Ricky Ray threw four TD passes in his return, leading the Toronto Argonauts past the Montreal Alouettes 38-6 on Saturday afternoon.
Ray's 11-yard scoring pass to Declan Cross at 11:08 of the second quarter not only staked Toronto to 28-0 advantage but it was Ray's 99th as an Argo, breaking Condredge Holloway's club record (98). The 37-year-old quarterback received a warm ovation from the season-high gathering of 16,326 on the opening weekend of the Canadian National Exhibition.
Ray finished 35-of-43 passing for 376 yards, the seventh time this year he's surpassed the 300-yard plateau as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak. But Montreal's Dominique Tovell returned a Ray deflection 61 yards for the TD to end the third.
Ray missed last week's 21-9 loss in Montreal after suffering a shoulder injury in a 41-24 home loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Aug. 3. With Ray sidelined, Jeff Mathews and Cody Fajadro finished a combined 18-of-28 passing for 142 yards versus the Als.
Ray completed 21-of-23 passes for 260 yards and the four TD passes in staking Toronto to a commanding 35-0 half-time lead. Two were to S.J. Green, who had eight catches for 135 yards in the first half alone after registering just four receptions for 32 yards in his first game against his former team.
Green spent his first 10 CFL seasons in Montreal before being traded to Toronto. He missed most of last year with a serious knee injury.
But it wasn't all good news for Toronto as cornerback Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was carted off in the first half with a leg injury. That forced Canadian safety Matt Black to move to cornerback with halfback Rico Murray and cornerback Qudarius Ford also switching positions as the Argos' defence came in minus four injured starters.
Toronto (4-5) moved atop the East Division while improving to 4-1 within the conference. The Argos and Als will meet again Sept. 23 at BMO Field.
The Alouettes (3-5) are second in the East, one point ahead of the Ottawa Redblacks (2-6-1). Starter Darian Durant was 14-of-27 passing for 93 yards and an interception as Montreal fell to 0-4 on the road.
Slotback Nik Lewis had four catches in the first half to move past Ben Cahoon (1,017 receptions) into second on the all-time list. Geroy Simon leads with 1,029 career grabs.
Justin Tuggle and Armanti Edwards had Toronto's other touchdowns. Lirim Hajrullahu booted five converts and a field goal.
Ray was five-for-five passing for 65 yards in anchoring Toronto's 76-yard, nine-play march on its first possession. He capped the drive with a 16-yard TD strike to Green.
Montreal countered with a smart 10-play, 77-yard drive but Cassius Vaughn intercepted Darian Durant at the Toronto goal-line to end the threat.
Ray then found Green on a 29-yard touchdown pass at 3:57 of the second. On the ensuing kickoff, Tuggle recovered Stefan Logan's botched return and took it 22 yards for the TD.
Ray hit Cross on an 11-yard touchdown pass at 11:08. The two had combined on a 25-yard TD earlier that was nullified by penalty.
Ray had a seven-yard TD strike to Edwards that put Toronto ahead 35-0 with 28 seconds left. Montreal had just five first downs and 77 net offensive yards in the first half.
