Toronto Argonauts Struggle in Season Opening Loss
In their highly anticipated debut at BMO Field the Toronto Argonauts were handed an ugly loss by the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the season opener.
The Hamilton Tiger Cats made sure that the Toronto Argonauts were not going to enjoy their first regular season game at BMO Field as they pick up the 42-20 victory in the season opener.
The Argos did not get off to a strong start to the game allowing a touchdown, safety and a field goal in the first quarter, which gave the Tiger Cats the momentum for the majority of the game. The defence did their part to limit the damage in the first half but they could not contain Hamilton’s aggressiveness, especially late in the third and the fourth quarter.
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The Argos had a tough time finding their rhythm offensively, particularly in the first half as a result of turnovers and difficulty in the running game. That was due mostly to the suffocating style of defence that Hamilton plays. Argos QB Ricky Ray had a tough time in the first half going 11-of-17 for 123 yards and could not find the back of the end zone, settling for two field goals.
For Hamilton, quarterback Jeremiah Masoli finished the game with 318 yards on 27-of-37 with three touchdown passes, including a 30-yard score from former Argos receiver Chad Owens in the fourth quarter. He was announced the starter with quarterback Zach Collaros recovering from a knee injury and did not miss a beat, especially in the second half when the Argos started to gain momentum.
Argos receiver Vidal Hazelton sparked the Argos crowd with two TDs in the third quarter to cut the deficit to five points. One of the scores came after a fumble from kick returner Brandon Banks, but he made up for the mistake right after. With the Argos pressing, Masoli found Banks for a 19-yard TD pass, then in the following series Masoli capped a long drive with the TD to Owens. Masoli went 15-for-15 for 176 yards in the two drives after the Argos scored two unanswered TDs.
A scary incident occured in the fourth quarter when defensive back Jermaine Gabriel collided with teammate Matt Black while making a tackle. Gabriel was seen waving to the crowd while being put on the stretcher.
Milanovich said Jermaine Gabriel wanted to walk off of the field but protocol said he had to go in the cart. #argos #CFL
— Chris O'Leary (@olearychris) June 24, 2016
After the game coach Scott Milanovich spoke with reporters and on periscope about the Argos struggles on offence, especially the number of turnovers throughout the game.
“The turnovers obviously hurt us, we have to stay on the field on that third and one, I thought we could have changed the game slightly there,” said Milanovich.
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The team did not run the ball effectively but the Argos were fored to pass the ball more being down early making it tough to get consistent carries for Brandon Whitaker.
“They thrive on field position football and we knew that coming in,” said Milanovich when talking about the team being forced to play pinned deep and not having great starting field position.
Kevin Elliot left the game with a shoulder injury along with Marshall McFadden. Kenny Shaw led Argos receivers with 109 yards on seven catches, while Whitaker had two yards rushing on three carries and three catches for 26 yards. Ray finished with 282 yards, two TDs and one interception. Hamilton sacked Ray six times in the game and forced two fumbles.
Next: 3 Takeaways from Argos Season Opening Loss
While it may not have been the outcome that Toronto would have wanted, they had a crowd of 24,812 in attendance and a chance to redeem themselves in Week 2 when they travel to Saskatchewan in hopes of securing their first victory of the season.