TORONTO — The Toronto Argonauts only needed the one touchdown to defeat the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday night to close out Week 17. Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu set a franchise single-game record with eight field goal makes as the Argos came out on top in a back-and-forth affair with the Als at BMO Field.
Still trying to punch their ticket to the playoffs, the Argos win pushes them four points clear of the chasing Hamilton Tiger-Cats with three games to go. Montreal meanwhile locked up the East Division’s top seed earlier in the day after the Ottawa REDBLACKS loss but saw their undefeated run on the road brought to an end after a year of impressive results on their travels.
Toronto shared the love in the ground game, with Ka’Deem Carey going for 90 yards and a touchdown while Deonta McMahon got a score of his own on top of his 67 rushing yards. The Argos had almost double the amount of yards on offence as their visitors and won the possession battle by over ten minutes.
Toronto’s Chad Kelly finished 19-30 for 287 yards, a passing touchdown, and an interception. Makai Polk led the way for the receivers, ending his day with 103 yards on five catches.
Cody Fajardo went 20-29 with 225 passing yards and two scores through the air, throwing a late interception as he tried to find a score with the time winding down. Cole Spieker put up 99 receiving yards and a touchdown and James Letcher Jr. took a punt to the house for a 100-yard score in the second quarter.
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The Argos opted to establish the run game on the game’s first drive. Carey and McMahon pushed through for double-digit gains on the ground, eventually leading to a 32-yard Hajrullahu field goal as Toronto opened the scoring early.
The Alouettes did a better job of keeping their opponent at bay with their second go on defence. Toronto’s second drive of the evening was cut short after Kelly overthrew a ball for David Ungerer III, instead sending it into the waiting arms of Dionte Ruffin. Montreal quickly cashed in through a Walter Fletcher touchdown with the running back catching a pass from Fajardo and fighting past a couple of defenders to give Montreal a 7-3 advantage.
Starting with good field position on their next drive, the Argos were able to put up another field goal. A 22-yard reception from Davaris Daniels put the home team into first-and-goal territory but the Montreal defence stood their ground, limiting Toronto to three more points.
Toronto’s Polk made the first big play of the game with a 77-yard catch-and-run over the middle at the end of the first quarter. The Argos finished the drive with another Hajrullahu field goal to retake the lead at 9-7.
The Argos shortly evened up the turnover battle early in the second quarter. Coming into the game for a quarterback sneak on second-and-one, Dominique Davis couldn’t control the football on the snap, instead seeing Benjie Franklin hop on it. Again, the Als’ defence was able to stop the hosts on the doorstep as Hajrullahu kicked Toronto into a 12-7 advantage.
The hosts made it four straight scoring drives late in the second quarter, this time finding their first touchdown of the ballgame. A sweeping run from McMahon gave the Argos a 35-yard gain, plus 15 more because of a facemask penalty against the Als’ defence. A few plays later, the Boatmen reversed their fortune in the end zone as Carey punched in a five-yard rushing touchdown to make it 19-7.
Montreal’s offence got back on track before halftime courtesy of a couple of big catches by Spieker. Fajardo found his receiver for a 39-yard gain before throwing a touchdown strike his way on the next play for 35 yards.
Before the interval, Montreal’s special teams unit had its moment to shine to put the Als back on top. Letcher found some room down the right sideline on a punt return to zoom for a 100-yard touchdown. Hajrullau was able to salvage three points through a 49-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to leave the score tied at 22-22.
The Alouettes retook a narrow lead on their first drive of the second half after Maltos’ missed field goal resulted in a single. That slender advantage would be shortlived, however, with the Argos storming downfield on the ensuing drive. McMahon geared to his right and into the end zone for a six-yard score to put Toronto up 28-23 as Kelly failed to capitalize on the two-point conversion. Hajrullahu’s field goal early in the fourth quarter would be the game’s next score after Montreal and Toronto went back and forth for five scoreless drives.
Down by eight and running out of time, Montreal produced a vital scoring drive midway through the final quarter. Fajardo and Reggie White Jr. combined for a 34-yard play over the middle to get the Als just outside of the end zone. On third and goal, Davis forced his way to the touchdown and then Tyler Snead caught Fajardo’s pass on the two-point conversion to tie things up at 31-31.
Toronto’s next drive shaved three minutes off the clock and resulted in another Hajrullahu make, this time from 27 yards. Montreal received the ball with 2:10 remaining and plenty of time to find a score to either even up the score or go ahead but Fajardo couldn’t find one of his pass catchers on third down, resulting in a turnover. Hajrullahu then delivered his eighth field goal of the evening to put the Als up by six, handing the ball back to Montreal with 42 seconds remaining.
Needing to find a touchdown, Montreal’s offence came up short once again. Fajardo’s deep look to White was picked off by Tyshon Blackburn and Toronto would hold on for the 37-31 victory.
The Alouettes and Argonauts both get their final bye in Week 18 before returning to action in Week 19 for Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator. The Argonauts travel to face the flying Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday, October 11, while the Alouettes will host the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Monday, October 14.