The Toronto Argonauts (10-1) hosted the Montreal Alouettes (6-6) on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field for their second meeting of the season. Toronto led the season series 1-0 before this game. They met back in Week 6, where the Argonauts won a close game 35-27.
In this matchup, the two teams were ready to go like a boxing match. There was a lot of chirping between the two teams with one player from Montreal getting ejected. However, Toronto did whatever they wanted on the field and Montreal could not stop them.
In the first quarter, Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly completed a deep pass to Cam Phillips for a gain of 23 yards. Then, Kelly completed two more passes for 26 yards to Damonte Coxie and DaVaris Daniels to get to the Alouettes’ one-yard line. Toronto punched it in the endzone when Cameron Dukes scored the touchdown with a quarterback sneak. It was 7-0 Toronto with 8:44 left.
On the kickoff, Boris Bede kicked the ball for 80 yards to Chandler Worthy. Worthy returned it for 24 yards before Bennett Marion knocked the ball out and Jack Cassar recovered it on the Alouettes’ 24-yard line. Toronto running back A.J. Ouellette had two carries for 24 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown which made it 14-0 with 7:43 left of the first quarter.
Montreal kick returner Chandler Worthy returned the kickoff for 79 yards to give Montreal great field position on Toronto’s 24-yard line. On the second play for Montreal, quarterback Cody Fajardo completed a deep pass to Cole Spieker for a 19-yard touchdown before he got his bell rung by Tarvarus McFadden upon completing the catch.
Spieker was down for a bit before getting up and headed to the Montreal bench. He stayed in the game. It was now 14-7 Toronto with 6:22 left of the first quarter.
Later in the first quarter, Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo threw an incomplete pass. On that play, Montreal wide receiver Austin Mack punched Qwantez Stiggers which led to Mack being ejected from the game. Montreal went cold turkey for the rest of the first half.
For the rest of the first quarter, Toronto kicker Boris Bede kicked two field goals, one from 26 yards, and the other for 51 yards which extended the Argonauts lead to 20-7 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Montreal had backup quarterback Caleb Evans in to complete two passes for six yards before Cody Fajardo went back in at quarterback. No matter who was the quarterback, neither of them had much success against Toronto’s defense.
Later in the second quarter, Toronto kicker Boris Bede made his third field goal of the afternoon for 37 yards which made it 23-7 with 1:17 left. Then, Toronto’s defense made a big play when Montreal wide receiver Cole Spieker caught a pass from Cody Fajardo for 30 yards before Royce Metchie stripped him of the ball and it was recovered by Adarius Pickett.
Toronto kicker Boris Bede had a chance to add three more points on the board but missed a 48-yard field goal. Toronto led 23-7 at halftime.
Toronto had 192 yards on offense. Quarterback Chad Kelly completed 11 of 18 passes (61%) for 132 yards, and one carry for one yard. Running back A.J. Ouellette had eight carries for 52 yards and one touchdown, and wide receiver DaVaris Daniels had three catches for 31 yards. They were penalized four times for 38 yards.
Montreal had 148 yards on offense. Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 12 of 14 passes (85.7%) for 140 yards, and one touchdown. The running game was not effective with six carries for 11 yards, and wide receiver Cole Spieker had three catches for 51 yards and one touchdown. Montreal was penalized five times for 51 yards.
In the third quarter, Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo completed a 24-yard pass to Chandler Worthy before he was tackled on their 54-yard line. Five plays later, Fajardo threw a 24-yard pass to Regis Cibasu. After failing to get a first down, Montreal kicker David Cote kicked a 10-yard field goal which made it 23-10 with 9:31 left.
On the second play for Toronto, Chad Kelly completed a deep pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for 40 yards before he was tackled on the Alouettes’ 24-yard line. Four plays later, Kelly scored a five-yard touchdown. Toronto attempted a two-point conversion but did not get it. It was now 29-10 with 6:09 left of the third quarter.
After Montreal punted the ball back to Toronto, running back A.J. Ouellette had three carries for 24 yards. On the final play of the third quarter, Chad Kelly completed a short pass to Tommy Nield for eight yards with the Argonauts leading 29-10 with one more quarter to go.
In the fourth quarter, Toronto marched down the field before running back A.J. Ouellette rushed up the middle for a three-yard touchdown that made it 36-10 with 12:10 left. Late in the fourth quarter, Boris Bede kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 39-10 lead with 2:37 left in the game.
Montreal replaced Cody Fajardo with Caleb Evans for the final two minutes of the game. Toronto’s defense made one more play when Jamal Peters intercepted Caleb Evans’s pass intended for Cole Spieker which ended the game.
Toronto cruised to a 39-10 win over Montreal. They will win the season series with one more matchup to play. In addition, they are the first team to punch their ticket to the CFL playoffs.
There is not much you can say about Toronto other than they are a well-coached team. Ryan Dinwiddie prepares this team every week and they are looking like a Grey Cup championship team. A job well done by the Toronto organization and I won’t be surprised if the other CFL teams target Dinwiddie’s coaching staff for potential head coaching jobs.
Toronto finished the afternoon with 411 yards on offense. Quarterback Chad Kelly completed 21 of 28 passes (75%) for 278 yards, two carries for six yards, and one touchdown.
Running back A.J. Ouellette had 19 carries for 105 yards, and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Tommy Nield had six catches for 84 yards. Toronto’s defense had 36 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.
On the other side, Montreal has now lost three straight games. The coaching staff must do a better job getting these guys prepared because they got outcoached and outplayed in this game. Montreal was penalized nine times for 101 yards. Montreal will need to find a way to snap the losing streak because Hamilton is right on their tail for second place in the East Division.
Montreal had 305 yards on offense. Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 21 of 24 passes (88%) for 236 yards, one touchdown, and two carries for five yards.
Running back William Stanback had five carries for ten yards, and wide receiver Cole Spieker had four catches for 52 yards and one touchdown. Montreal’s defense had 48 tackles.
The two teams will meet again next Friday at 7 pm on CFL+. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
