Argonauts capture their first Grey Cup title on December 5th 1914. The third time was a charm for the Toronto Argonauts. After coming up short in the big game in 1911 and 1912, the Argonauts won their first Grey Cup in 1914 with a 14-2 victory over their cross-town rivals, The University of Toronto. In this rematch of the 1911 game, the Scullers scored all the points they would need in the opening minute. Varsity’s Red McKenzie fumbled the ball on a punt return on his own 15-yard line, which Glad Murphy picked up and ran in to the end zone for an Argonauts touchdown. Jack O’Connor was good on the convert. The Argonauts took advantage of another turnover in the second quarter when Freddie Mills recovered a Varsity fumble and ran for a major. O’Connor failed on the convert, but was later successful on a lucky field goal. Kicking from 35 yards out, O’Connor’s kick hit the crossbar and bounced over for a 14-0 Argonauts lead at half time. Varsity’s only points came in the third quarter on a pair of rouges. The students came close to scoring a touchdown in this period, when Charlie Gage looked to have crossed the Argonauts goal line. A big pile of about 20 players fell on the Varsity player, with a couple of Scullers pulling Gage and the ball away from the end zone. No touchdown was awarded, and Varsity was forced to rouge. O’Connor had a dubious feat in this game, attempting seven field goals, but only converting on one. The Argonauts’ victory was their third in seven days, following wins over the Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Rowing Club in playoff games. As a result, the Argos were a banged up crew entering the national final, but still prevailed over the well-rested Varsity squad. The students had two weeks off between games. With the loss, Varsity players reluctantly gave up the Grey Cup trophy which they had held since March 1910, even though they hadn’t played in the Dominion championship since 1911. Varsity contended that the mug was theirs until another team defeated them in the national final. The Argonauts’ victory freed the trophy for every subsequent champion.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 16:33:08 +0000