Toronto - Chad Owens and the Toronto Argonauts showed they're for real.
Owens caught two TD passes while Ryan Christian returned a kickoff a club-record 110 yards for another as the surprising Argos stunned the Montreal Alouettes 37-22 Saturday at Rogers Centre.
And after dropping a 41-10 decision to the Als in Montreal on July 29, Owens said the upstart Argos (5-2) -- who had just three wins last year -- came through with a statement game against the defending Grey Cup champions.
"Definitely," said Owens. "It was a big day for us, we needed it especially the way we performed in Montreal.
"I tried to be that fire, I tried to be the energy to keep everybody up. Offence, defence and special teams, we put it together."
Christian, a first-year player from Texas Christian, electrified the season-high Rogers Centre gathering of 22,311 at 2:08 of the second quarter, a play after Montreal had pulled to within 14-7. Christian broke the Argos' return record of 109 yards set by Terry Greer in 1981 and capped the play by somersaulting into the end zone.
But it was the five-foot-eight, 180-pound Owens, acquired from Montreal before the season, who cemented the victory. He hauled in a 40-yard TD toss from Cleo Lemon at 8:00 of the fourth to put Toronto ahead 38-22 when Montreal seemed to be gaining some momentum.
"There was no trepidation or thinking Chad would haunt us," Montreal coach Marc Trestman said. "Chad is a good player and we hold him in high regard.
"We knew when we lost him we lost a good player."
Owens finished with six catches for 163 yards and the two TDs, the Argos first 100-yard receiver of the season. The only blemish on the Hawaii native's performance was being flagged for excessive celebration following his second touchdown grab.
"I got penalized, I hurt the team for it but you're in the moment," he said. "It was a canoe and I was rowing it trying to get back to Hawaii.
"But we got stopped short. We hit some current, some big waves. But it was a fun night and we came away with the win. You can't ask for anything more."
Argos head coach Jim Barker was shocked to see Owens's celebration and added fans won't see it happen again. But Barker wasn't the least bit surprised his team responded in its rematch with Montreal
"He's just a football player, which is why that little celebration surprised me because that's not us," he said of Owens. "But all week long I had a feeling our guys were going to play at a very high level."
Toronto emerged victorious despite losing offensive lineman Cedric Gagne-Marcoux (calif), receiver Jeremaine Copeland (elbow) and cornerback Willie Middlebrooks (unspecified). Copeland, who was injured after fumbling on a 50-yard catch during the Argos' first drive, was given the game ball as his teammates felt the reception set the tone.
"This is a special, special team and it was just exciting to be able to watch them get this win against such a good team," Barker said. "But if they come back Friday night against Hamilton and don't answer the call, it's a hollow win."
Barker was hired in the off-season to rebuild an Argos team that had missed the playoffs the last two years while winning a combined seven games. And while Toronto is way ahead of schedule, Barker never started the season with a specific win total in mind.
"I don't think like that," he said. "I thought the first week in Calgary we'd win the game and every game we've gone into I've thought that way.
"I don't think further ahead than next week. It's kind of the way I'm wired."
Lemon finished 13-of-19 passing for 269 yards and the three TDs for Toronto, which wore dark blue retro 1970s jerseys and the old "A" symbol on their helmets.
Toronto moved into a first-place tie with Montreal (5-2) atop the East Division standings. And after having to rally for their first four wins of the year, the Argos held on for this one after storming out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
Montreal made it interesting in the third after Lemon's 18-yard TD strike to Andre Durie at 3:32 put Toronto ahead 31-14. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo, playing after dislocating a finger on his passing hand last week, found a wide-open S.J. Green on a 49-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 31-21 at 7:42.
Calvillo also took Montreal on a 70-yard, 11-play drive to the Toronto 31-yard line but the Als could only muster a single on Duval's errant 39-yard field goal attempt to pull to within 31-22 at 5:25 of the fourth.
Calvillo finished 37-of-50 passing for 443 yards and three TDs for Montreal, which also had three turnovers.
"Eveyrone is talking about what a surprise they (Argos) are," Calvillo said. "But they're not a surprise to us.
"Looking at the tapes they're playing excellent football and came in at 4-2 for a reason."
Kerry Watkins and Jamel Richardson scored Montreal's other touchdowns. Damon Duval booted three converts and a single.
Cory Boyd also scored a touchdown for Toronto. Shaw added four converts and a field goal.
Calvillo's six-yard TD strike to Richardson at 14:52 of the second capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive that not only cut Toronto's half-time lead to 24-14 but also helped take away some of the sting of being victimized by the big play.
Christian delivered the opening half's biggest play right after Calvillo delivered a pinpoint 17-yard TD strike to Watkins in the corner of the end zone to cut Toronto's 14-7.
Toronto's special teams came up huge again later the second on Bryan Crawford's 42-yard run on a fake third-down punt called by fullback Jeff Johnson. That set up Shaw's 20-yard field goal at 11:57 for the 24-7 advantage.
Owens' opened the scoring with an exciting 63-yard TD pass from Lemon at 6:55 of the first. Then Boyd bulldozed his way into the endzone on a one-yard scoring run at 10:05, two plays after he surprised the Alouettes defence by hitting Lemon on a cross-field halfback option pass that went for 13 yards and put Toronto on Montreal's eight-yard line.
NOTES -- Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon moved past Darren Flutie (972) into second in all-time receptions with an 11-yard catch in the second quarter . . . This is the first of three straight games versus East Division rivals for Toronto, which will now play two consecutive contests versus arch-rival Hamilton . . . Receivers Eric Deslaurier and Marc Olivier Broullette as well as tackles Skip Seagaves and Dylan Steenbergen didn't dress for Montreal. Linebacker Jeremy Unertil, tackles Joe Eppele and Shannon Boatman and receiver Spencer Watt were Toronto's scratches.
