View source for 85th Grey Cup

{{short description|1997 Canadian Football championship game}}
{{Infobox Canadian football game
| number         = 85
| type           = Grey Cup
| image          = Grey Cup 97.JPG
| image_size = 200
| date           = November 16, 1997
| stadium        = [[Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton)|Commonwealth Stadium]]
| city           = [[Edmonton]]
| visitor name   = Toronto Argonauts
| visitor colour = Toronto Argonauts
| home name      = Saskatchewan Roughriders
| home colour    = Saskatchewan Roughriders
| visitor coach  = [[Don Matthews]]
| home coach     = [[Jim Daley]]
| visitor record = 15–3
| home record    = 8–10
| visitor1       = 7
| visitor2       = 13
| visitor3       = 21
| visitor4       = 6
| home1          = 3
| home2          = 6
| home3          = 0
| home4          = 14
| MVP            = [[Doug Flutie]], QB ([[Toronto Argonauts|Argonauts]])
| MV2            = [[Paul Masotti]], WR ([[Toronto Argonauts|Argonauts]])
| anthem         =
| referee        =
| coin toss      =
| halftime       = [[Trooper (band)|Trooper]]
| attendance     = 60,431
| network        = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]], [[Réseau des sports|RDS]]
| announcers     = (CBC) [[Steve Armitage]], [[Chris Cuthbert]], [[Mark Lee (sportscaster)|Mark Lee]], [[Chris Walby]], [[Brian Williams (sportscaster)|Brian Williams]], [[Glen Suitor]], [[Brenda Irving]]
| ratings        =
|Referee=Dave Yule}}
The '''85th [[Grey Cup]]''' ([[Canadian Football League]] championship) was held in [[1997 CFL season|1997]] in [[Edmonton]] before 60,431 fans.  The heavily favoured [[Toronto Argonauts]] won the game over the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] with a score of 47–23.

==Game summary==
'''Toronto Argonauts''' (47) - TDs, [[Doug Flutie]], [[Adrion Smith]], [[Robert Drummond (gridiron football)|Robert Drummond]], [[Mike "Pinball" Clemons]], [[Derrell Mitchell]]; FGs, [[Mike Vanderjagt]] (4); cons., [[Mike Vanderjagt|Vanderjagt]] (5).

'''Saskatchewan Roughriders''' (23) - TDs, [[Reggie Slack]], [[Mike Saunders (Canadian football)|Mike Saunders]], [[Shawn Daniels (Canadian football)|Shawn Daniels]]; FGs, [[Paul McCallum (Canadian football)|Paul McCallum]]; cons., [[Paul McCallum (Canadian football)|McCallum]] (2).

'''First Quarter''' <br>
SSK—FG McCallum 28-yard field goal (SSK 3-0)<br>
TOR—TD Mitchell 34-yard pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert) (TOR 7-3)<br>
'''Second Quarter''' <br>
TOR—TD Drummond 6-yard pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert) (TOR 14-3)<br>
TOR—FG Vanderjagt (TOR 17-3)<br>
SSK—TD Daniels 3-yard run (TOR 17-9)<br>
TOR—FG Vanderjagt 12-yard field goal (TOR 20-9)<br>
'''Third Quarter'''<br>
TOR—TD Smith 95-yard run off the kickoff (Vanderjagt convert) (TOR 27-9)<br>
TOR—TD Flutie 10-yard run (Vanderjagt convert) (TOR 34-9)<br>
TOR—TD Clemons pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert) (TOR 41-9)<br>
'''Fourth Quarter'''<br>
TOR—FG Vanderjagt (TOR 44-9)<br>
SSK—TD Saunders 51-yard pass from Slack (McCallum convert) (TOR 44-16)<br>
TOR—FG Vanderjagt (TOR 47-16)<br>
SSK—TD Slack 1-yard run (McCallum convert) (TOR 47-23)

The game started well for Saskatchewan, with [[Shannon Baker (American football)|Shannon Baker]] returning the opening kick-off 74 yards deep into Toronto territory. Five plays later, the Roughriders scored a 28-yard field goal from [[Paul McCallum (Canadian football)|Paul McCallum]].

