The Toronto Argonauts are suddenly the hottest football team in Canada.
With a come-from-behind victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday afternoon, the Argos have rattled off three consecutive wins. After starting the season with only two wins in their first ten games, Toronto is now 5-8 on the year.
The Elks were ahead 14-3 at halftime and went into the fourth quarter with a 24-14 lead, but the Argos rallied with a 30-yard touchdown throw from Nick Arbuckle along with a defensive fumble return major to set up a walk-off field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu.
Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo had a strong game, throwing 229 yards on 25-for-28 with two touchdown passes. The Argos were mostly able to keep Edmonton’s running game quiet, with Justin Rankin and Javon Leake rushing for 27 and 17 yards, respectively.
Arbuckle threw four interceptions, going 21-for-31 with two touchdowns and 261 yards. Toronto’s starter was injured late in the game, and backup Jarret Doege helped get the Argos into field goal territory for their game-winning play.
What They Said
“I felt like after some of those interceptions, some of those takeaways (touchdowns) would have been better than (field goals),” Elks coach Mark Kilam said in a post-game interview on 880 CHED. “They just kept hanging around. It was one of those games where you felt like it was going to come down to the end; they made one more play than we did at the end.”
“This one’s gonna hurt, but it’s not the end of the season by any means,” Fajardo said. “We still have clawed ourselves back into a position, but we’re going against the No. 1 team in the East and No. 1 team in the West in back-to-back games, so it’s not getting any easier for us, and when you feel like you’ve fumbled a game away like that, it just really puts you behind the eight-ball. This team has worked with some tough feelings and on some tough losses, I have no doubt that we’re gonna bounce back, just the next 24 hours are gonna suck, I’ll tell you that straight up, and we’re going to have to focus on getting better, coming out East another time, against a really good football team, but this one’s going to hurt and we feel like that one just slipped away.”
“It’s just finish,” Edmonton defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo said. “We were winning that game all game long, so it’s just about when the fourth quarter comes, making those key essential plays: eliminating penalties and eliminating little mistakes that we made down the stretch.”
Standings Update
The Elks are now in last place in the West Division with a 5-8 record. With their win over the Ottawa Redblacks, the Lions have pulled into a tie with the Blue Bombers for the third Western playoff spot at 6-7.
The Roughriders lost on the weekend to the Alouettes, but still clinched a playoff spot because of Edmonton’s loss. Saskatchewan leads the West with a 10-3 record, while the Calgary Stampeders are right behind them at 8-4.
The Elks are no closer to the cross-over spot in the East Division after how things went down over the weekend. Edmonton is tied with Toronto at 5-8, while Montreal’ is tied at 6-7 ‘s 6-7 record matches BC and Winnipeg.
Next Week
It’ll be another road game for Edmonton in Week 16 as the Elks head to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats on Saturday at 5:00 PM MT.
