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Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts took a huge step toward securing a playoff berth on Monday.
Kelly threw three touchdown passes to lead Toronto to a 37-22 Labor Day victory over Hamilton. The Argos (6-6) finished the season series 2-1, but more importantly moved four points ahead of the Tigercats (4-9) for second place in the East Division with a game in hand.
“Winning the head-to-head is a huge achievement,” Kelly said. “Obviously this puts us in a good position to make the playoffs.
“We’re very happy that we went from the first moment to the last here without falling apart – offensive, defensive and special teams. It was a good team win.”
Lirim Khairullahu’s nine-yard field goal at 7:31 of the fourth extended Toronto’s lead to 30-14. Harrison Frost found Curly Gittens Jr. on a six-yard pass, then Ante Liter for the two-point conversion at 12:46 to bring Hamilton within 30-22.
But Kelly sealed the win with a 21-yard pass to David Ungerer III at 13:17. Kelly completed 23 of 35 attempts for 319 yards, but also threw his 18th CFL interception, which set up Tre Ford’s 23-yard run at 5:06 of the second quarter to give Hamilton a 7-6 lead.
“That was the point where I thought, ‘OK, we’ve got to be very intentional about our work on the field and just make shots when we need them,’” Kelly said. “I thought we were really good at diving and dunking and taking shots when they were there.
“They had some exotic pressure that we were prepared for, but if (they) blitz you have to be ready to knock the ball out and I think we did that. The guys played one-on-one games.”
“Now we need to win five in a row,” says coach Tikata
Monday’s contest was Toronto’s 10th road game this season, with World Cup games to be played at BMO Field this summer. Argos head coach Mike Miller said the experience continues to pay dividends for his team.
“Coming here as we continue to grow as a team, you see this experience of working in a hostile environment,” he said. “This (Hamilton) is a very good football team…we knew we were going to have our hands full.
“The guys kept fighting, but I thought physically we played the game we want to play.”
Hamilton leads the overall series 37-17-1 but suffered his fourth Labor Day loss in five contests. The Ticats also face a near-impossible task of making the playoffs with just five regular-season games left to either pass Toronto for second place or set a record at least as good as the fourth-place finisher in the West Division and prevent a crossover.
“Now we need to win five games in a row,” Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich said.
And that’s a tough prospect considering Hamilton’s schedule includes games against the Montreal Alouettes (a CFL-best 10-2) and two games against the Edmonton Elks.
Hamilton lost more than the third game in a row. Ford (head) was unable to start the third quarter after completing four of nine passes for 75 yards.
Frost came in and completed 16 of 28 passes for 214 yards with two touchdowns and an interception before a sellout crowd of 25,274 at a sun-drenched Hamilton Stadium.
Jake Herslow, Damonte Coxie and Isaiah Smith also scored touchdowns for Toronto. Hajrullahu made three field goals and four goals.
Gittens Jr. scored Hamilton’s other two touchdowns. Mark Liggio added two converts.
Frost hit Gittens on a 23-yard touchdown pass at 12:28 of the third to pull Hamilton within 27-14.
The Ticats’ next game is Sept. 18 against Montreal.
Smith’s two-yard run with 4:40 left gave Toronto a 27-7 lead. It was set up by DaShawn Amos intercepting Frost and returning it 55 yards to the Hamilton two-yard line.
Frost carried Hamilton 70 yards to Toronto’s five-yard line before cornerback Benji Franklin forced it and then returned the attempt to Kenny Lawler at the Argos’ seven-yard line.
Kelly gave Toronto a 20-7 halftime lead with a 29-yard pass to Coxie at 14:45 of the second quarter. It capped an 11-play, 105-yard drive in which Kelly completed six of eight passes for 108 yards.
Hamilton’s offense managed just 103 net yards and four first downs in the first half.
Kelly’s 13-yard strike to Hurslow at 10:56 of the second gave Toronto a 13-7 lead.
Ford put Hamilton ahead 7-6 on a 23-yard run with 5:06 remaining. The three-play, 72-yard march was set up by a Jamal Peters interception.
But Ford appeared to be injured during his touchdown after being tackled in the end zone. After the goal, he went under the medical tent, but returned to the bench soon after and led the offense on the next possession.
Khairullahu struck from 40 yards out at 13:34 for the first, putting Toronto up 6-0. He opened the scoring with a 52-yard boot at 6:50 that followed a stunning zero-yard penalty against Hamilton’s Tyler Turnowski.
The Canadian receiver was flagged for attempting to bounce a loose ball back downfield near the goal line on a punt. A 15-yard penalty was called at the 40-yard line, where the ball originally should have been placed.
NEXT
Argonauts: Host the Ottawa Redblacks (0-11) on Saturday.
Tiger-Cats: Host the Montreal Alouettes (10-2) on Friday, September 18.