Toronto beat Hamilton 31-12 on Friday night to clinch first place in the East Division and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
The Argos’ triumphant and dominant performance over the Ticats at BMO Field nets Toronto their first division title since 2017. Led by an excellent defensive effort and some great special teams play, the Boatmen sailed to a commanding 24-3 lead late in the game before sealing the deal and division with an exclamation point interception return by Chris Edwards in the closing seconds.
The victory by Double Blue keeps them undefeated at home and improves their overall record to 9-4. By virtue of clinching the East. The Argos will host the Eastern Final on December 5th at BMO Field. Toronto has one more regular-season game left this Tuesday at home against Edmonton. Before a 19-day layoff between the end of their Week 16 game and the East Final.
Now 7-6, Hamilton will try to secure a home playoff game next week against Saskatchewan in Week 16. The Argos win the regular-season series over Hamilton three games to one. The two bitter rivals could meet again for round five on December 5th.
Hamilton Tiger-cats @ Toronto Argonauts Week 15 Game Recap/Highlights
1st Quarter
The Ticats opened the game aggressively on their first drive, taking two deep shots down the field. But after two first downs, the Argos defence held, forcing a Hamilton punt.
The Argos would pick up a first down on their opening series with two consecutive runs as a light rain would begin to develop at BMO Field. Hamilton’s defence would cause a big second-down stop on a DJ Foster rushing attempt and force Toronto to punt the ball away.
Jeremiah Masoli would attempt another deep ball on the first play of their next series. But Jackson Bennett would drop the pass down the middle of the field. The misfire would lead to a quick two and out for the Ticats.
Toronto would begin their next possession on offence near midfield. But the Argos were unable to capitalize when the team would again fail to convert on a second and short running play with DJ Foster.
Both teams would be playing opposite styles at this point of the game, with Hamilton being aggressive, while Toronto leaned more towards a conservative style.
Hamilton would kick things off with a bang on their next possession with a designed 21-yard run by Jeremiah Masoli. However, The Ticats drive would stall when Jeremiah Masoli missed a wipe-open Jaelon Acklin deep down the field. The Argos would get the ball back after another Tiger-Cats, but the field position was flipped due to the Masoli run.
Toronto would get their first, second down-conversion of the game through the air with an 18-yard connection from Bethel-Thompson to DaVaris Daniels. Two plays later, facing a third and short at midfield, Toronto would bring on Antonio Pipkin, who would barely convert the QB sneak.
Left tackle Dejon Allen would leave the game due to a leg injury. Theren Churchill would come into the game, and Toronto would reshuffle its lineup upfront. Moving Shane Richards to left tackle. On the very next play, a free blitzing Kameron Kelly would pressure Bethel-Thompson into an interception by Cariel Brooks.
Despite the turnover by their offence, Toronto’s defence would force a quick two and out by Hamilton to end the first quarter.
2nd Quarter
Dejon Allen would return to the lineup. The Argos would convert two consecutive first downs on completions to Juwan Brescasin and DaVaris Daniels. A roughing the passer call against Dylan Wynn would net Toronto another first down. With the rain still pouring, the penalty would move the Argos to Hamilton’s 33-yard line.
Bethel-Thompson would pick up another first down through the air with a 15-yard hookup with Daniels. The drive would stall in the red zone when Ticats cornerback Des Lawrence broke up a Thompson pass into the end zone. Toronto would get on the scoring board first with a 26-yard Boris Bede field goal.
The Tiger-Cats would stay aggressive on their ensuing offensive series, taking two more deep shots that were defended well by the Argos secondary. However, Masoli would use his legs to march into Argo territory with a 13-yard run.
Hamilton’s drive would stall. Taylor Bertolet would come on to attempt to tie the game on a 48-yard field goal, but his kick against the heavy winds would fall short. Chandler Worthy would field the kick in the end zone and return it 38-yards. A roughness penalty by Hamilton on the return would move Toronto out near midfield.
Two nifty DJ Foster runs would move the sticks and bring Toronto into Hamilton territory. However, a big sack by Ja’Gared Davis would push the Argos back and force them to punt the ball away.
