TORONTO - Instead of slugging it out with the Toronto Argonauts on
Friday, Kevin Glenn and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats showed an effective
counter punch.
Glenn completed 28-of-38 passes for 322 yards and a touchdown as the
Ticats consistently countered big plays by the Toronto Argonauts in
securing an important 26-17 win.
Hamilton (7-9) moved into the second spot in the East Division
standings, two points ahead of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-9), who
face the league-best Montreal Alouettes (13-2) on Saturday. The
second-place finisher secures home-field advantage for the conference
semifinal.
But Hamilton and Winnipeg are fighting for much more than that. Both
are also battling Edmonton (7-9) in the cross-over scenario. The
Eskimos lost 30-7 to the Calgary Stampeders in Friday's late game.
Should
the fourth-place team in the West end the season with more points than
the third-place squad in the East, the Western club will become the No.
3 seed in the Eastern playoffs.
Eventhough they've struggled lately - Friday's win halted a four-game
losing streak and was just their second in seven contests - the Ticats
still have their playoff fate in their hands. The best way for
Hamilton to secure its first playoff berth since '04 is to simply win
its three remaining games, including a crucial showdown with
Winnipeg the final week of the regular season.
"We haven't had a win in a while," said Glenn. "To get one this late
knowing we're playing pretty good football going into the last stretch
of the season feels good."
Toronto (3-13) suffered its sixth straight loss before a Rogers
Centre gathering of 25,352 to remain firmly entrenched in the
conference basement. The Argos are a dismal 1-7 at home.
Hamilton defended the head-to-head provincial crown known as the
Ballard Cup by taking the season series. The two teams finished
2-2 but the Ticats had a better point differential.
Every time Toronto came up with a big play Friday, the Ticats had an effective counter.
Toronto opened the game with linebacker Zeke Moreno returning a
Glenn interception 43 yards for a touchdown, but it was negated by an
offside penalty. With a second chance, Hamilton mounted an opening
drive that resulted in Nick Setta's 43-yard field goal for a 10-point
swing.
It was one of eight penalties against Toronto in the game, which bothered Moreno.
"I really don't like to complain about officiating but there were so
many calls in this game that kind of make me wonder about how much
effort and time these officials put into scouting and watching film,"
he said. "It feels like we are targeted.
"It's such a shame because we put so much effort into it."
Toronto turned the ball over on its 39-yard line after Hamilton
stuffed quarterback Kerry Joseph on a third-and-one gamble. An
interference call on Dovonte Edwards in the end zone gave the Ticats
possession at the Argos' one-yard line, where third-string quarterback
Adam Tafralis scored on a keeper 35 seconds into the second.
Glenn's 12-yard TD strike to Cobb at 7:39 put Hamilton up 17-0. It
came two plays after a facemask call against Toronto linebacker Kevin
Eiben put the Ticats at the Argos' 15-yard line en route to a
commanding 20-0 half-time lead.
Joseph capped a seven-play, 57-yard march with a one-yard TD strike
to Jeff Johnson to cut Hamilton's lead to 20-7 early in the third, but Glenn and the Ticats were able to counter with another Setta
field goal.
Toronto appeared to gain momentum at 11:39 of the fourth when Joseph
found a streaking Jason Carter on a 95-yard TD strike to cut Hamilton's
lead to 23-17.
However, Glenn marched Hamilton 74 yards on six plays, including a
42-yard completion to former Argo Arland Bruce III and a 27-yard strike
to Chris Bauman. Setta cemented the win with a 17-yard field goal
at 14:07.
"I think we did a good job of that," Glenn said of Hamilton's
ability to answer big plays by Toronto. "That's what being
a team is all about.
"When the defence is down we want to pick them up and when we're down the defence wants to pick us up."
The CFL playoffs don't begin until Nov. 15, but Ticats
head coach Marcel Bellefeuille is treating his club's final three games
as post-season encounters.
"We treated this like a playoff game," he said. "I just told them
that when you win a playoff game you get to play the next week so this
week we'll have a meeting for a football game because we won this one."
Bruce, who had five catches for 95 yards against his former team, agreed.
"That's the start of getting ready for the playoffs," said Bruce,
who the Argos dealt to Hamilton in July. "That's the start of something
changing for us and that's what we need right now.
"We kind of relaxed but kept our composure at the end and came out with the victory."
Argos head coach Bart Andrus made an interesting decision midway
through the fourth with his club facing a third-and-five situation from
the Hamilton 10-yard line. Trailing 23-7, he opted to go for
the field goal instead of the touchdown. Medlock hit from 17 yards out
to cut Hamilton's lead to 23-10 at 7:28, but the decision drew no
shortage of catcalls from the crowd.
The move almost paid off when Carter's long TD
catch cut the lead to six. Yet even had Toronto not scored, Andrus said he wouldn't have
second-guessed his decision.
"That was the correct call and I'll do that every time," he said defiantly. "The problem was we didn't stop them after that.
"We gave up two long drives when we needed three-and-outs."
Joseph, who was 14-of-23 passing for 242 yards and two TDs, said
Toronto put itself behind the eight-ball by spotting Hamilton a
20-point half-time lead.
"It's tough, spot teams points and start out slow and then we have
to fight from behind," he said. "But we can't start looking to next
year.
"We've still got two games left and we'll start thinking about next year Nov. 8."
DeAndra Cobb had Hamilton's other touchdowns. Setta finished with four field goals and two converts.
Medlock ended up with a field goal and two converts.
NOTES: Argos tailback Jamal Robertson had 33 yards rushing to boost
his season total to 1,023 yards, making him the first Argos to surpass
1,000 yards rushing in a season since Michael Jenkins ran for 1,484
yards in 2001. He came in needing 11 yards to break the 1,000-yard mark
… Receiver Reggie McNeal, cornerback Jordan Younger, defensive end
Claude Harriott and offensive lineman Jean-Francois Morin-Roberge
didn't play for Toronto. Defensive back Lawrence Gordon, linebacker
Dennis Haley, offensive lineman Cedric Gagne-Marcoux and defensive
lineman Demonte Bolden were Hamilton's scratches.
