Argonauts winless no more after defeating Bombers 28-27 in hair-raising finish

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This article was published 01/08/2019 (2228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — The sad-sack Toronto Argonauts are winless no more.

The CFL’s worst team through their opening six games did an abrupt about face Thursday night, rallying from a 20-0 deficit midway through the second quarter to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-27 in a hair-raising finish at BMO Field.

The loss was the second straight for the Blue Bombers during a southern Ontario road trip where they dropped a 23-15 decision to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last Friday before squandering a big lead over the previously dismal Argos.

The loss wasted a herculean effort from all-star Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris. Harris rumbled for his first two rushing touchdowns of the season, toting the ball nine times for 107 yards in the first half en route to his biggest ground output of the season.

He finished the game with 152 yards on 15 carries and added 45 yards on six catches. But it was all for naught.

“We need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize that, just because we won our first five games that it’s a long season things can change quickly and we need to be better overall,” said Harris. “We need to be more disciplined in practice, we need to be come to games more focused. Whatever it is, each and every single guy needs to look at themselves in the mirror. Overall, we’re a good team, we know we’re a good team. We proved it.

“But the last two games have not showed that and that’s not taking any credit away from Hamilton or Toronto. We weren’t playing Blue Bombers-style football these last two weeks.”

Harris wasn’t perfect. With his club up 10-0 and driving for another score in the second quarter, he lost a fumble on the Argos’ eight-yard line.

Winnipeg fell to 5-2 but remains first in the West Division.

The hosts had driven to the Winnipeg 16-yard line and were poised to score the go-ahead touchdown with 2:19 remaining in the game when Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson stripped Argos quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson of the ball, recovering the pigskin on the Winnipeg 29-yard line.

The Bombers offence went two-and-out, however, and punted the ball back to the Argos. Bethel-Thompson then drove his offence 72 yards on eight plays, capping it with an 11-yard TD pass to S.J. Green with 10 ticks left on the clock.  

The Argos, bottom-feeders in the East, improved to 1-6.

Harris scored on runs of 56 and 13 yards in the opening half as the Blue Bombers took a 20-10 lead to the locker room. The scores were his fourth and fifth of the season but his first two rushing majors of 2019.

Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea expects an all-round improvement from his players.

“I’m not worried about the Ontario road trip, I’m worried about what the lessons are going to be from this game,” said O’Shea. “A one-point game, you make another play somewhere and the score would be different.

“It still wouldn’t absolve the sins of playing poorly. We didn’t play very good football and Toronto did, and they beat us. I said to our guys, ‘They earned it and we didn’t.’ We’ll stick the process of watching film and correcting mistakes.”

Later in the opening quarter, Winnipeg’s Shayne Gauthier blocked a Zack Medeiros punt to set the Blue Bombers up with a possession on the Argonauts 16-yard line. Winnipeg’s offence stalled, setting up a 32-yard field goal by Justin Medlock. Medlock also had a 51-yard field goal to open scoring.

Toronto’s Rodney Smith caught a 12-yard TD pass late in the second quarter and Jamal Campbell hooked up McLeod Bethel-Thompson on a one-yard TD pass to allow the hosts to pull into a 20-20 tie after three quarters.

Campbell’s major was preceded by a 78-yard punt return by Chris Rainey that set the Argos up on the Winnipeg seven-yard line.

Chris Matthews caught his first TD pass of the season, a seven-yard toss from quarterback Matt Nichols early in the fourth quarter, to give the Bombers a 27-20 lead.

Tyler Crapigna’s 45-yard field goal with 2:29 left in the second quarter were Toronto’s first points in more than seven quarters. Crapigna also hit from 20 yards out and added a crucial 46-yard punt single.

Bethel-Thompson snapped a 10-game losing streak as a starter while Argos head coach ended a stretch of 15 consecutive losses as a head coach (six losses in Toronto and nine in a previous stint at the helm of the Saskatchwan Roughriders.

“They’ve got nothing to lose,” said Harris of the Argos. “They’re trying to prove something. They’re playing for their jobs, they’re playing for a lot of things. I mean, it’s professional football. You’ve gotta play like that every game. I’m not saying we’re not playing that way but they wanted it more, obviously, and they got it. They took the game from us.” 

The Blue Bombers can expect to be drilled on the basics when they return to practice on Sunday.

“We can’t ride momentum or let that defeat us,” said O’Shea. “… We’ve gotta play to our level, make easy tackles, catch the ball, block. Just the fundamental stuff.”

 

NOTEWORTHY: Winnipeg defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat left the game in the first half and did not return. Bombers rookie defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo made his pro debut and was likely only going to play on special teams. The Jeffcoat injury changed that and Kongbo displayed his inexperience, getting flagged for a roughing-the-passer penalty and an illegal block on a kick return…Former Winnipeg defensive back Kevin Fogg was injured during the pre-game warmup and was pulled from the Argos’ starting lineup.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14