Argos hold off charging Stamps

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- Noel Prefontaine kicked a field goal with 11 seconds left to play as the Toronto Argonauts held off the Calgary Stampeders for a 31-29 victory Friday night at Rogers Centre.

Toronto (4-11) looked to be comfortably in front with a 28-9 lead at the half, but went scoreless in the second half until the final play of the game.

Stamps backup quarterback Drew Tate came in for Henry Burris in the second quarter and helped guide Calgary (8-7) back into the game and even had his team in position to pick up the win.

Tate went 19-for-28 with 263 passing yards and two touchdowns. Burris had only thrown six completions for 64 yards and was pulled after his second interception of the night that Byron Parker returned for a touchdown.

After a Rene Paredes field goal for Calgary, Toronto recovered a Jamarcus Coker fumble to get great field position midway through the first quarter.

Two plays later, quarterback Steven Jyles handed the ball to Cory Boyd who found a hole on the right side from 13 yards out and got his fifth rushing touchdown of the season.

Toronto's 21-point outburst in the second quarter started with backup quarterback B.J. Hall coming in for a three-yard TD run.

After Calgary's third field goal of the half, Toronto marched right back down the field on a drive that was completed on a 15-yard TD pass by Jyles to Brandon Rideau with seconds remaining in the half.

Tate got his team off to a quick start to the second half. Calgary scored its first touchdown on six plays and 76 yards that was completed when Tate passed to Nik Lewis from 11 yards out.

Calgary got to within two on a drive it started at the end of the third quarter. Tate guided his team 90 yards on nine plays and capped it with a high 22-yard pass to Johnny Forzani.

After Calgary had taken a 29-28 lead on a 24-yard Paredes field goal, Jyles guided the team on an 11-play, 75-yard drive in just one minute 26 seconds that Prefontaine capped with the final kick of the game.

The game was marred by an ugly incident in the third quarter when rookie offensive lineman J'Michael Deane was carted off the field with a broken leg.

Halftime featured the annual Wendy's Kick for a Million competition. Calgary's Greg Wilson missed kicks from the 20, 30, 40 and 50-yard lines but was still awarded $31,000 for having his kick from the 50-yard line go for 31 yards.