Argos lose home-opener to Blue Bombers 33-24
Posted July 23, 2011 7:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Buck Pierce threw three second-half touchdown passes to rally the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 33-24 win and spoil the Toronto Argonauts’ home opener Saturday.
Pierce’s 84-yard TD strike to Terence Jeffers-Harris just 1:51 into the fourth quarter came 51 seconds after Chad Kackert’s two-yard run put Toronto (1-3) ahead 27-20. Pierce also had touchdown strikes of seven and 63 yards to Jeffers-Harris and Terrence Edwards in the third, respectively as Winnipeg (3-1) erased a 17-6 half-time deficit to improve to 2-0 versus the Argos this season.
Pierce finished 22-of-28 passing for 361 yards.
Winnipeg’s comeback was a bitter pill to swallow for the 21,189 spectators, who sat in warm and muggy conditions with the Rogers Centre roof closed due to excessive heat. They also had to endure watching the opening half in a smokey haze thanks to pre-game fireworks.
And they saw Toronto lose starter Cleo Lemon in the first. Winnipeg linebacker Joe Lobendahn delivered a glancing blow to the side of Lemon’s head as he was scrambling. No penalty was called despite the impact knocking Lemon’s headgear flying as he again failed to hook-slide to end a running play.
A grimacing Lemon laid on the turf momentarily before getting up then kneeling in favour of backup Dalton Bell. Lemon returned to the sidelines in the second sporting a baseball cap. No details of his injury were immediately available but Lemon missed a game last season with a concussion.
It’s the second straight week an Argos player has been involved in a helmet-to-helmet hit. Last week, the CFL fined Montreal’s Kitwana Jones for a blow he delivered to Toronto’s Chad Owens.
Lemon started impressively, guiding Toronto to an opening seven-play, 64-yard TD drive capped by Kackert’s 11-yard run at 3:23. Lemon was 5-of-5 passing for 58 yards and was injured after a 15-yard run.
Bell finished 13-of-27 passing for 169 yards and a TD pass, but also had two interceptions and lost two fumbles off sacks.
Sammy Tranks had the other TD for Toronto. Noel Prefontaine booted the converts and a field goal.
Winnipeg’s Justin Palardy had four field goals and three converts.
Toronto outscored Winnipeg 17-3 in the first en route to a 17-6 half-time lead. After Kackert’s TD, Bell hit Tranks on a 22-yard TD strike on the final play of the opening quarter, one that saw the Argos roll up 143 net offensive yards.
That came after Winnipeg was first and goal from the Toronto two-yard line but had to settle for Palardy’s eight-yard field goal at 14:32 after Fred Reid was twice stopped short of the end zone.
