“Well, it definitely breaks that ‘well, you haven’t won a game yet, right?’” Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice said after his team’s 23-13 win against the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on Sunday . “We’re happy to get a win and happy to survive for 24 hours and we’re enjoying it.” Ottawa receiver Jaelon Acklin had a touchdown reception and led his team with 144 receiving yards. Caleb Evans, who took over as the starting quarterback since Jeremiah Masoli went down earlier in the season with a leg injury, completed 24 of 29 passes and threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns. The Reds improved to one win and six losses and are back in the hunt for a playoff spot in a meager CFL East Division. “It’s like we got a monkey off our back because we were so close. I think five of those plays came in the last minutes,” Acklin said. The Redskins opened the scoring on their first drive of the game when Louis Ward connected on a 46-yard field goal. Field position for Ottawa was set up by a 46-yard pass from Evans to Acklin earlier in the drive. Argos tied the score at 3-3 with the next drive. Boris Bede hit a 42-yard field goal with 7:36 to play in the first quarter. The Redskins regained their three-point lead when Ward hit a 31-yard field goal with a second down to play. Ottawa led 6-3 in the second quarter. Toronto responded with its first big run 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 with 7:17 left in the second quarter. Bede hit his second field goal from 32 yards out 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. Ward’s extra point tied the game at 13-13 and that was the score for the second half. “That helped us get a spark,” Evans said of the late-game scoring drive. “After that we felt we had to go 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 Reds regained the lead on the first drive of 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 McManish received a misconduct penalty for throwing the boot of a Redskins tackler. With the short field position, Evans found Nate Behar for a seven-yard TD pass. Lewis’ conversion put Ottawa up 23-13 in the fourth quarter. Toronto’s Chris Edwards was also assessed a misconduct penalty after touching Behar. “We have to find a way to police ourselves,” Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie said after the game. “The only way I know how to fix it sometimes is sometimes someone has to go. “When things don’t go our way, we act like kids and have tantrums and then let our teammates down.” The Argos never recovered from the Ottawa score. Throughout the game, Toronto’s offense was plagued with dropped or deflected passes. “We had those four possessions, and that’s a 34-20 win and it’s not even close,” Bethel-Thompson said. The Toronto pivot completed just 26 of 40 passes for 340 yards and a touchdown for the Argonauts (3-3), who had their winning streak against the Redskins at BMO Field halted at five games. END ZONE: In the second quarter, Bethel-Thompson surpassed the 10,000-yard mark for his CFL career, becoming the fifth Argonaut to reach the milestone. … Ottawa hosts the Calgary Stampeders (4-2) on Aug. 5, while Toronto hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-5) on Aug. 6. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 31, 2022.
