Toronto Argonauts win at home in rematch with Stampeders
TORONTO — Last week it was the Calgary Stampeders who claimed victory over the Toronto Argonauts at home after a stunning fourth-quarter comeback. In Week 10, the Argos returned the favour with a 32-point second half to power to a bounce-back 39-25 win over the Stamps in the second half of their home-and-home series on Friday night.
Earning the start at quarterback, Nick Arbuckle was 18-26 for 181 yards, a touchdown throw, and an interception. Ka’Deem Carey led the charge on the ground against his former team with 89 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 rushes. Special teams star Janarion Grant picked up his 12th career return touchdown on an 86-yard play in the third quarter.
Jake Maier lit up the stat sheet despite the loss, passing for 373 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Reggie Begelton went for 104 receiving yards on eight catches as the Stamps remain winless on their travels in 2024.
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A rouge by the Stamps on their opening drive gave them an early, but slight advantage. The Arbuckle-led Argos went the other way to grab the game’s first touchdown. A drive which included a couple of quarterback sneaks for first down was capped off by a 22-yard touchdown strike over the top from Arbuckle to Makai Polk, making it 7-1 midway through the first period of play.
Maier came out firing on the ensuing drive, lifting a 38-yard pass to Begelton. A roughing the passer call against Priester tacked on 15 more yards. Inside the red zone, Cam Echols dropped the shoulder after a short completion to get Calgary their first touchdown and their lead back at 8-7.
The Stamps were an upright away from adding to their score, but Rene Paredes couldn’t beat the wind at BMO Field to deliver on his 35-yard field goal attempt after Calgary pieced together a 13-play, 59-yard drive.
Calgary were able to add to their points tally before halftime after Micah Awe tipped an Arbuckle pass into the path of Demerio Houston who took the interception. Peyton Logan broke into the end zone to get the points off of the turnover and give the away team a 15-7 lead at the break.
After seeing a stellar play on special teams brought back due to a penalty in the first half, Jenarion Grant made another big-time kick return to settle the Argos at Calgary’s 42-yard line to start the second half. The Argos would give up the football shortly after due to a fumble by Ka’Deem Carey. However, the ball didn’t stick with Calgary for too long either. Orimolade put Maier in his crosshairs and stripped Calgary’s quarterback, with Priester picking up the football. A few plays later, the Argos would cut into the deficit with a Lirim Hajrullahu field goal to make it 15-10.
More magic from Grant restored the Toronto lead after Calgary had to punt the ball away. Grant evaded all of the Stampeders in his path en route to an 86-yard return touchdown to make it 18-15 for the hosts following a successful two-point conversion.
Another field goal by Hajrullahu extended the scoreline to 21-15 but the Stamps mounted a quick touchdown drive in response, with Begelton doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Calgary’s receiver caught a pass from Maier and got through several attempted tacklers on a 41-yard play to bring his offence onto the two-yard line. On first-and-goal, Tommy Stevens jumped over the line of scrimmage to get the touchdown. A Paredes extra point made it 22-21 Calgary early in the fourth quarter.
Just when it looked like the Stamps were gaining momentum late in the game, the Argonauts defence shut down their next drive. DaShaun Amos jumped the route to intercept Maier, running the ball to the house for a pick-six. Carey’s rush into the end zone gave the Argos an additional two as they jumped back into a 29-22 lead with 9:47 to go.
The Argonauts defence came up big their next time on the field as well. Ralph Holley took down Stevens for a loss of six as he tried to roll to the outside on a third-and-short play. Hajrullahu’s field goal a few plays later made it a two-possession game at 32-22 with 5:31 left on the clock.
A couple of big gains from Jalen Philpot and Logan kickstarted Calgary’s next drive and a Paredes field goal from 33 yards was good to narrow the scoreline to 32-25 at the three-minute warning. Toronto managed to run down the clock on their penultimate offensive possession which was finished off by a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Carey. His 10-yard rush into the end zone combined with Hajrullahu’s extra point made it 39-25 Argos as they got a bounce-back win at home.
The Stampeders get another East Division opponent in Week 11 when they welcome the Ottawa REDBLACKS to McMahon Stadium on Thursday, August 15. The Argonauts get their second bye next week and will return to action on Thursday, August 22 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home.
