The Toronto Argonauts needed contributions from all three phases to pull out a victory in Chad Kelly’s much-anticipated return to play.
Just as it looked like the Argonauts were going to come out on the losing end, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu’s walk-off rouge would be just enough to allow Toronto to steal a 20-19 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of a season-best 19,327 at BMO Field on Thursday night.
The Argos improved to 6-4, while the West-leading Roughriders are 5-5-1 as their winless streak reached five games.
Taking the field for the first time since his return from a suspension that had him miss two pre-season games and nine regular-season games for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy, Kelly was greeted by a small amount of cheers from the crowd.
There were certainly moments when the league’s reigning most outstanding player showed rust in his game, which was to be expected for a quarterback who was playing for the first time since since last November in the East Final.
Perhaps the best example of rust was his chance to throw for a wide-open touchdown on a flea-flicker attempt. The clever play design would go to waste after a bad throw from Kelly forced Argos receiver Makai Polk to slow down just enough for the Roughriders’ defenders to catch up and force the incompletion.
It was clear from the start that the Roughriders’ game plan was to limit the Argos’ ability to run the football, forcing Kelly to throw the ball in more second-and-long situations.
Kelly and the Argos struggled to find their rhythm early on in the game. Five straight drives ended in a punt, and Saskatchewan built up a 13-0 lead.
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It would be up to Toronto’s defence to try to keep the score close or provide a spark with a turnover to provide the offence a chance to put points on the board.
Argonauts defensive back DeShaun Amos took advantage of a mistake by Harris to secure his fourth interception of the season. This led to a quarterback sneak by backup Cameron Dukes, finally getting the Argonauts’ offence in the end zone, cutting the deficit to 13-7.
Kelly eventually found some comfort in the passing game late in the second quarter, finding Polk for a 29-yard reception along the sidelines. Saskatchewan’s defence would hold up on the goal line as Dukes was stuffed on third down after a Ka’Deem Carey rushing touchdown was taken back by a review from the command centre.
There was no shortage of excitement in the final minute of the first half as Harris threw another errant pass that would get picked off by defensive back Benji Franklin, putting Toronto in a position to take the lead.
The command centre would once again get involved after it appeared receiver Damonte Coxie made a tough catch for a touchdown in the end zone, but it was ruled incomplete as Coxie did not secure the ball as he hit the turf. It was the second touchdown the officials in the league office called back.
For most of the game, the Roughriders kept star returner Janarion Grant. However, with the Argos trailing 16-13 early in the fourth quarter, Grant took a punt 48 yards into Saskatchewan territory with a facemask penalty, adding another 15 yards to the end of the play.
Kelly then found receiver DaVaris Daniels for a 26-yard completion to the goal line. However, after two failed attempts to sneak the ball into the end zone, Toronto turned the ball over on downs for the third time in the game.
Fortunately for Kelly and the offence, the defence was able to force a punt by the Roughriders out of the end zone, which set them up past midfield with 8:31 to go in the game. Toronto put up a field to cut the lead to three, which Saskatchewan would respond with three points of its own to restore their lead.
Trailing 19-16 in the final two minutes of the game, Kelly and the Argos drove down the field to set up a 50-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu.
On the ensuing drive, Roughriders coach Corey Mace called a timeout just before a play in which the team got a first down. The Argos would force a three-and-out and another punt by Saskatchewan out of its end zone.
This would eventually set up the game-winning rouge by Hajrullahu, who missed the 40-yard field goal, but it went wide left and out of the end zone for the deciding point.
There were some questions as to how effective Kelly could be with just two full days of practice under his belt, considering how Nathan Rourke’s first start with the B.C. Lions went the week before.
Kelly was 24-of-39 passing for 322 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
With punter John Haggerty suffering an injury in warmups, Hajrullahu had to handle all the kicking duties for Toronto.