Taking over inside their 20-yard line. Hamilton would pick up a first down behind the running of Sean Thomas-Erlington at the three-minute warning. Despite going into the wind, Hamilton’s drive would stall after Masoli’s eighth deep shot of the game. Unfortunately, Argo wide side cornerback Treston Decoud would land on his head breaking up the deep ball. It would take a while for Decoud to leave the field after the hard landing.
A fantastic 36-yard punt return by Chandler Worthy would set up Toronto at Hamilton’s 35 with 2:26 left in the first half.
A 15-yard Kurleigh Gittens reception would get Toronto into the red zone. Two plays later, a Ricky Collins catch would bring the ball down to the six-yard line. Dres Anderson would make a diving catch at the one-yard line to set up second and goal on the next play. Antonio Pipkin would come on and score on a QB sweep to give Toronto a two-score lead. On the scoring play, Hamilton linebacker Jovon Santos-Knox would be ejected out of the game for committing an unnecessary roughness play during the celebration. Knox would throw an elbow at Patrick LaVoie.
The penalty on the kickoff would lead to Boris Bede netting a rouge on the kickoff to extend Toronto’s lead to 11-0.
Toronto’s defence would force a two and out by Hamilton and get the Argos would get the ball back with less than a minute left in the half. The Argonauts s with the win at their back would drive to Hamilton’s 32. Boris Bede would come out and connect from 39-yards out to extend Toronto’s halftime lead to 14-0.
3rd Quarter
A short kickoff into the wind by Taylor Bertolet would set up Toronto at their 45-yard line to start the second half. The Argos would get into Hamilton territory with two consecutive first downs.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson facing a second and short would take an unnecessary shot near the end zone that a diving Stavros Katsantonis intercepted. The referees would rule the play incomplete. Hamilton would challenge the ruling, and the play would stand. The Ticats would lose their lone challenge.
The Argos would convert the first down on the next play. A sidearm throw by MBT to Kurleigh Gittens two plays later would take Toronto in the red zone. A completion to DJ Foster out of the backfield would take Toronto inside the 10-yard line. Facing a second and goal at the three, Bethel-Thompson would throw the ball away through the end zone to avoid a sack.
Boris Bede would connect on his third kick of the night from 11-yards out to extend the Argos lead to 17-0.
Down three scores after Toronto’s lengthy and time-consuming eight-minute drive. The Tiger-Cats would march into Argos territory quickly with three straight Masoli completions. A fourth straight completion to Tim White would bring Hamilton down to the Argonauts 17-yard line.
A Sam Acheampong sack on Masoli would force second and long. It would lead to Toronto holding serve and forcing a field goal attempt. Taylor Bertolet would connect on a 27-yard field goal to net Hamilton its first points and cut Toronto’s lead to 17-3.
Needing a stop, the Ticats defence would force a quick two and out by Toronto. Ryan Dinwiddie would challenge an incomplete pass on second down to Juwan Brescasion for pass interference, but the play was upheld.
The Argos’ would punt the ball back with just under two minutes left in the third quarter. A Masoli connection with Jackson Bennett for 18 yards and a 15-yard run by Sean Thomas-Erlington would bring the Ticats across midfield as the third quarter came to an end.
4th Quarter
With the wind at his back, Jeremiah Masoli would make an ill-advised pass on the run that was intercepted one-handed by Jalen Collins, giving Toronto the football back nursing a two-score lead.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson would complete an out pattern to Kurleigh Gittens for 15-yards to get the Boatmen into Ticats territory. Antonio Pipkin would come in on third and inches a few plays later and execute a 22-yard run.
With Arkells lead singer Mark Kerman in the broadcast booth proclaiming that the ‘Argos Suck.’ One play later, McLeod Bethel-Thompson would find Kurleigh Gittens for a 19-yard major to extend the Argos lead to 24-3.
Needing a quick response. Jeremiah Masoli would connect with Tim White for a 50-yard catch and run down to Toronto’s 31. Another Masoli completion and a QB sneak would bring Hamilton into the red zone.
Cordarro Law would sack Masoli on the ensuing play. Forcing a second and long. Looking for a wide-open Brandon Banks in the end zone. The Argos defence would get an assist from the right upright. Taylor Bertolet would come on and miss a 35-yard field goal through the end zone. The shanked kick would net Hamilton a single.
