MONTREAL — The Toronto Argonauts are headed to the 111th Grey Cup.
The Argos endured their most emotionally trying game of the season to outlast the Montreal Alouettes, downing them 30-28 to claim the Eastern Final victory in front of a sold out crowd at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
Chad Kelly made 11-22 passes for 182 yards, a touchdown and had a pair of interceptions, before suffering a leg injury late in the third quarter of play that required him to be stretchered off of the field. Nick Arbuckle made 5-8 passes for 70 yards in relief of the starter.
Damonte Coxie broke the 100-yard receiving mark for the Argos and had a touchdown in his return to action from a knee injury. Benjie Franklin had a pair of interceptions in the Argos’ win to lead a ferocious defensive attack.
Cody Fajardo made 27-42 passes for 330 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Montreal turned the ball over six times in the loss, which spoils their bid to repeat as back-to-back Grey Cup champions.
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For the second year in a row in the Eastern Final, Kelly threw an interception on his first drive. Pressed by the Als’ defence, Kelly looked deep on second-and-10, but Najee Murray was able to pull in Kelly’s errant pass at the Als’ 42-yard line. He returned the ball to Toronto’s 25-yard line, but fumbled it away on contact, with Makai Polk forcing it loose and Ka’Deem Carey falling on the loose ball to undo the offensive misstep. The drive ended three plays later, with John Haggerty punting it away.
The Argos’ defence made its presence felt immediately after. Fajardo and the Als had an impressive drive coming together, but Walter Fletcher lost the ball on a rush at the Argos’ 26-yard line, with Mark Milton forcing it out and DaShaun Amos recovering, bringing Kelly and the offence back onto the field for Toronto. Kelly looked deep once again for David Ungerer III, but the Als’ defence knocked the ball away on a would-be touchdown pass.
The game quickly took the tone of a defensive battle on the ensuing possession. In deep in the Als’ end zone, Fajardo’s pass bounced out of the target’s hands and into the waiting arms of Argos’ defensive back Benjie Franklin, who raced 23 yards for the game-opening score. Lirim Hajrullahu‘s convert went through at 8:12 of the first quarter to give the Argos a 7-0 lead.
Fajardo and the Als were undeterred and put together a five-play drive that resulted in a 38-yard field goal from Jose Maltos, making it a 7-3 game at 10:38.
The Argos took that lead into the second quarter before Maltos stepped in again, hitting his second field goal of the day, this one from 36 yards out, making it a one-point game, 7-6 at 1:34 of the second quarter.
The Als got a breakthrough play from running back Sean Thomas Erlington, who found a hole in the Argos’ defence and ran it 38 yards to the Argos’ 25-yard line. Fajardo capped the five-play drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kaion Julien-Grant, who celebrated the score with elated fans at the edge of the end zone at 5:57. Maltos’ convert gave the Als their first lead of the day, at 13-7.
Darnell Sankey brought the crowd back to its feet quickly after, making an incredible diving interception of a Kelly pass to give the Als’ the ball at the Argos’ 52-yard line. While they didn’t get to the end zone off of that opportunity, Maltos made good on a 47-yard field goal at 9:03 to give the Als a 16-7 lead.
With the half winding down and the Als having a semblance of control in the game, Janarion Grant changed everything. The East nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player showed why he’s worthy of the award with a 71-yard punt return touchdown, scooping up the ball after it took a strange bounce off the turf and catching the Als’ coverage unit by surprise. Hajrullahu’s convert at 13:32 cut Montreal’s lead to two, at 16-14.
With Fajardo and the Als’ offence looking to make a statement to close out the half, the Argos’ defence made one instead. Fajardo found Cole Spieker for a 10-yard gain, but the receiver had the ball pried away from him by Franklin, with McManis recovering at his team’s 34-yard line.
Kelly used the remaining time on the clock to put together his first touchdown drive of the day. He needed just five plays to get to the end zone and did it leaning on Damonte Coxie, who had returned from a knee injury that kept him out of the Eastern Semi-Final last week. Coxie made consecutive highlight reel catches, including a one-hander in the tight corner of the Als’ end zone. Hajrullahu’s convert went through with zeroes on the clock, putting the Argos up 21-16 at halftime.
The Argos added to their lead in the third quarter with a long, 11-play, 88-yard drive that ate up 4:56. They had to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Hajrullahu, though, which pushed their lead to eight points, up 24-16 at 9:10.
Montreal responded with a gutsy drive that featured an impossible-looking Fajardo completion to Thomas Erlington, but the Argos’ defence squashed any hope of points scored when Fajardo fumbled after being sacked by Jake Ceresna. Wynton McManis recovered the loose ball — Montreal’s fifth turnover of the day — at Toronto’s 21-yard line.
The Argos’ momentum came to a halt when Kelly went down with his injury. After being hit by Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund and Geoffrey Cantin Arku, Kelly stood up and was unable to put any pressure on his right leg. He was stretchered off of the field and taken to Montreal General Hospital for further examination. Arbuckle stepped in for Kelly, after the team saw him off of the field as a group.
Meanwhile, Fajardo and the Als found their way back into the game with a seven-play, 70-yard drive that was capped with a 15-yard TD pass to Austin Mack. The Als were unable to score on a two-point convert and trailed by five, 27-22, 2:44 into the fourth quarter.
With Arbuckle getting warm as he took each snap in the game, he led the Argos on an eight-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal from Hajrullahu, putting the Argos up 30-22 at 11:07.
The Als didn’t let up. Fajardo found Walter Fletcher for a 22-yard touchdown pass with just under two minutes to play, getting them within two points, down 30-28. That’s where the score stayed, as Franklin came up with his third big defensive play of the game, intercepting Fajardo’s two-point convert attempt.
With a long field in front of the Argos, Arbuckle dealt with two second-and-long situations, before a pass interference call moved the ball to the Als’ 22-yard line. The Argos drained the clock inside the final minute to preserve the win.
