TORONTO – 2014 Covington graduate A.J. Ouellette had a huge game against the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday by leading the Toronto Argonauts to a 39-10 victory, which secured a playoff birth in a season where the mission is to win a second straight Grey Cup Championship.
Last season Ouellette scored the only two touchdowns in the Grey Cup Championship game for the Argonauts in a 24-23 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
This season Ouellette has become the workhorse for the Toronto running game and is now second in the CFL in rushing with 815 yards on 143 carries. He is also tied with two other CFL running backs with six rushing touchdowns.
On Saturday against Montreal, Ouellette rushed for 105 yards on 19 carries and scored twice, once on a 15-yard run in the first quarter and another on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.
In typical Ouellette fashion, he gave praise to his teammates instead of himself for helping him have a successful performance – especially the offensive line.
“They’re the best in the league and they don’t get enough praise,” Ouellette said of the Toronto offensive line. “I want to make sure that’s the headline in the next paper that comes out. Our front five is the best in the league. It was easy running out there. It was a two-way go every time I got the ball. Pick left or right, it didn’t matter.”
Ouellette’s longest run was 15 yards and the majority of his yardage came by running through a tough Montreal defense. His teammates up front opened up holes for Ouellette to grind out tough yardage all afternoon.
“The O-line played great, I’m so proud of those guys,” said Toronto coach Ryan Dinwiddle. “If you looked at it, there was always one guy unblocked and A.J. made him miss, and he does that consistently for us. So does Andrew (Harris), so does Daniel (Adeboboye) and so does Javon (Leake). I feel really good about everybody in our locker room who plays well for us and sacrifices for the team.”
A.J.’s performance on Saturday was celebrated by many Argo fans who were dressed in his number 34 jersey. Many fans of all ages waited after the game for over an hour for Ouellette to come out of the locker room so they could get autographs and photographs with the Argonaut super star.
Like he has done since he became an Argonaut, Ouellette took the time to give his fans appreciation by spending quality time with them.
Many of the fans were young kids who were wearing Ouellette’s jersey. Some even had large hammers in their hands, which is symbolic of Ouellette’s highlight from last week where he brought a hammer out on the field to celebrate a touchdown pass he threw in a victory over Toronto’s biggest rival, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto is now 10-1 on the season, a record that leads the entire CFL.
A lot of the success is due to the leadership and toughness of A.J. Ouellette.
