CFL Saturday: Lions, Argos Pull Off Clutch Wins

BC quarterback Vernon Adams passed for 393 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, guiding the Lions to a 27-3 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes Saturday at BC Place. 

“It’s been tough times, just sitting back and watching and just how everything unfolded throughout the season,” said Adams, who added 39 rushing yards with another TD. 

“But I’m just glad I got an opportunity tonight, and my playmakers helped me look better than what I am, my O-line did a fantastic job. … So, I’m just happy we got a good win tonight versus a good team. And we can get back to work next week and go into the playoffs feeling good.”

Cody Fajardo connected on 7 of 9 passes for 67 yards for the Alouettes (12-4-1) before he was replaced with Davis Alexander at halftime.

Montreal continued to struggle to break through B.C.’s defence with the backup QB, and Alexander ended the night with only 67 passing yards. 

The Lions got a pair of field goals from Sean Whyte, including a 33-yard strike, and Jose Maltos booted a 14-yard kick through the uprights for the Alouettes.

“I think this game right here, we got kicked in the teeth, and for us, it’s a wake-up call,” Fajardo said. “Sometimes it’s a good thing to get your butt kicked, especially right before the playoffs. 

“Now you understand that you can’t just rest on your laurels. You got to go out there and you got to grind and you got to make it every single day count in order to win football games.”

NOTES

B.C. lost three players in the first half with running back William Stanback (elbow/shoulder), cornerback Garry Peters (stinger) and linebacker Ace Eley (lower back) all leaving the game with injuries. … The Lions swept the season series between the two sides. B.C. also took a 37-23 victory in Montreal on Sept. 6. … McInnis collected 106 passing yards and hit 1,469 for the season. The wide receiver from Pierrefonds, Que., is the first Canadian to pass the 1,400-yards mark since Dave Sapunjis hit 1,655 in 1995.

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their regular-season finale next Saturday.

Lions: Have a bye week and won’t play again until the West Division semifinal on Nov. 2. 

TORONTO – Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts ensured there will be one more home game in their season.

Kelly threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as Toronto held on for a wild 38-31 home win over Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. The Argos (10-7) clinched second in the East Division with their third straight victory and will face the Redblacks (8-8-1) in the opening round of the CFL playoffs Nov. 2 at BMO Field.

Ottawa suffered a fifth straight loss but created plenty of angst for both the Argos and their season-high gathering of 20,487. The Redblacks outscored Toronto 25-0 in the fourth quarter to turn a seemingly one-sided game into a nail-biter that came down to the final play.

“We’ve got to finish, we’ve got to finish a lot better,” said Kelly. “It’s part of the game where you play a full 60 minutes.

“They’re a professional football team, they’re not going to give up and we’ve got to be better.”

Kelly finished 31-of-43 passing for 331 yards. He also ran 10 times for 25 yards before giving way to Cameron Dukes late in the fourth.

Ottawa’s Dru Brown completed 31-of-43 passes for 400 yards with four TDs and an interception. He began the Redblacks’ comeback by hitting Bralon Addison on a 32-yard scoring strike at 2:30 of the fourth to cut Toronto’s lead to 38-12 as the two-point convert was unsuccessful.

UP NEXT

Argonauts: Visit the Edmonton Elks (6-11) on Friday.

Redblacks: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-10) on Friday.

(Canadian Press)