Boyd, Lemon lead Argos to road win

Cory Boyd celebrated his birthday with three touchdowns, including a second-effort plunge with 22 seconds left, to help the Toronto Argonauts to a 29-28 road win Friday over the Edmonton Eskimos.

Boyd, 25, rushed for two TDs and 164 yards on 25 carries and hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Cleo Lemon.

Toronto (4-2) has won all of its games with fourth-quarter rallies, although this comeback was necessary only after squandering a 15-point lead. The Argos in their four wins have outscored opponents 48-15 in the final quarter.

First-year CFL pivot Lemon had by far his best game in a Toronto uniform. After leading his team on its final 94-yard scoring drive, Lemon finished with 23-of-34 passing for 292 yards.

Toronto was able to score the final major with the aid of two pass interference calls incurred by the Eskimos, much to the displeasure of the nearly 32,000 on hand at Commonwealth Stadium.

Edmonton (1-5) lost the game and possibly receiver Fred Stamps, who left with a right arm injury after taking a hard Willie Pile knock in the third quarter. Stamps had already caught seven passes by the time he departed.

Ricky Ray threw a touchdown pass to Jason Barnes, and Arkee Whitlock and Jared Zabransky also scored in the second half as the Eskimos took a 28-19 lead at one point.

Showing intensity

The Eskimos had trailed 19-4 in the first half but they came out with intensity in the third quarter. After Whitlock plunged in from one yard out, Ray threw an improbable scoring pass to Barnes, a ball thrown into double coverage and one that the receiver corralled with the use of his knees.

Edmonton padded the lead with the help of a 50-yard Jason Goss interception return, a play in which the intended Toronto receiver was knocked down before the ball arrived.

The Argos won, but may want to consider rehiring kicker Justin Medlock, who starred for them last year before searching in vain for NFL work this summer. Grant Shaw connected on just half of his four field-goal attempts.

Toronto got points on its first three offensive possessions to go up 11-0.

Lemon, defended by coach Jim Barker earlier in the week after so-so stats during the first five weeks, was on target from the jump. He completed four passes for 51 yards to set up an electrifying 43-yard touchdown run down the sidelines from Boyd.

Edmonton got on the board early in the second, with Ray scrambling for key yards to set up a Noel Prefontaine 48-yard field goal.

Both teams showed in the second why they're not currently the cream of the CFL crop, with undisciplined play and mental mistakes. Javier Glatt of Edmonton took a 15-yard penalty for a late hit on Boyd, while Argos receiver Andre Durie whiffed on an accurate pass by Lemon.

Durie's miss was followed by another Shaw single, on a field-goal miss from 37 yards.

Toronto's secondary was frustrating Edmonton's passing game. Pile swatted away a Ray bomb into the end zone that was headed right to Kelly Campbell. The Eskimos got just one point on the drive, with Prefontaine missing a field-goal attempt.

Edmonton has displayed a propensity this season for self-inflicted wounds, and it happened again late in the second. With Toronto's offence in a lull, an Eskimos offside penalty gave the Argos new life and they took advantage.

Boyd had amassed 110 yards by the three-minute warning, and Lemon followed on the first play after the break by scrambling for a 19-yard completion to Chad Owens.

Lemon then led Boyd with a pass in the end zone, and the running back stretched his entire frame for a diving 14-yard touchdown reception.

Prefontaine lined up for a punt on the final drive of the half but instead completed a pass to McCarty, who hustled for another set of downs.

Ray went for six again, but Toronto defender Lin-J Shell blanketed Stamps in the end zone. Prefontaine added another field goal on the final play of the half for a 19-7 score.

The Eskimos relied heavily on Whitlock coming out of the break and he finished off an 83-yard drive on the 12th play by barrelling into the end zone from a yard out.

Later in the quarter Whitlock burst through the line of scrimmage and broke a Pile tackle attempt downfield for a 40-yard gain. Ray then cranked up his arm for the 45-yard touchdown pass to Barnes.

Ray completed 24 of 35 passes for 272 yards.

Comeback attempt

Toronto appeared on course for another comeback bid early in the fourth by driving 30 yards to midfield. But a Lemon attempt to Spencer Watt saw the receiver knocked down and the ball fall into the hands of Goss, who took it back deep into Toronto territory.

Reserve quarterback Zabransky made the most of his insertion into the lineup by dashing 18 yards to the corner of the end zone to help the Eskimos to their nine-point lead.

Toronto got some long-awaited points on a Shaw field goal with just over seven minutes left to set up their roller-coaster final drive.

Owens made a shoestring catch to start it off, Jeremaine Copeland came up with a pinball grab of a deflected pass, and Jeff Jackson saved a third down pass that Lemon threw close to the turf.

The fans at Commonwealth Stadium got a rise when Goss came up with what would have been a second interception, but he was cited for pass interference.

Lawrence Gordon then got the interference call on Toronto receiver Mike Bradwell in the end zone to set up the third Boyd score.

Edmonton lateralled the ball numerous times on the final play of the game, but only moved backward.