46, excluding the injured list, by 10 p.m. Saturday. The roster is at about 65 now.
“I was proud of the way they played tonight,” head coach Scott Milanovich said post-game. “But it doesn’t count.” He will review the game film before deciding on roster cuts, and even then, if two players are close, he will go with his gut like he’s done before.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Milanovich, in his fourth year with the team. “It’s hard to tell somebody you’re taking away their dream.”
There were two areas Milanovich was paying close attention to: the secondary and the wide receivers.
Both of those position areas are loaded with new talent. On this night, it was the secondary that stood out, in particular A.J. Jefferson, Branden Smith and Akwasi OwusuAnsah.
Owusu-Ansah, who is an announcer’s headache, is also showing he can be a headache for opposing quarter- backs. He intercepted Jonathan Crompton and returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown.
Later in that quarter, the Argo secondary made quarterback Dan LeFevour pay as Smith picked off the former Hamilton Ticat and returned the ball 29 yards.
Getting in on the interception racket was A.J. Jefferson, who picked off another Crompton pass and returned the ball 19 yards.
Osusu-Ansah joined the Argos from the Arena Football League. He played his college ball at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was taken by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.
Ansah bounced around several other NFL teams before the Argos signed him on May 21.
Trevor Harris started at quarterback and played the first half, yielding the QB duties to Mitchell Gale. Adrian McPherson played the fourth quarter.
Receivers like Chad Owens and Andre Durie didn’t play in the team’s first pre-season game against Winni- peg, and the ball was more slippery than a greased pig.
Durie and receiver Natey Adjei both coughed up the ball, although Adjei made up for that mistake with a nice catch late in the game from McPherson on a deep route.
It was Gale who got the Argo offence on track, and he did it in the driving rain.
Gale found Diontae Spencer in the end zone with a crisp throw as he continues to make a strong case he should be the No. 2 behind Harris when the regular season begins next Saturday in Fort McMurray, Alta., against the Edmonton Eskimos and head coach Chris Jones.
“You’ll never know what Chris is going to do,” Milanovich said. “I’m sure he’s cooked up a bunch of stuff that we’ve never seen.” Mississauga native Brandon Bridge, trying to win a job with the Alouettes, came in late in the third quarter, and the product of South Alabama showed good elusiveness escaping the rush.
On another occasion, he showed bad judgment by throwing the ball into dangerous territory down the middle when he should have just tossed the ball out of bounds.