TORONTO — It was a battle between East Division rivals and against the elements on Saturday night as the Toronto Argonauts held off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to claim a 39-20 win at home. The result puts the Argos back at .500 and evens up the QEW Series a couple weeks ahead of what will be a crucial fixture on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend.
The Argonauts used a dominant second half to get away from the Tiger-Cats after seeing the visitors take a lead into halftime. Chad Kelly threw two touchdown passes to Damonte Coxie and ran one in himself while the Toronto defence recorded four sacks and kept the Ticats out of the end zone after the break.
After storms in the area delayed kickoff by an hour, Kelly and the Argos offence wasted no time getting on the board. On play action, Toronto’s pivot rolled to his right and dropped a 35-yard touchdown pass to Coxie for the game’s first score. On the other side Hamilton stuttered out of the gates with three consecutive two-and-outs to start the game.
A missed field goal attempt by Lidster gave Hamilton life as they trailed by five with nine minutes to go but the Argos responded by creating their first turnover through a Shawn Lemon strip sack on Ford, one of Lemon’s two takedowns in the ballgame. That takeaway led to Coxie’s second major of the night as Toronto took control midway through the fourth.
Kelly finished 26-34 with 289 passing yards, three touchdown passes, one interception, and one rushing major. Coxied had four catches for 75 yards to go with his two scores while Tyler Kahmann made seven catches for 74 yards. Rookie Isaiah Smith recorded 99 rushing yards on 15 attempts.
Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich turned back to Tre Ford after the Canadian quarterback’s impressive relief performance in the Tabbies’ win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week. Ford had his moments on Saturday but was under duress from the Toronto pass rush on a few occasions. Ford finished with 19 completions and 356 passing yards and 33 rushing yards. Some big passing plays helped Kiondre Smith and Keric Wheatfall surpass 100 receiving yards.
Stavros Katsantonis made a diving interception on Kelly in the second quarter to make it five picks on the season for Hamilton’s star safety and six interceptions in three games for Toronto’s pivot.
RELATED
» 3 stats that defined Toronto’s Week 12 win over Hamilton
» Depth Charts: HAM | TOR
» Game Notes: Tiger-Cats at Argonauts
» Injury Reports: Stay up to date
» Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally
SCORING PLAYS
- Chad Kelly 35-yard touchdown pass to Damonte Coxie (10:44, Q1) | TOR 6, HAM 0
- Brady Lidster 49-yard field goal (6:11, Q1) | TOR 9, HAM 0
- Brady Lidster 47-yard field goal (1:47, Q1) | TOR 12, HAM 0
- Larry Rountree III eight-yard touchdown run (00:00, Q1) | TOR 12, HAM 7
- Marc Liegghio 40-yard field goal (7:51, Q2) | TOR 12, HAM 10
- Brady Lidster 24-yard field goal (1:33, Q2) | TOR 15, HAM 10
- Jake Dolegala one-yard touchdown run (00:00, Q2) | HAM 17, TOR 15
- Chad Kelly 12-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Mital (9:19, Q3)| TOR 22, HAM 17
- Brady Lidster 32-yard field goal (2:10, Q3) | TOR 25, HAM 17
- Marc Liegghio 26-yard field goal (14:48, Q4) | TOR 25, HAM 20
- Chad Kelly 27-yard touchdown pass to Damonte Coxie (8:20, Q4) | TOR 32, HAM 20
- Chad Kelly one-yard touchdown run (2:52, Q4) | TOR 39, HAM 20
NEXT UP
The Tiger-Cats will look to bounce back in Week 13 when they visit the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, August 29. The Ticats have fallen to the Stamps in their past three meetings, including a 44-20 loss at home in Week 9.
Later that Saturday, the Argos will be in Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Boatmen will look to make it two wins from two against their West Division counterpart after defeating the Riders back in Week 4.
