Argonauts lead Alouettes at half time of defensive Eastern Final
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It wasn't always pretty, but the Toronto Argonauts found their footing late and lead the Montreal Alouettes 21-16 at half time of the Eastern Final.
Chad Kelly struggled early, but rallied the team for a touchdown in the dying seconds of the first half. The drive was capped off with a long touchdown pass down the sideline to Damonte Coxie.
Kelly finished the first half having completed six of 13 passes for 94 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
It was the defence and special teams keeping the Argonauts around early, as they benefitted from a Janarion Grant punt return and a Benjie Franklin interception for touchdowns. Montreal coughed up four turnovers in the first half.
Cody Fajardo has thrown for 106 yards and a touchdown to lead the Alouettes.
Kaion Julien-Grant has the lone touchdown catch for the Alouettes.
In desperate need of a spark with the offence playing flat for the first half, Grant burst onto the scene late in the second quarter, scooping up a punt and returning it 71 yards to cut the Argos' deficit to 16-14.
Montreal native Sean Thomas-Erlington burst for the long play of the game for the Alouettes, taking a run up the middle for 38 yards midway through the second quarter.
Two plays later, Fajardo found Julien-Grant in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown, giving the Alouettes their first lead of the game, 13-7.
Darnell Sankey jumped a short Kelly throw on the second play of their drive following the Alouettes' touchdown - their second interception of the game. Montreal turned the interception into another Jose Maltos field goal; his first of the game gave Montreal a 16-7 lead.
The Argonauts followed up their pick-six touchdown with a pair of two-and-outs as the offence has struggled to make any meaningful progress against the Alouettes' top-ranked defence.
Defences ruled the matchup in the first quarter, and Montreal got their second points on the board opening the second quarter with a second field goal from Jose Maltos - this from 36 yards out.
Trailing for the first time, the Alouettes found their footing on offence late in the first quarter. Walter Fletcher burst a few long runs, and a dropped pass in the end zone necessitated a 38-yard field goal from Maltos to cut the Alouettes' deficit to 7-3.
The third turnover of the game by the Alouettes was gold for the Argonauts: Franklin intercepted a tipped pass by Fajardo and took it 23 yards for the game's opening touchdown.
Walter Fletcher exploded through the middle for a gain of more than 20 yards on the second drive of the game for Montreal, but Mark Milton punched the ball out from behind and the Argonauts recovered to flip possession with both sides seeking their first score.
This game is a rematch of last year's East Final, where the Alouettes thumped the Argonauts 38-17 en rout to a Grey Cup title.
After throwing four interceptions in the loss last year, Kelly started this one off on the wrong foot, lofting a deep pass to no apparent target that was intercepted by the Alouettes' Najee Murray on Toronto's opening drive.
Makai Polk salvaged the interception by forcing a fumble on the return that the Argonauts recovered.
The winner of this game will travel to Vancouver to play in the 111th Grey Cup next week.
You can watch the second half LIVE on TSN1/4/5, TSN.ca and the TSN App.