Ray’s return not enough as Argos fall to Lions
Ricky Ray can still throw and he can still lead but when it comes to fourthquarter comebacks, he’s still a little rusty. Down 27-22 and with momentum on their side after recovering a fumble, the Argos drove down to the B.C. Lions’ 18-yard line.
There were only about five minutes left on the clock and an announced crowd of 14,236 was on its feet inside the Rogers Centre.
“I thought we were going to win the game,” Argos head coach Scott Milanovich said afterward.
Ray, making his first start in almost a year in place of Trevor Harris, couldn’t deliver on two straight passes and the Argos settled for three points on that drive.
They ended up losing 27-25 after a couple of last-gasp attempts fizzled.
The Argos lost their third straight game and now are 9-8, with the final regular-season game next Friday at home against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Toronto needs to win that game and hope Ottawa loses its final two games to Hamilton in order to finish second and host the East Division semifinal in two weeks.
If Toronto finishes third, the Boatmen would travel to either Ottawa or Hamilton for the East semifinal.
The B.C. Lions, now 7-10, boosted their playoff chances.
Ray finished 26-of-38 for 227 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His counterpart, Jon Jennings, was 21-of-33 for 259 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
At times looking every bit his age, the 36-year-old Ray began the game like someone dipping his toe into hot water to see if he could take the heat. His first pass went only four yards, but at least it was complete.
Overall, Ray’s first start of the sea- son after off-season shoulder surgery was a modest success. To be fair, he didn’t have lots of time to throw. He was dumped like an old suitcase six times by a fierce B.C. pass rush. That makes it 17 sacks on him and Trevor Harris in the last three games.
“We didn’t run very well and we didn’t protect our quarterback very well,” Milanovich admitted postgame.
Ray said his arm felt good, for the most part.
“I felt like I made some good throws,” he said. “There are a few I didn’t make that I would have liked to have made. It felt good just to be back in action.” On a 24-yard TD pass to newcomer Phil Bates, who was replacing the suspended Tori Gurley, the ball was a little late arriving and Bates had to leap between two defenders to haul the TD pass in. Later, a pass to the sidelines intended for Bates hit the ground several feet in front of him.
On B.C.’s two scoring drives in the third quarter, the Argonauts were penalized eight times: offside, face mask, roughing the quarterback, three unnecessary roughness calls and two objectionable conduct penalties.
Milanovich said players became unhinged because they thought the calls were wrong.
“We struggled to keep our composure when the calls went against us,” the coach said. “You can’t lose your composure. We’re young . . . that’s the problem.”
At one point in the second half, veteran linebacker Brandon Isaac pulled everyone aside and said: “We have worry about ourselves and stop wasting energy talking about plays that don’t go our way.”