With under seven minutes left up 24-4. Toronto would pick up a quick first down on a slant to Dres Anderson. The Argos would end up taking nearly three minutes off the clock but punting the ball away.
Down 20 points, Jeremiah Masoli would try to dig Hamilton out of a big hole. An impressive 31-yard catch and run by Tim White would bring the Ticats to midfield.
Hamilton would pick up two more first downs with time ticking away, getting to Toronto’s 39. Henoc Muamba would wrestle the ball away from Tim White, and the Argos would recover the football, but the play was ruled dead. One play later, Masoli would connect with Brandon Banks on a 24-yard pass play to the one-yard line. Dane Evans would come in and score on a QB sneak to cut the Argo lead to 24-10. Masoli would find Sean Thomas-Erlington for a two-point conversion to cut Toronto’s lead to 12.
With 1:49 left, down 24-12, Hamilton would attempt an onside kick. Chris Edwards would recover the kick. The Argos would milk the clock down to 53 seconds.
Operating out of their end zone. Hamilton would drive down the field into Argos territory. Jeremiah Masoli would be picked off by Chris Edwards, who would return it 45 yards for the major.
The exclamation point play would give Toronto a 31-12 lead as the Double Blue clinched their first Eastern Division title since 2017.
Toronto Argonauts 31 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 12 Box Score
PASSING
| PLAYER | CP/AT | % | YDS | TD | INT | LG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22/40 | 55.0% | 326 | 0 | 2 | 50 |
RUSHING
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 37 | 9.2 | 21 | 0 | |
| 8 | 37 | 4.6 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 |
RECEIVING
| PLAYER | REC | ATT | YDS | YAC | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 8 | 110 | 75 | 22.0 | 50 | 0 | |
| 5 | 9 | 82 | 9 | 16.4 | 24 | 0 | |
| 3 | 6 | 38 | 17 | 12.7 | 17 | 0 | |
| 2 | 4 | 35 | 8 | 17.5 | 26 | 0 | |
| 2 | 2 | 20 | 18 | 10.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 2 | 5 | 20 | 7 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
FIELD GOALS
| PLAYER | FGA | FG | LG | S | YDS | FG MISS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 27 | 48, 35 |
PUNT RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
KICKOFF RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 | |
| 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
FG MISSED RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|
PUNTING
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | S | NET | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 265 | 44.2 | 57 | 0 | 187 | 31.2 |
KICKOFFS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 44 | 22.0 | 37 | 0 |
DEFENCE
| PLAYER | DT | ST | QS | INT | FR | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PASSING
| PLAYER | CP/AT | % | YDS | TD | INT | LG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26/34 | 76.5% | 250 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
RUSHING
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 47 | 2.6 | 7 | 0 | |
| 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 22 | 1 | |
| 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 7 | 0 |
RECEIVING
| PLAYER | REC | ATT | YDS | YAC | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 8 | 72 | 47 | 10.3 | 15 | 1 | |
| 5 | 8 | 64 | 21 | 12.8 | 18 | 0 | |
| 3 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 8.7 | 15 | 0 | |
| 3 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 7.0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 3 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7.0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 8.5 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 8.0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
FIELD GOALS
| PLAYER | FGA | FG | LG | S | YDS | FG MISS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 39 | 0 | 76 |
PUNT RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 78 | 15.6 | 37 | 0 |
KICKOFF RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
FG MISSED RETURNS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | 41.0 | 41 | 0 |
PUNTING
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | S | NET | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 257 | 42.8 | 51 | 0 | 230 | 38.3 |
KICKOFFS
| PLAYER | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 249 | 62.2 | 73 | 1 |
DEFENCE
| PLAYER | DT | ST | QS | INT | FR | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Boxscore
HAM
| Player | Position | Pass. CMP | Pass. ATT | Pass. YDS | Pass. TD | Pass. INT | Rush. ATT | Rush. YDS | Rush. TD | Rec. Targets | Rec. YDS | Rec. | Rec. TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TOR
| Player | Position | Pass. CMP | Pass. ATT | Pass. YDS | Pass. TD | Pass. INT | Rush. ATT | Rush. YDS | Rush. TD | Rec. Targets | Rec. YDS | Rec. | Rec. TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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