TORONTO — With so many players breaking new ground, it’s no surprise the Toronto Argonauts recorded their first victory at BMO Field.
Having failed to secure a win through two attempts this season in their new digs, the Argos were likely feeling a weight that went well beyond the heavy, humid air on the shores of Lake Ontario Monday night. But with a 30-17 triumph over the reeling Montreal Alouettes, the Double Blue planted their flag in a place that had previously only hosted celebrations from Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC.
Finally, BMO officially belongs to the Boatmen, too.
“We’ve waited so long to be in this stadium,” said Argos head coach Scott Milanovich. “To have a place we love and want to play in [and] people want to see us play in.”
For the most part, the announced crowd of 16,048 liked what they witnessed against the now 1-3 Alouettes. The notable exception came early in the fourth quarter when Toronto (3-2) quarterback Ricky Ray—who, earlier in the contest, threw his 78th touchdown pass as an Argo to eclipse Damon Allen for second on the all-time franchise list—was knocked out of the game after Montreal’s Vaughn Martin rolled into his left leg in what appeared to be a case of late contact. The extent of the knee injury was not immediately known, but Milanovich said the extremely early prognosis was a strained MCL that could possibly keep the signal-caller out of action for four-to-six weeks.
Ray, who was injured on a similar play in 2012, couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see after I get it checked out [on Tuesday].”
Prior to the injury, Ray recorded his first three-TD game of the season, connecting with Kenny Shaw in the second quarter, Devon Wylie right before halftime and Phil Bates early in the fourth, mere moments before the hit that knocked him out of the contest. The catches by Shaw and Wylie represented the first touchdown snags of their CFL careers. Additionally, third-string quarterback Cody Fajardo came in during a short-yardage situation in the second quarter and hit Anthony Coombs with the first TD toss of his CFL career. To make it happen, Fajardo rolled to his right, then had to scamper back the other way to elude Montreal defenders before finding Coombs in the corner of the end zone.
“Cody made a play,” said Milanovich.
He wasn’t he only one. Wylie—who was making his CFL debut after injuring his groin in training camp—laid out to grab his TD, while on the other side of the ball, defensive back T.J. Heath made a game-changing goal-line interception in the third quarter when his team was clinging to a precarious five-point advantage.
Wylie knows that kind of action is the formula for getting people in the building and making them want to come back.
“You gotta make plays,” he said, “and we’ve got a team making plays, getting turnovers, interceptions, touchdowns, big catches; the place gets loud and then that’s what attracts people to come. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on this team and it’s one of those things where, the more plays you make, the bigger the crowd, the better the energy.”
While Milanovich won a Grey Cup during his initial season with the Argos in 2012, something has still been lacking during his tenure. Now, with a couple more happy results at home, that could all change.
“Hopefully we can string a few together and make this a place that’s tough for teams to come in and play us,” he said. “We’ve never had a home-field advantage since I’ve been here.”
Creating one just got a lot easier now that the first step has been achieved.