Ken Dorsey Engineers Game Winning Drive in Preseason Game

TORONTO -- It's not so much the win that impressed Jim Barker, but how the Toronto Argonauts went about getting it.

Robbie Dehaze's 13-yard yard field goal with 51 seconds remaining rallied the Argos to a 13-10 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the first CFL exhibition game for both teams Sunday.

Trailing 10-1 heading into the second half, Toronto pulled to within 10-7 thanks to fine play from quarterback Dalton Bell, who guided the offence on marches of 55 and 58 yards in the third quarter that culminated with field goals.

In the fourth, after Grant Shaw's 39-yard field goal made it 10-10, former Miami Hurricanes star Ken Dorsey hit a wide-open Derek Stanley on a 44-yard completion to put the Argos on the Hamilton 10-yard line with just over a minute remaining.

After a Bryan Crawford four-yard run and incompletion, Dehaze gave the sparse Rogers Centre gathering of 12,514 something to cheer about with his game-winning boot to cap an eight-play, 73-yard drive.

"I was proud of the way our guys battled all the way to the end. I mean, they wanted to win the game," Barker said. "When you haven't won much in the previous years that's important.

"I was excited for our players that they got the chance to win the game."

Barker wasn't excited about the Argos' penchant for taking penalties. They were flagged 16 times for 104 yards, with 20 coming after defensive tackle Adriano Belli was offside, then called for unnecessary roughness.

That put Hamilton on Toronto's 15-yard line in the first and set up a 22-yard field goal that put the visitors ahead 3-1.

"Adriano is a work in progress, he is what he is and we are working hard to make him understand the importance of being a part of a team," Barker said. "Adriano goes out with the very best of intentions always but he knows what he did was wrong."

Victories have been hard to come by for Toronto -- which has won a combined seven games the last two seasons. Barker replaced the fired Bart Andrus this off-season with the mandate to get the Argos back into the playoffs.

Dorsey, the last of four Toronto quarterbacks, finished 8-of-17 passing for 96 yards with an interception in his first football game since 2008 with the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Dorsey's pick came on the Argos' possession before their game-winning drive and right after they tied the game. He said there was no anxiety on the sideline.

"I felt like even before the interception I was pretty comfortable," he said. "I don't think the demeanour changed (after interception), there was no panic."



(torontosun.com)