Chad Owens, Argos stun Redblacks with last-second TD
If you’re going to win in dramatic fashion, you might as well do it with some pizzazz.
Chad Owens made a one-handed catch in the end zone with 25 seconds left to play to give the Toronto Argonauts a key 38-35 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Tuesday night.
Owens was left virtually unmarked with Toronto trailing 35-31 in the final minute of play. He broke open in the end zone but still had to make an acrobatic play to bring the pass from Trevor Harris down and in control.
“I just told myself to dig, dig, dig, dig and at the very last second give it a shot,” said Owens. “I practise one-hand catches. You never know when the work you put in, when that moment it’s going to pay off and it did for me right there.”
Owens’s head coach was very impressed with the effort and skill it took to haul in the high pass from Harris.
“Unbelievable. I was watching it the whole way and I thought there was no way he would get to that. Just an amazing play by a great player and that’s what you count on,” Argonauts coach Scott Milanovich said, thinking the pass was overthrown.
“I’m proud of the win, how we stuck together and found a way to have a three minute drive at the end to get the win against a real good team.
Harris passed for five touchdowns — including Owens’s late 10-yard strike — to give the Argonauts (8-5) their second straight win lead and a share of the division lead with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Burris banged up
Ottawa had a scary moment in the dying seconds of the game after Owens’ highlight-reel play. Quarterback Henry Burris was hit awkwardly as he went to throw on the second-to-last play of the game and was down for a while. Thomas DeMarco came in to finish the game.
“I’m going to be fine. It was just scary on impact when I kind of felt the shoulder move. It’s a good thing I have good offensive training in the off season. It helped keep me healthy in this case,” said Burris, who is coming off Top Performer of the Week and Month honours.
“I’ll be back next week.”
Burris threw two TDs and 250 yards for the Redblacks (8-6). Chris Milo had four field goals and converted three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Redblacks fell to third place in the division.
Toronto was officially the home team for the crucial CFL East matchup even though the game was held in Ottawa.
The Argonauts could not play at home because Rogers Centre was being used by the Toronto Blue Jays who are in Major League Baseball’s playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Following a three-yard touchdown run by Ernest Jackson that gave the Redblacks a 35-31 lead with less than three minutes to play, Harris led the Argos downfield for the winning score.
“They ended up making one more play than we did to win a tough football game,” Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. “We’re very disappointed, but there’s a lot of important football games coming up. We’re going to take a couple of days to catch our breath here and get right back at it.”
© The Canadian Press, 2015
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