{"id":826438,"date":"2026-07-26T03:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/826438\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:21:30","slug":"polk-scores-twice-as-argos-down-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/826438\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk scores twice as Argos down Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2014 Makai Polk<\/a> made the most of his four receptions, tallying a game-high 91 yards and two touchdowns to help push the Toronto Argonauts to a 26-12 victory over the BC Lions on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Field at BC Place.<\/p>\n

Polk\u2019s pair of first-half scores helped the Argos build a lead it never surrendered. They improved to 3-4, but the win came at a cost as quarterback Chad Kelly<\/a> left the game after taking a hit in the first half.<\/p>\n

Kelly finished 15-of-18 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, while Nick Arbuckle<\/a> added 134 yards in relief on the same field where he earned MVP honours in the 111th Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

The Polk-Kelly connection was working from the Argos\u2019 opening drive, as they quickly linked up for the game\u2019s first touchdown.<\/p>\n

BC\u2019s deepest drive of the game came late in the first quarter, leaning on James Butler<\/a> before Sean Whyte<\/a> put the Lions on the board with a short field goal. Toronto answered in the second, as Kelly connected with Polk again, this time on a 44-yard deep shot to extend the lead to 17-6.<\/p>\n

The Argos had two opportunities to add to their advantage before halftime. On their first attempt, Kelly was shaken up on a scramble and Arbuckle was subsequently brought down by Mathieu Betts<\/a> for a drive-ending sack. With under a minute remaining, Janarion Grant<\/a>\u2018s punt return gave Toronto strong field position, but David Ungerer III<\/a> was unable to get down in time on a catch near the goal line, allowing the clock to expire before the Argos could use a timeout.<\/p>\n

Both defences settled in to open the second half, but Toronto continued to control the game. Chase Brice<\/a> and the Lions\u2019 offence were held without a first down in three of their first four possessions, while Argos kicker Brady Lidster<\/a> connected from 24, 47 and 48 yards in his CFL debut. By the midway point of the fourth quarter, Toronto had extended its lead to 26-9.<\/p>\n

Down three scores, BC head coach Buck Pierce turned to Kaidon Salter under centre to close out the game. The dual-threat pivot led a pair of strong drives, but Toronto had already built enough separation to secure the victory.<\/p>\n

Making his first CFL start in place of Nathan Rourke<\/a> \u2014 who was injured early in BC\u2019s loss to Edmonton in Week 7 \u2014 Brice found little room against an Argos group that also capitalized after BC lost starting right tackle Joshua Donovan<\/a> to injury in the first quarter. He finished with 163 yards,\u00a0while Salter added 121 as the Lions fell to 1-5.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

RELATED
\u00bb\u00a0Depth Charts:\u00a0TOR<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0BC<\/a>
\u00bb Toronto, BC by the numbers<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Game Notes: Argonauts at Lions<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SCORING PLAYS<\/p>\n

Chad Kelly<\/a> 19-yard touchdown pass to Makai Polk<\/a> (10:42, Q1) | TOR 7 BC 0
\nSean Whyte<\/a> 17-yard field goal (14:15, Q2) | TOR 7 BC 3
\nBrady Lidster<\/a> 37-yard field goal (11:02, Q2) | TOR 10 BC 3
\nSean Whyte<\/a> 30-yard field goal (7:50, Q2)\u00a0| TOR 10 BC 6
\nChad Kelly<\/a> 44-yard touchdown pass to Makai Polk<\/a> (6:06, Q2) | TOR 17 BC 6
\nBrady Lidster<\/a> 24-yard field goal (10:08, Q3) | TOR 20 BC 6
\nBrady Lidster<\/a> 47-yard field goal (3:30, Q3) | TOR 23 BC 6
\nSean Whyte<\/a> 27-yard field goal (0:00, Q3)\u00a0| TOR 23 BC 9
\nBrady Lidster<\/a> 48-yard field goal (11:05, Q4) | TOR 26 BC 9
\nSean Whyte<\/a> 34-yard field goal (2:49, Q4) | TOR 26 BC 12<\/p>\n

NEXT UP<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a quick turnaround for the Lions, who return to action on Thursday, July 30 when they visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The teams will meet twice this season, with the rematch coming in Week 21. Winnipeg has swept the season series in each of the past two years.<\/p>\n

The Argonauts, meanwhile, head into a bye before finally making their return to Toronto to host the Calgary Stampeders in their home-opener on Thursday, August 6. Toronto will be looking for a better result after falling 58-36 to Calgary in the Stampede Bowl in Week 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 Makai Polk made the most of his four receptions, tallying a game-high 91 yards and two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":826439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-826438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}