Free-scoring Argonauts get back to winning ways against BC Lions
With the Canadian National Exhibition in town, the Toronto Argonauts made sure to bring an extra bit of fun back to BMO Field with an exciting win over the BC Lions on Saturday afternoon. Nick Arbuckle led his squad to a 52-34 victory as the Argos ended a three-game losing streak in front of a fired up home crowd.
It was the Lions who came out firing in the first quarter but the Argonauts turned it up a notch in the second quarter and never looked back. The Argos scored 24 second-half points to the Lions’ 13 to claim the win. Arbuckle threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns and rushed in for another. Jake Herslow got on the end of two of Arbuckle’s touchdown tosses, finishing the contest with 149 yards.
Nathan Rourke and his Lions couldn’t keep up with the pace of the Argos attack, and weren’t able to claw their way back after going into halftime down 28-21. The BC pivot was 20-31, throwing for 326 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He added 47 yards on the ground on one run.
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Herslow gave his Argonauts a solid starting position off the opening kickoff after he took Carl Meyer‘s kick to midfield. Arbuckle got the ball to David Ungerer III and Deonta McMahon for back-t0-back first-downs as the Argonauts worked their way into the red zone. A negative play and incompletion meant that the Argos would have to settle for the field goal however, with Lirim Hajrullahu making his 23-yard kick.
Keon Hatcher Sr. came down with Rourke’s first completion of the afternoon, getting open in the middle of the field for a 30-yard play. Ayden Eberhardt then made a sensational play to dive under a deflected Rourke pass, giving the Lions a first down in the red zone. On the following play, Rourke found an open Jevon Cottoy who worked his way into the end zone for the game’s first major.
Rourke’s receivers continued to find success through the middle later in the quarter, with Stanley Berryhill III making a catch and run for 27 yards. Facing second-and-two inside the red zone, Butler was handed the rock and got more than just a first down. He just about got through a tackle at the goal line to break the plane at the end of a 16-yard run to give the visitors a 14-3 advantage.
Going the other way, Arbuckle fended off pressure and threw a ball to Ungerer who just about kept a foot inbounds to make a nice sideline snag. Mital picked up consecutive first downs to take the Toronto offence into the red zone but once again that’s where the Argos were stopped. Hajrullahu’s second field goal of the game made it 14-6 in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
After a BC two-and-out, Arbuckle completed three straight passes for first downs, the first of which being a deep throw to Dejon Brissett good for 43 yards. A pass interference call against Patrice Rene which was upheld after a Buck Pierce challenge gave the Argos a fresh set of downs at BC’s six-yard line. Arbuckle saw an opening and ran it in himself for his second rushing score of the year and then Spencer Brown walked in untouched on the two-point conversion to tie things up at 14-14 midway through the second quarter.
Back on defence, Toronto’s Benjie Franklin got the game’s next score off of his third interception of the year. He creeped up on the unsuspecting Cottoy to get in-between the BC receiver and the football and then ran it back the other way for a 57-yard pick six.
A 61-yard return by Seven McGee helped the Lions get straight into scoring range on their next drive. Cottoy dodged a tackle and then walked the tightrope down the left sideline to score a touchdown on a quick three-play scoring drive. Sean Whyte‘s extra point made it a tie game once again at the first half’s three-minute warning.
Arbuckle led another impressive Argos drive on their final possession of the half. He and the offence went 82 yards across nine plays with Mital capping off a free-scoring first half with a 15-yard touchdown. Hajrullahu’s extra point made it 28-21 in favour of the home team at halftime.
The Lions began the second half with the football, manufacturing a scoring drive which took just over three minutes off the clock. Hatcher and Cottoy made consecutive catches for 20 yards to get into the red zone but a Butler rush and incomplete pass meant it would have to be a field goal. Whyte’s chip shot edged the Lions closer at 28-24.
The Argonauts came answering back and it started with Arbuckle airing it out to Brissett for a 57-yard play. Brown skirted left for a three-yard touchdown to cap off the four-play drive as the Boatmen went up by 11.
Sacks from Toronto’s Andrew Chatfield Jr. and BC’s Sione Teuhema resulted in the game’s first punts since early in the second quarter as both offences suffered two-and-outs midway through the third. It would be the Lions who got the scoring back underway. Rourke fired a couple of deep passes to Hatcher and McInnis with a roughing the passer penalty against Chatfield Jr. bringing the Lions right to the goal line. On third down, Butler leaped over the pile for his second score of the afternoon. The two-point try was unsuccessful leaving the Lions down 35-30.
The hosts answered back in short order as another big-time passing play by Arbuckle made it four touchdowns in five possessions for the Argos. Herslow got past Williams in man coverage to make a 40-yard touchdown reception and Hajrullahu’s extra point put the Argos up by a dozen heading into the fourth quarter.
A productive series from Rourke helped the Lions inch closer to their opponent. Rourke found Hatcher and Eberhardt for first-down completions and then ran for 47 yards himself to move into the red zone. From there the Lions would settle for a field goal to eat into the Argos’ lead.
On the first play of Toronto’s next drive, Arbuckle kept his foot on the gas with yet another long bomb. Again it was Herslow who got on the end of Arbuckle’s delivery, taking it 70 yards to the house to make it touchdowns on back-to-back plays. Hajrullahu’s extra point made it 49-33, giving Toronto their biggest lead of the day.
From there, the Lions would only be able to add a single and the Argonauts would tack on another field as they came out on top of the high-scoring affair by a score of 52-34.
Next up for the Toronto Argonauts will be their OK Tire Labour Day Classic matchup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Monday, September 1. The BC Lions get a bye in Week 13 and will return to action in the nation’s capital against the REDBLACKS on Friday, September 5.