TORONTO — The Ottawa Redblacks felt it was only a matter of time before they removed the zero from the left side of the CFL standings column.
“Well, it certainly breaks that ‘okay, you haven’t won a game yet, right?'” Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice said after his club’s 23-13 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on Sunday.
“We’re happy to win and survive 24 hours and enjoy it.”
Ottawa receiver Jaylon Acklin had a touchdown and led his team with 144 receiving yards. Caleb Evans, who took over the starting quarterback duties after Jeremiah Masoli went out earlier in the season with a leg injury, completed 24 of 29 pass attempts, threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns.
The Redblacks improved to one win and six losses and find themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot in the CFL’s weak East Division.
“We feel like a monkey off our back because we were so close. I think five of those games came down to the last few minutes,” Acklin said.
The Reds opened the scoring on their first drive of the game when kicker Lewis Ward lined up a 46-yard field goal. Field position for Ottawa was set up with a 46-yard pass from Evans to Acklin earlier in the drive.
The Argos tied the game 3-3 on their ensuing possession. Boris Bede kicked a 42-yard field goal with 7:36 to play in the first quarter.
The Reds regained their three-point lead when Ward hit a 31-yard field goal with second down. Ottawa led 6-3 in the second quarter.
Toronto answered with the first big shot of the game. McLeod Bethel-Thompson found Brandon Banks for a 29-yard touchdown pass as the Argos took a 10-6 lead after Bede’s conversion kick with 7:17 left in the second quarter.
Bede hit his second 32-yard field goal to give Toronto a 13-6 lead with 55 seconds left in the half.
Ottawa quickly moved the ball downfield before Evans found Acklin for a 30-yard TD catch. Ward’s extra point tied the game at 13-13 and that was the score going into the second half.
“It helped us get a little spark,” Evans said of the late scoring play. “After that, we felt we had to come out and keep our foot on the gas.”
Acklin’s reception allowed the CFL’s leader in receiving yards to eclipse 100 yards for the third straight game.
In the third quarter, the Redblacks regained the lead early in the half when Ward hit his third field goal to put Ottawa ahead 16-13.
Things went south for Toronto in a hurry in the fourth quarter. While defending deep in their own territory, Argos defensive lineman Wynton McManis received an undesirable conduct penalty for throwing the shoe of a Redblacks player that he tackled.
With the field position short, Evans found Nate Behar for a seven-yard TD pass. Lewis’ layup put Ottawa up 23-13 in the fourth quarter.
Toronto’s Chris Edwards also received a misconduct penalty after Behar’s touchdown.
“We have to find a way to control ourselves,” Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said after the game. “The only way I know how to fix it sometimes is that sometimes someone has to go.
“When things don’t go our way, we act like kids and throw tantrums and then let our teammates down.”
The Argos never recovered from the Ottawa score. Throughout the game, Toronto’s offense was plagued by dropped or deflected passes.
“We had those four possessions and it’s a 34-20 win and it’s not even close,” Bethel-Thompson said. The Toronto center completed just 26 of 40 passing attempts for 340 yards and one touchdown for the Argonauts (3-3), who saw their hitting streak against the Redblacks at BMO Field snapped at five games.
END ZONE: In the second quarter, Bethel-Thompson eclipsed the 10,000-yard passing mark for his CFL career, becoming the fifth Argonaut to reach the milestone. Ottawa hosts the Calgary Stampeders (4-2) on August 5, while Toronto hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-5) on August 6.
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