The Toronto Argonauts have had their share of adversity this season. Nothing has been given to them by any means. The Argos have had many battles on and off the field: injuries to key contributors, a new practice facility mid-season, and a nasty stretch of games on the road from August 17th to October 4th. Any one of those might sink other teams, but the double blue took them as challenges, never waving the white flag.
As the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the light. That light came for the Argos in October, four home games in a row with a shot at first place on the line. The Boatmen went 3-1 in their home stand, winning the three victories by a combined 4 points, proving they can stay close and pull one out when needed.
Even in their one loss during the home stand, to Montreal, the Argos were never out of it despite a frustrated offensive plan. Once again they had a chance to pull one out in the dying seconds of the game.
Last night was a game that would not disappoint. The Argo D was pumped up from the start of the game, forcing a safety on Hamilton’s opening drive, and when they needed them the most, the Toronto defence came up big again with pressure to Zach Collaros. As Milanovich put it, “they didn’t have far to go to get into field goal range.”
He also touched on the turnovers (Toronto had 4), saying “you can’t win many games when you have four turnovers, but I didn’t expect to win against Edmonton with 20 penalties so you never know.”
As for total team effort. Milanovich said, “you can’t say enough about the character of those players. They’re excited and we have a chance. Really, that’s all you can ask for.” He also added, “I feel like I say this every week, but we have some things we really need to work on and clean up”.
Towards the end of the game, the Argos were faced with a third and one situation on the Hamilton goal line. They elected to go for the touchdown. Hamilton was equal to the task and stopped the running back Steve Slaton for a loss. But the Ticats’ celebration after the play turned quickly to worry, as the refs called them for offside. The Boatmen lined up again and punched it into the end zone. Questioned about the move in the post-game press conference, Milanovich said, “I felt like we just needed the touchdown. Third and one on the goal line, we needed the touchdown.”
The Argos are proving to be a team that no one wants to play. They make mistakes, but will also battle through the gaffes and focus on finishing strong. As Milanovich pointed out, “What kind of a record we could have if we could protect the ball and limit penalties?”
Next week Toronto will travel to Montreal to take on an Alouettes squad that has looked very good lately and has surged into first place. A win in Montreal would give the Argos the tiebreaker against the Als and put them in a tie for first place in the East.
If Toronto plays to their potential, the rest of the league may not know what hit them. It’s not commonplace to allow a 109-yard touchdown drive and give up four turnovers and still take the win. The double blue, however, view it as a challenge to come back and grind one out, not a death sentence as they have seen it all season long.
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