ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – The last time these two teams stepped on the field it resulted in one of the most exciting comebacks in CFL history. But for both the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Saturday’s contest meant much more.
At 6-9 and one game behind both Hamilton and Montreal in the East Division, this game was a must-win for the Argos to be able to “control their own destiny” the rest of the way, as Coach Milanovich put it. With this being the third and final contest between the QEW rivals, who split the first two matchups, the Ballard Cup & playoff tiebreaker were both on the line.
A loss wouldn’t eliminate Toronto from playoff contention, but they’d certainly need help from other teams.
The Ticats added RB Nic Grigsby to their roster in the week heading into the matchup. Grigsby, who was released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, is tied for the CFL lead in touchdowns (nine) and fourth overall in rushing yards (744)
The Double Blue defence got off to a great start when HB Jamie Robinson tackled Collaros in the Ticats’ endzone to force a safety on the second play of the game.
The offence started strong as well, as QB Ricky Ray connected with WR Maurice Mann on the ensuing drive for 33 yards to bring Toronto to the Hamilton 18-yard line. But the Boatmen were unable to finish the drive, settling for a 36-yard Swayze Waters field goal to extend their early lead to 5-0.
Their next drive had a similar tone to it, as a pass-interference penalty brought Toronto to within Hamilton’s 20-yard line, but once again they were stopped in the red zone and had to settle for another field goal, this time for 22-yards. 8-0 Argonauts with 4:39 remaining in the opening quarter.
Ticats QB Zach Collaros looked impatient early, forcing throws into double coverage and not giving his receivers enough time to complete their routes. As a result, Hamilton was unable to garner much of anything on offence in the opening quarter.
The Argos offence pressed again at the end of the first quarter, but this time they capitalized with an 8-play, 70-yard drive resulting in a 22-yard touchdown pass to RB Steve Slaton. 15-0 Argonauts heading into the second.
To say the Argos dominated the first quarter would be an understatement, collecting 11 first downs compared to Hamilton’s 1, and out-throwing the Ticats 100 passing yards to none. The Ticats had 5 total yards on offence.
Hamilton responded swiftly on their next defensive series, as DB Rico Murray picked off Ricky Ray, his team-leading fifth interception of the year, to give the Ticats the ball at their own 40-yard line. Collaros finally made his first completion of the game to WR Luke Tasker for a short gain but was unable to do anything else, resulting in another quick punt from Hamilton.
Their next drive was a different story. At 7:56 into the 2nd quarter, Collaros completed a 50-yard bomb to Tasker to complete a 3-play, 78-yard drive. K/P Justin Medlock hit the conversion to cut the lead to 15-7.
As they have all year, discipline and turnovers began to haunt the Argos. Big gains by Slaton and FB Zander Robinson were called back because of holding calls on the offensive line, and Robinson fumbled the ball on the next drive to make it two consecutive turnovers by the Double Blue. Considering how few turnovers Toronto’s defence have caused in recent weeks, any giveaways on offence in a tight game are crucial. The score remained 15-7 going into the half.
Despite the yellow and black slowly taking back the momentum in the second quarter, the Argos dominated the first half on paper. They led first downs 14-5, out-rushing them 42-7 and beating them in the air 174-94. But costly penalties and turnovers kept the Ticats in it.
WR John Chiles, who had a massive game against the Ticats last time around, kick started the Argos’ second half with a 45-yard reception to bring Toronto into the red zone once again. But on the very next play, Chiles fumbled and LB Simoni Lawrence recovered. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Hamilton took advantage. At 4:49 into the third quarter, Collaros capped off an 80-yard, five-play ensuing drive with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Giguere to cut the lead to 15-14.
A key play in the game took place on special teams when Ticats WR Brandon Banks returned a punt and was taken down in his own end zone for what appeared to have been a safety, but instead it was called down on the one-yard line.
Of course, with this huge call for Hamilton, the Tiger-cats marched for 109 yards, capping off a 10-play drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to, you guessed it, Banks. Medlock hit the convert to give Hamilton the lead. 21-15 Ticats.
Another big moment took place at the end of the third quarter when Ray held onto the ball in the pocket for what felt like forever, giving Lawrence enough time to force another fumble which Hamilton recovered.
Fortunately for Toronto, their defence created a turnover of their own on the ensuing series when recently re-signed LB James Yurichuk intercepted Collaros to give the Boatmen some momentum. But once again, Toronto couldn’t turn good field position into a touchdown, kicking a 29-yard Waters field goal to cut the lead to 21-18 with 11:46 remaining.
Toronto’s next drive was their best of the half, as Ricky Ray led his team with a 55-yard, 8-play drive that brought them to the Hamilton one-yard line. Milanovich decided to go for it on 3rd and one-yard, but Hamilton stuffed a Slaton rushing attempt. As Ticat players and fans erupted at the huge play, a late flag was thrown calling Hamilton offside, giving Toronto a fresh set of downs. This time QB Mitchell Gale took it himself and snuck in for the touchdown to give the Boatmen the lead back. Waters hit the convert. 25-21 Toronto with 4:56 remaining.
On their next drive the Ticats would add a field goal from Medlock to bring the score to 25-24 and kick the ball back to the Argos to attempt to run out the clock.
Slaton continued his huge game, catching a 31-yard pass from Ray to extend the drive on second down followed by multiple runs for first downs. The offence once again stalled in the red zone and the Argos elected to kick the field goal.
Waters’ attempt was wide left and scored only a single, extending the lead to just 26-24.
The Ticats had under a minute and needed at least a field goal but could not muster enough yards to get into range. Collaros was sacked on the final play of the game by LB James Yurichuk and the clock expired.
With the win the Boatmen grabbed the season tiebreaker with the Ticats and will travel to Montreal to look to do the same in week 19 against Montreal.