Toronto Argonauts defeated by Montreal Alouettes, 20-12

TORONTO -- Tanner Marsh and S.J. Green scored touchdowns to lead the Montreal Alouettes past the Toronto Argonauts 20-12 on Saturday afternoon.

Marsh's one-yard TD run just 18 seconds into the fourth staked Montreal (7-8) to a 20-6 advantage before a sparse Rogers Centre gathering of 16,834 with the roof closed. Green's 10-yard touchdown catch gave the Alouettes to a 13-6 half-time advantage.

Montreal moved into a tie for first in the East Division with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-8) with their fourth straight victory. The Alouettes also improved to 6-1 with Jonathan Crompton as their starter as he completed 19-of-28 passes for 219 yards and a TD.

But Crompton got a huge assist from a Montreal defence that held Toronto out of the end zone. The Argos had scored 140 points in their previous four games.

After Toronto came back from a 17-point deficit last week in a 34-33 win over Hamilton, Ricky Ray literally fell just short Saturday. His run on third-and-one was short of the first down at the Montreal 35 with 1:27 remaining.

But the Argos had plenty of chances late in the game.

They appeared in business when a pass interference call on Gerald Brown put them at the Montreal 23 with 12:09 remaining in the fourth. But the Alouettes successfully challenged the call, forcing Toronto to punt.

Toronto got the ball back at the Montreal 47 after Aston Whiteside recovered a Crompton fumble. But the Argos settled for Swayze Waters' 37-yard field goal at 6:45 that cut the Als' lead to 20-9.

The Argos got another break when they took over at their 52-yard line after James Yurichuk blocked Whyte's punt with 5:17 remaining. Waters hit a 48-yard field goal at 11:50 to cut Montreal's lead to 20-12.

After forcing Montreal to punt, Toronto took over at its 35 with 2:27 remaining but turned it over when Ray was stopped. The Argos got the ball back for the last time at their 16-yard line with 24 seconds left but Brown ended the comeback hopes with an interception.

Toronto (6-9) dropped to third in the East, making its next two games crucial ones to its playoff aspirations. The Argos host Hamilton next weekend, then travel to Montreal on Nov. 2 needing to win those games to clinch both season series and solidify its post-season run.

Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal are essentially playing for two playoff spots due to the crossover. The B.C. Lions (8-7) are fourth in the West but would secure the No. 3 seed in the East if they finished the regular season with a better record than the Eastern conference's third-place squad.

Montreal is in Ottawa on Friday night before hosting Toronto.

Players and coaches on both teams wore pink-coloured items as part of the CFL's program to bring awareness to women's cancers. Argos slotback Chad Owens wore a sharp-looking pair of custom cleats in honour of an aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Whyte kicked two converts and two field goals.

Waters had four field goals for Toronto.

Green's TD grab was the lone touchdown of the half as Toronto hurt itself with mistakes. The Argos lost two fumbles and LaVon Brazill dropped a Ray pass with under a minute left that would've been a first down in Alouettes territory and at the very least given Waters a shot at a makeable late field goal try.

Green's grab capped a smart, nine-play, 90-yard drive that took more than four minutes off the clock. Waters connected from 30 and 49 yards out to account for Toronto's scoring.

NOTES -- Offensive lineman Jarriel King and defensive back Branden Smith didn't dress for Toronto while defensive end Brian Brikowski and slotback Andrew Smith were Montreal's scratches . . . Heading into weekend action there had been 83 challenges by CFL coaches, with 25 being successful . . . West Division teams still lead the head-to-head series 28-12 but East squads have won nine of the last 11 matchups . . . According to the CFL, just two teams have ever won their division without being over .500, the '85 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-8) and '01 Edmonton Eskimos (9-9) . . . Ray has never finished the season leading the CFL in TD passes. He came into Saturday's game with a league-high 27.