OTTAWA - The Toronto Argonauts had already punched their ticket to the East Division Final but were determined to finish the CFL regular season on a high.
They did just that beating the Ottawa Redblacks 27-22 to win its franchise-record 16th game Saturday night at TD Place.
Adding to their impressive 16-2 season record was the fact they finished the season with a perfect divisional record of 10-0, a CFL first.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty impressive, right?鈥 said Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long season to go through all the ups and downs and different battles and I鈥檓 just so proud of that room.鈥
The Redblacks (4-14) are at the opposite end of the spectrum, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Toronto has more wins this season than the Redblacks 14 over the past four seasons.
Ottawa didn鈥檛 beat a division rival once this season.
鈥淚 felt this game was a microcosm of our whole season,鈥 said Ottawa head coach Bob Dyce. 鈥淪howed the fight that the team had consistently throughout the year, but at the same time some of the challenges we faced showed as well.
"We鈥檙e tired of being the team that tries hard or is close, right. We have to execute and make the plays that we need to make at all times and we just didn鈥檛 find ways to do that tonight and through the season.鈥
The Argonauts will have next week off as they watch to see who wins the East semifinal between Hamilton and Montreal.
鈥淭he regular season is over now and now it鈥檚 time to play big-boy football in the playoffs,鈥 said Dinwiddie. 鈥淵ou throw all the records out the window and now we鈥檝e got to find a way to win the next game.鈥
The Argonauts sat a number of their starters, including QB Chad Kelly, but Toronto鈥檚 depth shone through.
Cameron Dukes finished the game 22-of-34 passing for 317 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Ottawa鈥檚 Dustin Crum was 22-of-35 for 261 yards with two TD鈥檚 and two interceptions.
The one highlight for the Redblacks was Devonte Williams reaching 1,003 yards for his first-ever 1,000-yard season.
Williams will be looking for a new contract next season and this is a nice stat to point to. Williams almost fell short of the milestone, but with 41 seconds remaining had a seven-yard gain to hit the mark.
鈥淚t meant a lot to me and to the guys around me as well,鈥 said Williams after the game, holding his nine-month-old son. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a collective effort and we all appreciate it.鈥
Toronto took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back, but the Redblacks did fight to the end.
Ottawa outscored the Argonauts 16-13 in the second half, but an eight-point deficit at the half was the difference.
鈥淥bviously they鈥檙e a good team and when you make as many mistakes as we did and didn鈥檛 execute well enough you鈥檙e not going to be able to come out on the right side of it very often,鈥 said Crum.
鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to start faster as an offence. Defence gave us some opportunities early that we didn鈥檛 capitalize on.鈥
Ottawa鈥檚 Michael Domagala scored his third field goal, from 46 yards out, midway through the third to bring Ottawa within five, but a late two-yard TD by Toronto鈥檚 Deonta McMahon made it 21-9.
Boris Bede added a 37-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to give Toronto a 24-9 lead sending many of the Ottawa faithful for the gates.
Crum picked up his first TD of the game connecting with Justin Hardy for a 30-yard pass with 6:21 remaining, but any hope of a comeback was dashed by Bede鈥檚 38-yard field goal to put the Argos up 27-16.
Ottawa made it look closer than it was with Keaton Bruggeling scoring his first CFL TD by connecting with Crum for a 16-yard pass.
鈥淚t was so surreal,鈥 admitted Bruggeling. 鈥淎ll year working hard, all of last year working so hard thinking about every touchdown celebration in the whole wide world. It鈥檚 just an amazing feeling.鈥
The difference in this one was the Argos jumping to a 14-0 lead on a pair of first quarter TDs.
鈥淲e talked about it in the locker room, the importance of starting out fast,鈥 said Dukes. 鈥淲e mentioned if we didn鈥檛 start fast, we鈥檇 find a way in the end. We trust in the guys around us and it鈥檚 a great team that we鈥檝e got.鈥
Ottawa鈥檚 Alonzo Addae picked off Dukes early in the first quarter but on the next play the Argos came right back with Mason Pierce picking off Crum to run back a 35-yard TD.
With two minutes left in the quarter Dukes connected with Dejon Brissett, who was left all alone, for a 61-yard TD pass.
Ottawa managed to get down to Toronto鈥檚 10-yard line, but settled for a 24-yard field goal early in the second quarter to get on the board. Domagala added a 39-yard field goal at the end of the half to get the Redblacks within eight.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Oct. 28, 2023.
