Damonte Coxie and the Toronto Argonauts gave themselves a little breathing room.
Coxie scored two touchdowns as Toronto defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39-20 on a rainy Saturday night. The Argos (5-5) moved into second in the East Division, two points ahead of their archrivals with a game in hand.
Toronto also tied the season series 1-1 heading into the annual Labour Day clash Sept. 7 at Hamilton Stadium. The Ticats won the first meeting 24-23 on July 18.
“I’d say there was a sense of urgency, for sure,” said Coxie, who had four catches for a team-high 75 yards. “We understood what was at stake … but once you know these things, you can’t let the game become bigger than the moment.
“You still have to understand these things and execute properly. It’s knowing that and still staying calm in the situation.”
Chad Kelly threw three touchdown passes and ran for another for Toronto but put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Kelly hit Coxie on a 27-yard TD pass at 6:45 to put the Argos up 32-20. It was set up by Jonathan Kongbo’s recovery of a Tre Ford fumble at Hamilton’s 33-yard line that was forced by veteran defensive lineman Shawn Lemon.
Then after Hamilton turned the ball over on downs at the Toronto 49, Kelly thrilled the BMO Field gathering of 18,843 with a one-yard TD run at 12:10 to end an eight-play, 66-yard drive.
“Game in and game out Chad is going to give us an opportunity to compete,” said Toronto head coach Mike Miller. “He’s an outstanding competitor, we had great communication as always.
“But he makes big plays, he sees the field well.”
Miller said Kelly convinced him to go with the play that ultimately led to Coxie’s touchdown. With Toronto facing a second-and-four situation, Miller was already thinking the Argos were in field-goal range.
“(Kelly) said, ‘Hey I think we have a chance at this,'” Miller said. “I’m thinking, ‘Well, we’ve got a chance that maybe we’re sitting on three on paper,’ (but) I said, ‘All right, as long as it’s there.’
“It’s really those moments that are pretty special because we spend a lot of time together and we work hard … so when it comes together like that it’s pretty special. But that’s the trust I have in him and the offence.”
Kelly finished 26-of-34 passing for 289 yards and also had an interception. Rookie Isaiah Smith accounted for 99 of Toronto’s 145 yards on the ground as the Argos moved to 4-0 when they crack the 100-yard plateau.
Smith, Toronto’s second-round pick (11th overall) in this year’s CFL draft out of Guelph, Ont., smiled when told he’d finished one yard short of the century mark.
“It absolutely doesn’t matter,” he said. “All I care about is winning.
“Obviously the series is 1-1 now and we’ve got to come back Labour Day and make sure we beat these guys again. That’s all we’re worried about.”
Ford, who came off the bench to rally Hamilton to a win last week over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, completed 19-of-32 passes for 356 yards.
“I thought he did some good things,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “I mean, certainly that’s what Tre needs to get better at, consistency in the passing game.
“He’s still a young player that’s got a lot of football in front of him. We’ll keep working on it.”
The contest began at 8:07 p.m. ET — one hour, seven minutes later than originally scheduled — due to a weather delay. When both teams returned to the field at 7:50 p.m. ET, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck blared over the stadium’s speakers as they warmed up.
But when Hamilton ran the game’s first play from scrimmage, it resumed raining. The wet stuff stopped falling midway through the second but returned to start the final quarter before again subsiding.
At halftime, Toronto added former defensive stalwarts Kevin Eiben and Carl Brazley to its all-time list.
Marc Liegghio’s 20-yard field goal in the rain 14 seconds into the fourth cut Toronto’s advantage to 25-20.
Besides Coxie’s touchdowns, Kevin Mital had the other Toronto major. Brady Lidster kicked four field goals and three converts.
Larry Rountree III and Jake Dolegala scored Hamilton’s touchdowns. Liegghio booted two field goals and two converts.
Lidster’s 32-yard field goal at 12:53 of the third stretched Toronto’s lead to 25-17. Kelly’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Mital at 5:45 put the Argos up 22-17.
Dolegala’s one-yard TD run to end the second quarter staked Hamilton to a 17-15 halftime advantage, capping a timely nine-play, 70-yard drive.
Lidster hit from 22 yards out at 13:26 to give Toronto a 15-10 advantage, following Janarion Grant’s 45-yard punt return. Liegghio’s 40-yard field goal at 7:11 cut the Argos’ lead to 12-10.
Rountree ended the first with a nine-yard TD run that pulled Hamilton to within 12-7. It followed Lidster’s 47-yard field at 13:16.
Lidster’s 49-yard field goal in the rain at 8:53 put Toronto ahead 9-0. Kelly’s 35-yard TD strike to Coxie opened the scoring at 4:20, but the convert was blocked.
Tiger-Cats: Visit the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Argonauts: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Aug. 29.