Argonauts weather the storm, take down Tiger-Cats at home

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 pair of Hamilton touchdowns put the away team up by two at halftime but the Argos got right back on top after the intermission. Kelly fired a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Mital to cap off a 10-play scoring drive and Brady Lidster added a field goal as the Argos began to turn the screw.

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.

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.

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