HAMILTON — James Butler and Destin Talbert scored touchdowns set up by turnovers as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats held on to beat the Toronto Argonauts 27-24 for their first win of the season Saturday night.
Hamilton (1-5) earned just its second win in its last 12 games against its longtime rival. The Ticats narrowly averted dropping to 0-6 for the first time since 2017 (0-8 start), delighting the Tim Hortons Field gathering of 22,910.
Hamilton’s defence came into the game having forced a CFL-low three turnovers. It played without veteran safety Stavros Katsantonis, who was a late scratch and replaced by Canadian rookie Robert Panabaker.
Toronto (3-3) had its six-game win streak against Hamilton snapped and lost its third in four contests overall.
Hamilton starter Bo Levi Mitchell completed 20-of-29 passes for 270 yards with a TD and interception. Toronto’s Cameron Dukes finished 20-of-27 passing for 180 yards before giving way to Nick Arbuckle in the fourth quarter.
Arbuckle completed eight-of-14 passes for 118 yards with a TD and interception. He hit DaVaris Daniels on an 18-yard scoring strike at 10:18 of the fourth to finish an eight-play, 99-yard march but the two-point convert was unsuccessful.
Janarion Grant’s electrifying 96-yard punt-return TD at 12:24 pulled Toronto to within 27-24. Grant set up a wild finish when he fumbled a punt return. The Argos recovered at their own 21-yard line with 26 seconds remaining.
With Toronto facing third-and-seven, Hamilton was flagged for pass interference that gave the Argos the ball at their 50 with 14 seconds to play. But Arbuckle’s pass to Damonte Coxie was incomplete on the final play.
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Luther Hakunavanhu had Hamilton’s other touchdown. Marc Liegghio added the converts and two field goals.
Ka’Deem Carey scored Toronto’s other touchdown. Lirim Hajrullahu kicked two converts and a field goal while John Haggerty added a single.
Haggerty’s 50-yard single at 4:27 of the fourth made it 27-11 for Hamilton.
Mitchell’s 23-yard TD strike to Hakunavanhu with eight seconds left in the third staked Hamilton to a 27-10 advantage. It ended an impressive 95-yard, four-play march.
Liegghio’s 29-yard field goal at 10:57 of the third stretched Hamilton’s lead to 20-10. Toronto opened the second half with Hajrullahu’s 43-yard boot at 3:00.
Hamilton converted the Toronto turnovers into touchdowns to take a 17-7 halftime advantage.
Butler opened the scoring with a nine-yard TD run at 3:51 of the first. It followed Ante Litre’s blocked punt that gave Hamilton possession at the Toronto nine-yard line.
Then after Liegghio’s 20-yard field goal at 1:09 of the second, Talbert scored on a 31-yard fumble recovery to put Hamilton ahead 17-0 at 5:05. Talbert recovered Dukes’ fumble on a second-and-one keeper and ran in untouched.
Carey cut Hamilton’s lead to 17-7 with an 11-yard TD run at 9:18.
Offensively, Hamilton managed just 124 first-half yards and converted one-of-eight second-down chances. Toronto held a huge edge in time of possession (19 minutes, 29 seconds) and recorded more first downs (nine to five) but finished with 156 yards of net offence.
UP NEXT
Argonauts: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-5) on Saturday.
Tiger-Cats: Visit the Edmonton Elks (0-6) on Sunday, July 28.