THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON — Hamilton quarterback Kevin Glenn threw for two touchdowns and the defence held on for a 37-32 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday night.
Hamilton running back Avon Cobourne scored the game-winner with a three-yard scamper with 6:54 left in the game. That was set up by a 48-yard strike from Glenn to Chris Williams at the Toronto seven-yard line.
Argos QB Cleo Lemon was on fire in Steeltown despite the loss. The second-year Argo had a career-high 368 yards and three touchdowns on 26 of 36 passing.
The defence then came up big late in the game when linebacker Renauld Williams tipped a ball meant for Argo receiver Mike Bradwell with Toronto trying to convert a third-down-and-five.
Justin Medlock’s third field goal of the game, a 33-yard field goal seconds later with 1:21 left in the clash, sealed the victory.
The Ticat defence contained one more Argo drive in the dying seconds for the win.
Toronto quarterback Cleo Lemon threw three touchdown passes in the wild affair that had five lead changes as the Argos recorded their sixth-straight loss.
Toronto’s Brandon Rideau scored two touchdowns, including a 69-yard catch-and-run, while Andre Durie and Cory Boyd, back after a four-game layoff due to injury, each added one.
Dave Stala scored his league-leading seventh TD for the Ticats, while Aaron Kelly, quarterback Quinton Porter and Cobourne each added one.
Medlock was good on three field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder that gave Hamilton a 20-18 lead heading into the locker-room at halftime. He also made a 37-yard field goal early in the game and his 33-yard game-sealer.
Toronto kicker Noel Prefontaine was one-for-two, hitting from 19 yards, but missing from 20.
The teams will not be meeting in their traditional Labour Day game, so the intense rivalry was hyped up for this game, their only meeting this season at Ivor Wynne. The result was nine penalties in the first half, mainly for either unnecessary roughness, objectionable conduct or taunting.
The Argos (1-6) entered the game hoping to stop a five-game losing streak, and hoped new defensive co-ordinator Orlondo Steinauer could inspire the league’s worst defence to turn things around.
Hamilton (4-3) wanted to rebound from a loss in Calgary last week in which they went scoreless in the second half for the second time this season after holding the half-time lead.
Sophomore WR Brandon Rideau was the Argos go-threat on Saturday night, catching for a career-high 147 yards on six receptions, two of which were touchdowns (LG 69).
Hamilton extended its lead to 27-18 in the third quarter when Marcus Thigpen returned a punt 43 yards to the Toronto 14-yard line, setting up a one-yard TD run by Porter four plays later.
The Ticat defence looked to have stopped a Dalton Bell-led Argos offence with time running out in the third.
But a Hamilton defensive back was called for pass interference in the end zone against Chad Rempel, and Toronto got the ball at the one-yard line, setting up Boyd’s TD run to make the score 27-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hamilton thought they had recovered a Durie fumble early in the fourth, but lost a challenge of the ruling. Lemon, who had re-entered the game, soon after found Rideau racing down the right sidelines for a 69-yard touchdown and the 32-27 lead with 11:11 left in the game.
But the Ticats regained the two-point lead midway through the quarter with a 74-yard scoring drive that ended with a three-yard TD run by Cobourne. Glenn set up the score with a 48-yard pass to Chris Williams who was all alone at the Toronto seven-yard line.
Toronto opened the game with an 80-yard drive on just five plays, ending with a 21-yard TD strike from Lemon to Rideau giving the Argos a 7-0 lead just 2:45 into the game.
Hamilton responded immediately with an 86-yard scoring drive that ended with Stala catching a league-leading seventh touchdown pass of the season – a 10-yard strike from Glenn to the goal-line. The score was set up by a 29-yard catch-and-run by Cobourne that put Glenn over the 30,000-yard passing mark for his career.
The teams traded field goals before Lemon led the Argos 86 yards downfield, hitting Durie with a 23-yard TD strike to take a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. But the Ticats got that back with an 84-yard drive culminating in a 10-yard TD pass from Glenn to Kelly.
A time-count violation nullified a Toronto touchdown drive late in the half, and Prefontaine missed his 20-yard field goal wide right with 39 seconds left. Hamilton moved the ball within Medlock’s range in the final seconds, and the kicker was good from 50 yards to end the first half with the Ticats up 20-18.