Argos clinch first in CFL East with win

It may have taken them until the final week of the season toearnthe distinction, but the Toronto Argonauts are the top team in the CFL's East division.

John Avery ran for two touchdowns and Andre Talbot caught two more as the Argos clinched first place in the East with a41-13 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at windy Mosaic Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

By earning its seventh straight win and ninth in its last 10 contests,Toronto (11-7)vaulted ahead of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, to earn a first-round playoff bye and the right to hostthe East final. As hosts of this year's Grey Cup, the Argos will now need just two home wins to secure the CFL championship.

"We're really proud of the guys," said Argos head coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons. "To be in first place and host the East final is a real testament to us on what it means to stay together and not give up."

Saskatchewan entered the game locked into second place in the West division and will face the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium on Nov. 11 (CBC, 4:30 p.m. ET).

"You always have something to play for," said Saskatchewan head coach Kent Austin. "When you take the field, you're getting paid to make plays — to be in the right position, to be assignment-sound, and to play well. It doesn't matter where the standings are, it doesn't matter what the implications are, that is just an excuse.

"I can't stand excuses."

The Blue Bombers, who defeated the Alouettes in their final regular season contest on Friday night, are forced to settle for second place in the East and will face Montreal again in the East semi-final at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday (CBC, 1 p.m. ET).

Quarterback Michael Bishophad his best passing game of the seasonfor Toronto, completing20 of34 passes for 366 yards withthree touchdownsand no interceptions. Bishop's record as a starter during the regular season improved to 11-1.

"We knew if Winnipeg beat Montreal, we had to come to Saskatchewan and play well enough to have a chance to win in the end," said Bishop. "We came out and played exceptionally well today. We moved the ball around the field ... we had fun today and that's what it's all about."

The game was also another impressive showcase for the Argonauts defence, which entered the game ranked first in 14 of the league's 25 defensive categories. Toronto allowed just184 total yards,forced two turnovers and prevented a touchdown pass for the third straight game.

The Argos also added to their second-best sack total by getting to Saskatchewan quarterback Kerry Joseph twice. Joseph, playing without injured backs Wes Cates (foot), Corey Holmes (shoulder) and Chris Szarka (finger), struggled on Saturday by completing onlyseven of 18 passes for92 yards with no touchdowns before being pulled in favour of Marcus Crandell late in the third quarter.

"We still have the confidence and know we can get it done," said Roughriders starting quarterback Kerry Joseph. "We didn't play well today. But what we've got to do is come out the first day of practice, get back to work, focus in on Calgary, and just dedicate every day to being the best."

In hole early

The Roughriders defence put its team in a deep hole early.

Toronto kicked off the scoring on its first drive of the game. Avery's one-yard touchdown plunge capped off an 11-play, 70-yard drive to put the Argos up 7-0.

Saskatchewan sophomore running back Henri Childs, starting in place of Cates, fumbled on the ensuing drive giving the Argos prime field position at the Roughriders 31-yard line.

A 12-yard pass from Bishop to Andre Talbot set-up a 26-yard field goal from Noel Prefontaine increased the Toronto lead to 10-0.

The Roughriders were forced to punt on the following drive which allowed the Argos to capitalize once again. Bishop threw a 15-yard pass to Marc Boerigter and then a 43-yard touchdown strike to Talbot to put the Argos up 17-0 as the first quarter came to a close.

Saskatchewan's defence finally got them on the board at the start of the second quarter. With the Argonauts forced to punt deep in their own end, Prefontaine couldn't get a kick off and was instead forced out of bounds to surrender a safety and cut the Toronto lead to 17-2.

The Riders continued to chip away with a 15-yard field goal from Luca Congi before scoring their first major midway through the second quarter. Joseph led a seven-play, 50-yard drive finished by a two-yard run from recently-signed Josh Ranek, which trimmed the Argos lead to 17-12.

But the Argos chewed up a lot of clock on the following drive before padding their lead at the end of the first half. Bishop led the team 87 yards downfield before Avery ran in his third touchdown of the season from the one-yard line to push the Argos lead to 24-12.

After a missed Congi field goal yielded a single for the Riders, Bishop continued the air show in the third as he led another impressive lengthy drive to put the game out of reach. Long passes of 25 yards to Arland Bruce and 44 yards to Obed Cetoute set up a much shorter four-yard touchdown strike to Talbot for his sixth major of the season to make the score 31-13.

Bruce hauled in a 38-yard strike from Bishop in the fourth quarter to cap a six-play drive for Toronto. Defensive back Chris Hardy, forced to replace an injured Prefontaine at kicker, finished a dominant team performance on both sides of the ball for the Argos by booting a 33-yard field goal to make the score 41-13.

Despite the impressive performance from Toronto, they were hit by key injuries.

Prefontaine was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with symptoms related to a concussion sustained earlier in the season.

Tackle Mike Pearson went down in the fourth quarter with whatteam officials would only describe asa leg injury. Play was stopped for 20 minutes as Pearson was treated for shock and transported out of the stadium by the EMS.

"Pearson had done such a great job of solidifying our offensive line," said Clemons. "He may well be our best offensive lineman — as a group [the offensive line] was playing really well together, so it's going to be a challenge."