ARGONAUTS 24, Roughriders 14
 

TORONTO (CP) -- Another week, another improbable win for quarterback Reggie Slack and the Toronto Argonauts. Slack's seven-yard touchdown run with 4:36 remaining capped yet another impressive comeback as Toronto rallied from a 12-0 deficit to capture an exciting 24-14 East Division semifinal win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday. Slack, who joined the Argos early this season after being out of football for two years, brought a noisy SkyDome gathering of 23,124 -- Toronto's third-largest crowd of the year -- to its feet with his run. Last week,, after an uncharacteristic halftime outburst from head coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons, Slack threw two second-half touchdown passes to rally the Argos from a 19-point deficit en route to a 33-32 win over Calgary that earned them their first playoff berth since '99. On Sunday against the CFL's stingiest pass defence, Slack completed 16 of 29 attempts for 216 yards with an interception and had a team-high 23 yards rushing. "I don't know yet," Slack said when asked to explain Toronto's comeback ability. "Believe me, that wasn't our strategy going into the game. "We honestly feel we can come back at any course of the game no matter how many points we are down. That does a tremendous thing for our confidence...we never stop believing. When you have a team that's doing that, the sky is the limit." This time, though, there was no panic in the Argos dressing room at halftime. "We felt really comfortable about where we were in the game," Clemons said. "We felt if we did what we needed to do, we could take control of this game." Toronto, which has won four straight, now faces the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division final Sunday before a sellout of 55,000 spectators at Olympic Stadium, with the victor advancing to the Grey Cup in Edmonton on Nov. 24. "We're one win away (from Grey Cup berth) but it's a big win," Clemons said. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us this week but we are excited about this opportunity." An inspired Toronto defence, playing one of its best games of the season, cemented the victory by shutting the Roughriders out in the second half. All Saskatchewan could muster was 103 total yards and a safety the Argos surrendered on the game's final play. Toronto cornerback Beshir Levingston was a key figure. The five-foot-nine, 180-pound rookie was burned on Derick Armstrong's 42-yard touchdown catch that put Saskatchewan ahead 10-0 in the second quarter. But Levingston ignited Toronto's comeback at 14:18 of the second with a 76-yard punt return touchdown that cut Saskatchewan's half-time lead to 12-7. Levingston clinched the victory with an interception at 14:36 of the fourth, handing Saskatchewan its eighth straight road loss and fourth defeat in five games. But it was Levinston's punt return off a reverse with Mac Cody that proved to be the game's biggest play. "We had a great crowd and I think our crowd emotionally got into the game at that point," Clemons said. "We'd like to think that if we went in 12 down we could have come back...but that was the single biggest play in terms of a momentum swing for our guys and it also got the crowd back into the game." Added Levingston: "We were told we might go for it (reverse) but didn't know for sure. Once he (Cody) got it, he pitched it to me. I went around (to the right) then went left and got some good blocks." Saskatchewan was making its first playoff appearance since losing 47-23 to Toronto in the '97 Grey Cup. That year, it was Slack to guided the Roughriders -- who had accumulated eight regular-season wins -- to the CFL final. Saskatchewan dominated the opening half, outgaining Toronto by 195 yards (263 to 68). But the Roughriders had no answer for the Argos' swarming defence in the second half. "They were able to counter-attack very well against us," said Saskatchewan quarterback Nealon Greene, who was 18 of 31 passing for 232 yards with a TD and rushed for just 25 yards on seven carries. "They always had one guy somewhere out there to cause trouble. "It's setting in," added Greene, who is winless in five career CFL playoff appearance. "You've got to take it as a learning experience, but it hurts." Roughriders coach Danny Barrett, in the final year of a three-year deal, said inexperience cost his club Sunday. "It showed today, just like it has all year," Barrett said. "Do well at the start, but never finish. "We got off to a good start like you want to, but then let them back into the game, which got the crowd into it and gave them a boost." Paul McCallum added a field goal and convert for Saskatchewan. The other points came on two safeties. Robert Drummond had Toronto's other touchdown. Noel Prefontaine booted three converts and a field goal for Toronto. NOTES -- Offensive lineman Jude St. John (elbow) returned to Toronto's starting lineup Sunday just over a week after being involved in a car accident ...Country star Michelle Wright sang the national anthems and performed at halftime while rap artist Snow handled the pre-game entertainment ...Sunday's game was Toronto's first home post-season contest since hosting Montreal in the '97 East Division final.

Summary

TORONTO (CP) -- CFL Sunday afternoon:
First Quarter
Sask -- FG McCallum 32 7:35
Second Quarter
Sask -- TD Armstrong 42 pass from Greene (McCallum convert) 8:29
Sask -- Safety Peoples tackles Slack in end zone 13:10
Tor -- TD Levingston 76 punt return (Prefontaine convert) 14:18
Third Quarter
Tor -- TD Drummond 1 run (Prefontaine convert) 8:42
Fourth Quarter
Tor -- FG Prefontaine 27 1:26
Tor -- TD Slack 7 run (Prefontaine convert) 10:24
Sask -- Safety Mitchell conceeds 15:00

Saskatchewan 3 9 0  2--14
Toronto  0 7 7 10--24

Attendance -- 23,124.

TORONTO (CP) -- Statistics from the Saskatchewan-Toronto CFL Eastern Semifinal Sunday afternoon:

	Sask	Tor
First downs	20	16
Yards rushing	128	39
Yards passing	232	216
Total offence	360	255
Team losses	4	39
Net offence	356	216
Passes made-tried	18-31	16-29
Return yards	160	237
Intercepts-yards by	1-5	1-34
Fumbles-lost	1-1	0-0
Sacks by	3	2
Punts-average	8-43.3	8-46.0
Penalties-yards	9-50	4-60
Time of possession	31:32	28:28

Net offence is yards passing, plus yards rushing, minus team losses such as yards lost on broken plays.

Individual
Rushing:
Sask -- Shaw 12-68, Holmes 4-29, Greene 7-25, Szarka 4-6.
Tor -- Slack 6-23, Drummond 9-16.
Receiving:
Sask -- Armstrong 7-142, Henry 4-45, Holmes 4-28, Ching 1-15, Szarka 1-3, Roberson 1-(-1).
Tor -- Mitchell 7-87, Morreale 3-36, Bendross 2-52, Talbot 2-9, Cody 1-33, Alford 1-(-1).
Passing:
Sask -- Greene 18-31, 232 yds, 1 TD, 1 int.
Tor -- Slack 16-29-216-0-1.