After the two teams exchanged interceptions, the Argonauts engineered a 32-yard drive culminating in a touchdown strike from quarterback [[Doug Flutie]] to [[Derrell Mitchell]] to put Toronto in the lead, 7–3. Doug Flutie then marched the Argos down the field again and hit [[Robert Drummond (gridiron football)|Robert Drummond]] with a 6-yard touchdown pass to stretch the margin to 14–3.

Saskatchewan edged closer with 3-yard touchdown plunge from [[Shawn Daniels (Canadian football)|Shawn Daniels]], but the convert failed, leaving the score 14–9. Then Toronto kicker [[Mike Vanderjagt]] kicked two field goals, one on the final play of the first half, to extend the lead to 20-9 going into the locker room.

The turning  point in the game came on the first play of the second half. Toronto kick returner [[Adrion Smith]] caught the ball on his own 15-yard line, started toward the right sideline for a record 95 return for a touchdown. Shortly after an interception, Flutie engineered a 73-yard drive, and called his own number from 10 yards out to score again. Still in the third quarter Flutie spotted [[Mike "Pinball" Clemons]] open in the end zone for the third touchdown in the quarter. The score after three quarters was 41–9.

Saskatchewan scored in the fourth quarter when [[Mike Saunders (Canadian football)|Mike Saunders]] hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass from scrambling quarterback [[Reggie Slack]]. Vanderjagt added two more field goals for Toronto and Slack plunged in from 1 yard out to round out the scoring.

==Trivia==
* Doug Flutie, who threw for 350 yards, claimed [[Grey Cup MVP|Most Valuable Player]] honours along with a brand new [[Dodge Dakota]], while [[Paul Masotti]] was named [[CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award|Most Valuable Canadian]]. While on air live, and upon being named [[Grey Cup MVP]], Flutie handed the keys to the Dakota over to Masotti. When his generosity was acknowledged by the announcer, Flutie remarked "I have one (a MVP truck) from last year." (When he was also MVP.)
* The game was originally slated to be held at [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Memorial Stadium]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], but the [[Baltimore Stallions]]' relocation to [[Montreal|Montreal, Quebec]] to become the new [[Montreal Alouettes|Alouettes]] a year earlier along with the ownership situation struggle in Montreal made it impossible to hold the game in that city. The league then awarded the game to [[Edmonton]] at the 1996 [[Grey Cup]] weekend. Had the Stallions still been in operation in 1997, it would have marked the first Grey Cup game to be held outside of [[Canada]].

==1997 CFL Playoffs==
===West Division===
* Semi-final (November 2 @ [[Calgary, Alberta]]) [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] 33-30 [[Calgary Stampeders]]
* Final (November 9 @ [[Edmonton, Alberta]]) [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] 31-30 [[Edmonton Eskimos]]

===East Division===
* Semi-final (November 2 @ [[Montreal|Montreal, Quebec]]) [[Montreal Alouettes]] 45-35 [[BC Lions]]*
* Final (November 9 @ [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]) [[Toronto Argonauts]] 37-30 [[Montreal Alouettes]]

''* Cross over from West Division''

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1997 |title=Grey Cup: 1997 |publisher=Canadian Football League |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425012943/http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1997 |archive-date=2011-04-25 }}

{{Saskatchewan Roughriders}}
{{Toronto Argonauts}}
{{85th Grey Cup}}
{{Grey Cup}}
{{1997 CFL season by team}}

[[Category:Grey Cup]]
[[Category:Canadian football competitions in Edmonton]]
[[Category:1997 in sports in Alberta]]
[[Category:1997 Canadian Football League season]]
[[Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts]]
[[Category:1990s in Edmonton]]
[[Category:1997 in Canadian television]]
[[Category:November 1997 sports events in Canada]]
[[Category:1997 in Canadian football]]