HAMILTON — The Toronto Argonauts are in firm control of their playoff destiny after a convincing win in their traditional Labour Day rivalry game.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats gave a Steeltown sellout of 25,274 little to cheer about, falling 37-22 to Chad Kelly and the Argos in a game the home side desperately needed to win.
The Argos improved to 6-6, good for a 2.5-game lead over the Ticats (4-9) for second in the East. With a West crossover for the East’s third playoff spot very much in play, the Ticats probably need to go 5-0 the rest of the way to have a shot at the post-season.
Toronto’s victory gives the Argos the tiebreaker over Hamilton by virtue of winning the season series 2-1.
The Argos appear poised to finish second and host the CFL East semifinal, with the Montreal Alouettes running away with the division at 10-2. It would mark a return to the playoffs for the Argos after last year’s 5-13 finish.
The Ticats, meanwhile, are heading in the wrong direction after finishing first in the East last year at 11-7. Their Grey Cup drought is threatening to hit 26 seasons, a very large number in a nine-team league.
Since losing star QB Bo Levi Mitchell to an ankle injury in the fourth game of the season, the Ticats have gone 2-7.
Canadian Tre Ford, who started at QB for the Ticats on Monday, was ruled out with an upper-body injury to start the second half after taking a couple of big hits.
Harrison Frost replaced Frost and promptly overthrew a ball for an interception to DaShaun Amos, who returned it 55 yards to the Hamilton two-yard line. Isaac Smith then ran it in to give Toronto a commanding 27-7 lead.
The Ticats made it closer as the slow-moving game dragged on, but the score was flattering to Hamilton. Kelly sealed it with a 21-yard TD pass to Dave Ungerer with 1:43 left.
While the Ticats are searching for answers at the most important position on the field, the Argos have one of the most dangerous QBs in the CFL in Kelly. Kelly did throw his league-leading 18th interception on Monday, but he also makes plenty of big plays.
The Buffalo native spreads the ball around, seemingly never locking in on one receiver. Kelly entered the day third in the CFL in passing yards, but the Argos had just one receiver in the top 10 — Damonte Coxie, who went over 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his five-year career on Monday.
The Argos led 20-7 at halftime after an awful 30 minutes for the home side.
Kelly orchestrated a brilliant 11-play, 105-yard drive in the final three minutes, capping it with a 29-yard TD strike to Coxie. Because of penalties, Kelly was credited with 108 yards passing on the march.
The Argos quarterback threw for 224 yards in the first half, including a 13-yard TD pass to Jake Herslow to give Toronto a 13-7 lead.
Hamilton’s lone touchdown was a 23-yard rush by Ford to put Hamilton up 7-6 in the second quarter. That came after Kelly’s lone big mistake — a bad throw to Coxie that was picked off by Jamal Peters.
Apart from Ford’s TD scamper and Peters’ interception, there was very little positive for the Ticats in the opening half. They took bad penalties to give the Argos favourable field position and could not establish any sort of consistency with the run or pass.
Fittingly, Ticats receiver Kiondre Smith was penalized for objectionable conduct after the final play of the first half, leading to 10 free yards for Toronto to open the second.
The Argos host the winless Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday at BMO Field, while the Ticats have a bye week.