Argos control Ticats in OK Tire Labour Day Weekend victory

HAMILTON -- The Toronto Argonauts controlled the game on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-22 on Monday afternoon.

The Argos only surrendered their lead once in the contest, after a Tre Ford touchdown gave the home team a one-point lead in the second quarter. But after that, Toronto retook the lead and never gave it back.

Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly threw three touchdowns, 319 yards and an interception in the win, while receiver Damonte Coxie surpassed 1,000 yards on the season for the first time in his career. Toronto's defence also came up with timely plays throughout the contest, including a DaShaun Amos interception and a forced fumble and fumble recovery by Benjie Franklin, that helped to keep Hamilton from mounting a comeback.

After the Ticats punted on their opening drive of the game, the Argos opened the scoring with Lirim Hajrullahu booting a 52-yard field goal attempt through the uprights to give the visitors a 3-0 lead in front of a sold-out Hamilton Stadium. With 90 seconds left in the first quarter, Hajrullahu added another field goal, this one from 40 yards out, increasing the Double Blue's lead to 6-0, the final scoring play of the defensive opening frame.

The defences continued to stand tall to start the second quarter, but it was the Tiger-Cats' unit that made the biggest play of the game so far. Defensive back Jamal Peters jumped in front of a pass intended for Damonte Coxie, picking off Kelly, the quarterback's 18th interception of the season.

And Hamilton made the Argos pay.

Ford made two big plays on the ensuing drive, first a 49-yard pass to Kenny Lawler to bring his team down to the Argos' 23-yard line. Then on second-and-10, Ford stepped up in the pocket and took off into the end zone for the touchdown. The seven points off the turnover gave Hamilton their first lead of the ball game.

Toronto took the lead back late in the first half, however, with Kelly finding Jake Herslow in the end zone for a 13-yard major score.

The Argos weren't finished scoring after that touchdown late in the half. With just over two minutes left on the clock and pinned deep on their own five-yard line, Kelly and his offence moved the chains quickly down the field. On second-and-15, on the Ticats' 29-yard line, Kelly connected with Coxie, who was in between coverage in the end zone, to increase Toronto's lead to 20-7. With his family watching in the stands, Coxie hit 1,000 yards for the first time in his career in the first half, catching five of seven passes thrown his way for 89 yards and the major score.

Harrison Frost was in at quarterback to start the second half for Hamilton after Ford was ruled out with an injury. On just his fourth pass of his first possession, Frost threw an interception to Argos' defensive back DaShaun Amos, who returned the pick 55 yards to the Tiger-Cats' two-yard line. That set up rookie running back Isaiah Smith to plunge forward into the end zone, his first CFL touchdown, to extend Toronto's lead to 27-7.

Just when it looked like the Ticats were rolling, Toronto's defence swung the momentum back in their direction. Frost moved Hamilton down inside the red zone, but Benjie Franklin forced Lawler to fumble and Franklin pounced on it to stop a potential score and bring the Double Blue offence back onto the field.

Hamilton scored their first points of the second half with two and a half minutes left in the third frame. Kurleigh Gittens Jr. lined up in the backfield and then took a screen pass 23 yards and stretched out into the end zone. The touchdown cut Toronto's lead to 27-14.

Hajrullahu added his third field goal of the afternoon in the fourth quarter. His nine-yard attempt was good and increased the Argos' lead to 30-14.

Inside the three-minute warning, Hamilton found the end zone, with Gittens Jr. scoring his second major of the day. The six-yard strike plus the completed two-point convert to Ante Litre, cut Toronto's lead to 30-22. It wasn't enough to start a comeback, as Kelly found David Ungerer III for a touchdown on the next drive to increase Toronto's lead to 37-22 with under two minutes left in the game.

Toronto's defence forced one final turnover, with a turnover on downs with 30 seconds left in the game to seal the victory.

SCORING PLAYS

Lirim Hajrullahu 52-yard field goal (8:14, Q1) | TOR 3, HAM 0
Lirim Hajrullahu 40-yard field goal (1:30, Q1) | TOR 6, HAM 0
Tre Ford 23-yard touchdown run (10:02, Q2) | HAM 7, TOR 6
Chad Kelly 13-yard touchdown pass to Jake Herslow (4:07, Q2) | TOR 13, HAM 7
Chad Kelly 29-yard touchdown pass to Damonte Coxie (0:19, Q2) | TOR 20, HAM 7
Isaiah Smith two-yard touchdown run (10:25, Q3) | TOR 27, HAM 7
Harrison Frost 23-yard touchdown pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. (2:40, Q3) | TOR 27, HAM 14
Lirim Hajrullahu nine-yard field goal (7:31, Q4) | TOR 30, HAM 14
Harrison Frost six-yard touchdown pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and Ante Litre two-point convert (2:50, Q4) | TOR 30, HAM 22
Chad Kelly 21-yard touchdown pass to David Ungerer III (1:47, Q4) | TOR 37, HAM 22

NEXT UP

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats head into a Week 15 bye before they return to action in Week 16, when they host the 10-2 Montreal Alouettes on Friday, September 18.

Toronto will host the winless Ottawa REDBLACKS in Week 15 on Saturday, September 12, as the Argos look to improve on their 2-0 record at BMO Field this season.