Courtesy Toronto Star:

Call the first round of the Toronto Argonauts quarterback battle a draw.

While presumptive No. 1 Kerry Joseph produced more points in his quarter of work, holdover Michael Bishop had a definite edge in artistic merit.

Either way, with these two guys at the helm the sporadic Argo offence of old may be dead and buried.

The Argos blew a 10-point lead in settling for a 34-34 tie in their CFL pre-season opener with the Alouettes last night before a full house at Molson Stadium.

But that was secondary unless you’re concerned about the fact the Als scored all those points with third, fourth and fifth-string quarterbacks. (For the record, head coach Rich Stubler says he isn’t.)

What was primary was the performance of the two guys battling for the top quarterback job, a battle that could go on all season.

Bishop drew the starting assignment and wasted no time trying to stake his claim, hitting former New England Patriot Bethel Johnson on a 77-yard pass-and-run play on the first play from scrimmage – 23 seconds into the game.

On the Argos second possession, Bishop ran 18 yards on the option before taking the Argos to the one-yard line with three impressive passes.

As if that weren’t enough to make a statement, he plunged into the end zone from the one to cap a five-play 72-yard drive that was accomplished mostly through the air.

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