71st Grey Cup

The 71st Grey Cup was the 1983 Canadian Football League championship game that was played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, between the Toronto Argonauts and the hometown British Columbia Lions. The Argonauts narrowly defeated the Lions in a close 18-17 victory.

Game Summary

Toronto Argonauts (18) - TDs, Jan Carinci, Cedric Minter; FGs, Hank Ilesic; cons., Ilesic; singles, Ilesic (2).

British Columbia Lions (17) - TDs, Mervyn Fernandez, John Henry White; FGs, Lui Passaglia; cons., Passaglia (2).

The 1983 Grey Cup marked the first championship game where weather was not a deciding factor, as the final was held indoors for the first time at the new BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.

Most notably, however, 1983 marked the end of one of the longest droughts in the history of the trophy. The Toronto Argonauts, winners of a record 10 Grey Cups, had not sipped from the silver chalice since 1952.

The Argos faced a difficult task. Not only were they opposing the B.C. Lions with a partisan crowd behind them, but Toronto’s star quarterback Condredge Holloway was battling the flu. He did manage, however, to complete a 14-yard touchdown toss to Jan Carinci in the second quarter.

Trailing 17-7, Toronto coach Bob O'Billovich elected to go with Joe Barnes at pivot in the second half. Slowly Barnes got the Argos offence going, only to be negated when Hank Ilesic missed on three field goals. Two were good for singles, however, as Toronto cut its deficit to eight.

When Ilesic finally split the uprights on a 43-yard attempt in the fourth quarter, it put the Argos within striking distance. Then with four minutes remaining, Barnes executed one of the most important drives in Argonauts history. He hit Paul Pearson with a pass at the B.C. 45, but the ball popped loose into the air. It was another famed Argo bounce, as Emanuel Tolbert caught the ball to keep the drive alive.

Barnes went to work again, throwing to Tolbert at the B.C. 25 and another pass to Pearson on the three. With 2:44 left in regulation, Barnes flipped to Cedric Minter in the end zone, giving the Boatmen their initial lead of the game. But the Argos failed on the two-point attempt.

Leading by one, Toronto forced B.C. to punt on its next possession, allowing the Argos to run out most of the clock. B.C.’s Roy Dewalt had one last chance to throw a Hail Mary pass on the final play, but his prayer wasn’t answered, as long suffering Argos fans went into the streets in jubilation.

B.C. scored its points on touchdown passes by Dewalt to Mervyn Fernandez and John Henry White. Lui Passaglia also kicked a 31-yard field goal.

Trivia

Hank Ilesic, who came directly from high school to the CFL, was playing in his 6th consecutive Grey Cup victory, and 7th consecutive Grey Cup game, all in his first 7 years in the league.

This marked the first occasion that the Grey Cup was played indoors.

This was the first Grey Cup game played at BC Place Stadium.

1983 CFL Playoffs

West Division

* Semi-final (November 13 @ Winnipeg, Manitoba) Winnipeg Blue Bombers 49-22 Edmonton Eskimos
* Final (November 20 @ Vancouver, British Columbia) British Columbia Lions 39-21 Winnipeg Blue Bombers

East Division

* Semi-final (November 13 @ Ottawa, Ontario) Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-31 Ottawa Rough Riders
* Final (November 20 @ Toronto, Ontario) Toronto Argonauts 41-36 Hamilton Tiger-Cats

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