Educating Darnell

For Darnell Kennedy it was a pretty intense baptism by fire, as the Renegades back up QB took charge of the A team for his first time and found that the Toronto Argonauts were not going to go very easy on him. Kennedy who was forced into action with an injury to Kerry Joseph last week, did a fairly good job of moving the Renegades down the Skydome field. But if he wants to be a number one QB in the CFL, he should ask Joe Paopao for a personal copy of the game tape or get the folks at sportsnet to provide a copy of their second of five CFL broadcasts this year.

Damon Allen put on another clinic on what it takes to be a force on the field in the CFL, Allen who turns 41 this month once again defied the age Gods and looked like a third year veteran just starting to get into the groove. With a terrific combination of the run game and some dead on passing Allen frequently led the Argos down the field and into the scoring zone. In a game filled with key moments of Allen and his talent for turning a game around, one stood out in particular, late in the fourth quarter Allen took what appeared to be a near certain sacking on a blitz and turned it into a TD toss to Talbot that sealed the Renegades night.

And while the Renegades battled back to make it close, Allen was THE factor in Wednesday nights game. Battered and bruised throughout the game, the Toronto veteran made use of John Avery in the run and Andre Talbot and Michael Palmer in the pass, leading the way to a thrilling 28-25 Argonaut victory, keeping the Argos close to the division leading Alouettes with a 4-2 record as they head into their bye week.

Special teams played an important role in the game as well as the Renegades kept within hailing distance of the Argos time and time again. A blocked punt with 8 minutes to go in the game sent the Rens to within three points of the Argos as Serge Sejour pounced on the ball returning it to the Argo endzone for a big TD. The Renegades managed to break the Argo defenses’ streak of not giving up a touchdown when Josh Ranek ran the ball in at 4:37 of the third, putting an end to the Argo shutdown at 230 minutes, 48 seconds. The touchdown seemed to give the Rens some extra life and set up an exciting 26 minutes of football to follow.

The teams traded field position back and forth and took advantage of miscues and big plays to keep up a fast paced exhibition of football.

In his pro debut as a starter Kennedy made some solid progress, showing the faith put in him by the coaching staff was well warranted. In the course of the game he completed 14 of 28 passes for 165 yards and ran on his own for 90 more. He made good use of the leagues leading rusher in Ranek who carried the ball 14 times for 94 yards.

Kennedy didn’t look out of place at all and with the exception of some rookie errors, he had a well played game. His biggest miscue came late in the second quarter when an ill advised pass destined for Pat Woodcock was picked off by Michael Fletcher for a touchdown, a momentum killer as the Rens headed for the half down by a score of 18-4.

The Rens bounced back nicely in the second half and didn’t look out of place what so ever, as they slowly but surely turned the play around and came quite close a number of times to grasping victory from the Argos.

But it was the calm and collected presence of Allen that set the tone for the Argonauts, refusing to panic and making the plays that had to be made Allen brought home the victory and sent the Renegades down to defeat for their third game in a row. After an electrifying start to the season the Rens have had their problems the last few games. But if they can take anything away from Wednesday night’s game it’s the belief that they can still battle back in a game. That and some confidence in their back up should help them get back on track for their next game, when they face Calgary next Thursday at Frank Clair stadium.

It’s expected that Kerry Joseph will be healthy enough to start that game, but should he have some problems Kennedy will be more than ready to get back in the pocket again. For Allen it’s a well deserved week off to rest his bones and enjoy his status as the wily old veteran who just gets the job done. Wednesday night provided proof that there’s lots of life left in those near 41 year old bones.