Nick Arbuckle throws three TD passes, scores another to lead Argos pas Lions

By Canadian Press on August 23, 2025.

TORONTO — Nick Arbuckle threw for a career-high 430 yards with three touchdowns while rushing for another to lead the Toronto Argonauts to a 52-34 shoutout victory over the B.C. Lions on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto (3-8) won for the first time in three games and improved to 2-4 at BMO Field.

B.C. (5-6) suffered its first loss in three games.

Sean Whyte’s 14-yard field goal at 3:17 of the fourth quarter cut B.C.’s deficit to 42-33. But Arbuckle countered with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jake Herslow at 3:34 to put Toronto ahead 49-33, delighting the season-high BMO Field gathering of 18,354.

And then Branden Dozier gave the home crowd more to cheer about after he recovered B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke’s fumble at the Toronto 43-yard line with just over four minutes remaining. Toronto linebacker Wynton McManis sacked Rourke to force the fumble.

Arbuckle finished 26-of-33 passing while Herslow had five catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Toronto’s offensive performance came with leading receiver Damonte Coxie (head) out of the lineup.

Rourke completed 20-of-31 passes for 326 yards with two TDs and an interception. Keon Hatcher Sr. had seven catches for 131 yards.

Benjie Franklin, Kevin Mital and Spencer Brown scored Toronto’s other touchdowns. Brown added a two-point convert while Lirim Hajrullahu booted three field goals and five converts.

James Butler and Jevon Cottoy had two TDs each for B.C. Whyte added three converts and two field goals while Carl Meyer had a single.

Arbuckle found Herslow on a 40-yard touchdown pass at 14:27 of the third to put Toronto ahead 42-30. Butler’s one-yard TD run on third-and-goal pulled B.C. to within 35-30 as the two-point convert was unsuccessful.

Brown’s three-yard TD run at 5:55 increased Toronto’s lead to 35-24. It followed Whyte’s 10-yards field goal at 3:22.

Arbuckle’s 15-yard TD pass to Mital at 14:27 gave Toronto its 28-21 half-time lead. The Argos rolled up 261 net offensive yards and 19 first downs while holding the ball for over 18 minutes and scoring on four of its five possessions.

Arbuckle was 20-of-25 passing for 229 yards in the half. Rourke completed 10-of-13 passes for 144 yards with a touchdown and interception.

And that proved to be the difference in the half as Franklin put Toronto ahead 21-14 with a 57-yard pick-six at 9:54. Rourke made it 21-21 with a 20-yard TD pass to Cottoy at 11:48.

Seven McGee’s 61-yard kickoff return put B.C. at Toronto’s 36-yard line and the scoring drive was also aided by a rough-the-passer penalty against the Argos’ Andrew Chatfield Jr.

Toronto made it 14-14 at 7:18 on Arbuckle’s three-yard TD run before Brown rushed for the two-point convert. Hajrullahu’s 25 -yards field goal just 34 seconds into the quarter cut B.C.’s lead to 14-6.

Hajrullahu opened the scoring with a 24-yard field goal at 3:46. But the Lions countered with Rourke’s 10-yard TD strike to Cottoy at 5:40 to cap their first possession before Butler ended B.C.’s second with a 16-yard TD run at 10:39.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2025.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press