Tiger-Cats roll over Argonauts
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats simply dominated in a 34-15 win over the Toronto Argonauts at a packed Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton on Monday.
Hamilton quarterback Kevin Glenn threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns while his counterpart Cody Pickett fumbled twice and threw an interception.
One of Glenn's favourite targets was former Argos receiver Arland Bruce III who, in his first game against his former team, finished with six catches for 115 yards in reception — two of which led directly to Hamilton touchdowns.
"Two of our three touchdowns came off long passes that he caught," Tiger-Cats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said. "Against such a good defence, you can't nickel and dime them all the way down the field.
"You've got to have some big plays and he provided them for us."
"It felt different," Bruce said. "I got cheered all game instead of getting jeered and people talking about your family all game on the sidelines.
"It was a great atmosphere."
With the win, the Tiger-Cats improve to 5-4 on the season and it moves them four points ahead of third-place Winnipeg (3-6) in the East Division standings and to within four points of first-place Montreal (7-2). The last-place Argos drop to 2-7.
The game started on a high note for the Argonauts as Toronto running back Jamal Robertson opened the scoring six minutes in with a three-yard rushing TD and Justin Medlock added the convert for the early 7-0 Argo lead.
The Ticats eventually pulled even with just over a minute left in the quarter when Kevin Glenn hooked up with wide receiver Dave Stala for a 14-yard strike. The catch was Stala's third during the 54-yard TD drive.
Toronto's Medlock attempted a 52-yard field goal to open the second quarter but fell short thanks to some strong winds but he wouldn't be denied in his second attempt, a 47-yard kick, to put the Argos up by three with six minutes to go in the half.
The Toronto kicker went 2-for-4 with eight points on the day.
Bruce Almighty
"I contributed. I said that is what I wanted to do when I came to this team and that is what I did. That was probably the worst decision in football that has ever been made — the CFL, wherever football has been played. Because that wasn't true. I come to work everyday. That wasn't true." — Arland Bruce on Toronto questioning his work ethic and trading him to Hamilton
Bruce haunts former team
With less than four minutes to go, Hamilton's Glenn aired it out to Bruce for a 44-yard gain to get the Ticats on the Toronto 23-yard line. On the next play, Glenn connected with DeAndra' Cobb for the touchdown and a 14-10 lead.
Pickett was sacked by defensive end Justin Hickman on the first play of the Argos next possession for a two-yard loss and set the tone for the Argos drive. After Pickett shook off the hit by connecting on a 23-yard pass, a pair of outstanding tackles by the Ticats' Jamall Johnson stopped Toronto in their tracks.
Hamilton couldn't do much with the ball but would get it back after Pickett was picked off by Ticats defensive back Bo Smith. Smith advanced the ball 40 yards to the Toronto seven and set up a Nick Setta field goal to stretch the lead to seven for the hometown squad.
Setta finished 4-for-5 and contributed 16 points in the win.
Ticats can't convert on blocked punt
With seven seconds to go, Hamilton's Chris Thompson blocked a punt and gave the Ticats a pair of chances to add to their lead heading into halftime. However, a pass missed its mark and then Setta missed a short field-goal attempt and had to settle for a solitary point.
Hamilton opened the scoring in the second half thanks to a Pickett fumble which they recovered for a Setta field goal. The Argos' Medlock put another through the uprights to set the score at 21-13.
It wouldn't be a Labour Day Classic between these two clubs if tempers didn't get close to the boiling point and the referees had to step in when punches were thrown in the scrum near the end of the third quarter. When the dust-up was over, Toronto guard Nate Robertson and Hamilton's Hickman each earned disqualifications.
Following the melee, Bruce made his presence felt again with another huge reception against his former team. His second 40-plus-yard catch of the day paved the way for backup QB Adam Tafralis to punch it in for the 15-point Hamilton lead.
The mistakes continued to mount for the Argos as another missed kick by Medlock resulted in only one point, while Hamilton's Setta added two more field goals to put the final nails in the Argo coffin.
The two teams will meet again on Friday in Toronto in the second game of the home and home series.