The Toronto Argonauts opened the 2017 pre-season with a 24-20 win over the Montreal Alouettes at BMO Field on Thursday night.
The Argonauts defence was firing on all cylinders from the opening whistle, and put Montreal’s stable of quarterbacks in uncomfortable situations all night, resulting in three interceptions, two of which were returned for majors in the first half.
Toronto’s depth on offence, poise on defence and resiliency prevented the Alouettes from a comeback late in the fourth quarter.
WORTH NOTING:
DB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, who returns from a torn pectoral muscle in 2016, opened the game with an interception he returned 41 yards for a touchdown to give the Double Blue an early lead.
Ricky Ray opened the game as the Argos starter on Thursday night. In his lone series of play, he completed 3-of-3 passes for 26 yards on the Argos opening drive. In addition to Ray, QBs Drew Willy (8-12-58), Cody Fajardo (9-11-86-1TD) and Jeff Mathews (8-14-61-1INT) all saw action vs. the Alouettes.
2016 East Division All-Star Lirim Hajrullahu connected on two of his three field goal attempts on the night. His longest was from 29 yards.
First-year Argonauts defensive end Troy Davis wasted no time getting after the quarterback when he entered the game. The Central Florida product tallied two sacks in his preseason debut with Toronto while adding another two pressures.
DB Aaron Berry scored the Argonauts longest score of the night on an 80-yard interception on a Jacory Harris pass. The pick was Toronto’s second defensive touchdown of the night.
University of Alberta product Jimmy Ralph got his first taste of professional football on Thursday. The undrafted receiver led the Argos with 56 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.
RB James Wilder Jr. led the Boatmen’s ground game with five carries for 41 yards, an average of 8.2 yards per carry on the night.
