Argos outlast Winnipeg

Rookie Toronto quarterback Cleo Lemon ran in a touchdown as he notched his first CFL victory in a 36-34 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night.

The victory in Winnipeg snapped the Argos' nine-game losing streak dating back to last season.

After falling behind 16-0 in the second quarter, Winnipeg rallied for a 27-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Toronto clawed back with 12 straight points.

Winnipeg receiver Terence Jeffers-Harris scored his second TD of the night with 16 seconds left. The Bombers tried to get the ball back, but Alexis Serna's onside kick was recovered by the Argos, sealing their victory in front of 28,009 fans at Canad Inns Stadium.

Jim Barker notched his first win as Toronto head coach. Both teams have 1-1 records.

Toronto's previous win was a 25-22 overtime victory on Sept. 11, 2009, against Hamilton.

Argos running back Cory Boyd notched a one-yard touchdown run, Lemon ran nine yards for his TD and receiver Chad Owens took a missed Serna field goal 117 yards for a TD at 1:20 of the fourth quarter.

Owens had a 90-yard punt return for a TD in Toronto's 30-16 season-opening loss to Calgary. Winnipeg was also burned for a TD on a missed field-goal return in their victory last week over Hamilton.

Toronto rookie kicker Grant Shaw made all four of his field-goal attempts from 29, 52, 35 and 13 yards. The Argos also had a single and Bombers punter Mike Renaud conceded a safety. Winnipeg's TDs came off a 21-yard catch by slotback Terrence Edwards, a 43-yard run by Pierce and catches of 60 and 38 yards by Jeffers-Harris.

Serna hit field goals from 26 and 43 yards and had the costly miss from 45 yards that Owens returned.

It was all Argos for most of the first half as Lemon, a former NFL backup, guided his team to a 16-0 lead, but Winnipeg woke up and scored 17 straight points in the final five-plus minutes of the second quarter.

Lemon completed 15-of-23 pass attempts for 162 yards and no interceptions. Pierce was 25-of-35 for 366 yards, three TDs and one interception.

All even after 1st half

Toronto tied the game 17-17 as time expired on the first half after Serna's kickoff was picked up by defensive end Ejiro Kuale and punted into the end zone where Serna fell on it.

The first quarter featured a pair of Winnipeg turnovers, both at the hands of Pierce.

On the Bombers' first series of the game, the ball slipped out of Pierce's hand as he went to throw. Argos defensive end Ronald Clemons recovered the fumble at Winnipeg's 36-yard line and the possession ended with Shaw's 29-yarder.

Pierce later made a throw on the run and was intercepted by cornerback Willie Middlebrooks. That turnover led to Shaw's third field goal from 35 yards and a first-quarter lead of 9-0.

The Argos kept the pressure on with the first series of the second quarter, when Lemon guided the offence on a 12-play, 102-yard drive capped with Boyd's one-yard TD run at 6:49.

Edwards got things going for the Bombers with his TD catch in the end zone at 9:31, followed by Pierce's TD run that ended with him somersaulting over the goal-line at 13:32.

Serna made his 26-yarder with three seconds left in the half and Kuale booted his single as time ran out for the 17-17 tie. 

Toronto regained the lead on the third quarter's first drive with Lemon's scoring run at 5:36 that made it 24-17. Serna nailed a 43-yarder and then Pierce gave Winnipeg a 27-24 edge with his pass to Jeffers-Harris, who broke a tackle on his way to scoring his first CFL touchdown.

Toronto then scored 12 straight points to go ahead 36-27 and Jeffers-Harris's late TD finished the game's scoring.