CFL.ca Staff
The REDBLACKS fought hard in the CFL’s Battle of Ontario, but fell to the Toronto Argonauts 35-26 at TD Place on Saturday night.
The East Division is starting to look more like the Wild West as teams continue to shoot it out for a playoff spot. The Argos’ win creates a logjam in the standings, tying them for second in the East with the REDBLACKS and placing them both just one win back of the division leading Hamilton Ti-Cats.
The loss ends Ottawa’s longest winning streak at three games and also breaks Toronto’s three game losing streak. The REDBLACKS last defeat was Week 9 against the Argos.
The first quarter saw REDBLACKS kicker Chris Milo notch a 39-yard field goal with just over three minutes left. But Ottawa was not finished there as Damaso Munoz intercepted the ball and returned it 40 yards for his first career pick-six to cut the Argos’ lead to 14-10 after one quarter.
The REDBLACKS endured a tough first half, heading into the locker room down 24-10. They came out strong in the third quarter though, looking to avenge the their most recent loss.
They gambled on a third and inches midway through the third quarter and it lead to the offence’s most productive drive of the game. Burris found Ernest Jackson for an 18-yard pass to move Ottawa deep into Toronto territory. A facemask call on the Argos placed Ottawa in the redzone, and Burris found Greg Ellingson on the next play for the offence’s first touchdown of the game.
The Ottawa defence continued to give their team a chance for a comeback as Abdul Kanneh made his third interception of the season to put the ball back in the hands of the Ottawa offence. Chris Milo made a 37-yard field goal to trail the Argonauts 24-20 entering the fourth quarter, setting up a thrilling finale in the battle of Ontario.
The relentless REDBLACKS continued to fight back in the fourth quarter, responding with their second offensive touchdown of their own on. Burris first connectied with Brad Sinopoli for a big 33-yard gain, and then found Chris Williams just two plays later, this time for 36 yards. Ellingson scored his second touchdown of the game to finish off the drive and a missed extra point would see the REDBLACKS trail 32-26 with 5:39 left in the game.
The riveting back and fourth action continued, as the Argos returned the ball 41 yards on the kickoff to set up a long 50-yard field goal by Palardy and extend Argos’ lead to 35-26.
The REDBLACKS comeback plans were dashed when Henry Burris was picked off by Argos’ Greg Jones with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
