Argonauts 16Tiger-Cats 13
HAMILTON, Ont. — Matt Black and the Toronto Argonauts couldn’t have picked a better time to earn their first win of the season over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Black forced a fumble and recovered another as Toronto forced five turnovers to upset Hamilton 16-13 in the East Division semifinal Sunday to the dismay of an Ivor Wynne Stadium gathering of 27,828.
Toronto, in the playoffs for the first time since 2007, will face Montreal in the conference final next weekend. While the Alouettes will have home-field advantage, they did lose twice this season to the upstart Argos.
Black’s recovery of a Marcus Thigpen fumble off a punt return set up Toronto’s lone TD. Cleo Lemon’s 12-yard strike to Spencer Watt anchored a 10-point third quarter as the Argos erased a 6-3 halftime deficit to lead 13-6 while Hamilton starter Kevin Glenn was being treated for a knee injury.
“Turnovers are crucial in the regular season and even more crucial in the playoffs,” said the unheralded second-year defensive back, who received the game ball.
“Our gameplan all week was to get turnovers and give our offence good (field) position.
“In the playoffs field position dictates the game. The defence has free reign when you pin (the opposing offence) deep.”
Glenn, one of just two CFL quarterbacks to pass for 5,000 yards this season, left late in the first half with a hyperextended left knee. He was injured after being hit by Toronto’s Ricky Foley and walked off on his own before running to the Hamilton bench late in the third.
“I haven’t seen it but it was like he grabbed the back of my shoulder pads and was trying to drag me down,” Glenn said. “I mean the ball was thrown and it was going out of my hands in the air for a while before he actually tried to take me down.
“But we turned the ball over in situations we shouldn’t have and we didn’t need to. They made the plays, given them credit. It just hurts to work so hard to get to this point to end up like this.”
Turnovers were the big reason why Hamilton won all three regular-season meetings with Toronto. The Ticats held a decided 15-5 edge in that department, intercepting Argos starter Cleo Lemon five times and while recovering three of his fumbles.
To lessen the threat of mistakes, the Argos adopted a very conservative gameplan that had Lemon consistently dumping off short passes rather than throwing downfield. Lemon finished 22-of-29 passing and recorded his first TD strike against Hamilton, but had just 134 yards in the air as overall Toronto’s offence had the flow of a stagnant swamp.
But the unimaginative approach resulted in just one Toronto turnover while the Argos scored 13 of their points off Hamilton mistakes. The visitors also benefited from Ticats kicker Sandro DeAngelis plunking a 17-yard field goal try off the goalpost in the first half.
“I didn’t want to do too much,” said Lemon. “We took what they gave us and needed to be patient all day and drop it underneath.
“We knew going in we had to cut down on our mistakes. If we kept the ball we could win the game.”
Glenn returned under centre in the fourth. He orchestrated a smart six-play, 59-yard drive that backup Quinton Porter capped with a three-yard TD run at 6:53 that pulled Hamilton to within 16-13.
Toronto managed to put together a huge 10-play drive that began at its three-yard line with 4:51 left in the fourth before having to punt with 59 seconds left. Prefontaine’s 41-yard boot out of bounds put Hamilton on its 10-yard line with 52 seconds remaining.
Still, Glenn appeared poised to put Hamilton in position to kick the tying field goal, driving the Ticats to the Toronto 41-yard line. But Argos cornerback Byron Parker ended the threat with two seconds remaining, grabbing a deflected pass for the interception.
“We stepped up and made a play when it had to be made,” Parker said. “We knew if we got the turnovers we could win.”
A fact not lost upon Argos head coach Jim Barker.
“We turned it over 15 times in the last three games and I’ve said if you turn it over you can’t win the game,” said Barker. “Special teams and turnovers that was the big thing.
“So too was that final drive. I thought that was pivotal.”
All of which had Hamilton lamenting about losing in the East Division semifinal for the second straight year to abruptly end a once-promising regular season.
“Too many turnovers were the biggest difference obviously,” said Ticats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. “That was the biggest difference in the football game and it usually is in the playoffs.
“That (missed field goal) was a big play for us, obviously, it’s three points and the turnover in the fourth quarter they got three points on so that’s a six-point swing. We need to make those short ones, no question.”
But what bothered Bellefeuille most was Hamilton’s inability to score in the first half. Three times the Ticats found themselves in the red zone but had to settle for two field goals.
“That was the critical point for me,” Bellefeuille said. “Having said that we came in with a three-point lead at halftime and knew we were going to get the wind in the fourth quarter.
“But more turnovers obviously changed that.”
Prefontaine booted two field goals and a convert.
DeAngelis kicked two field goals and a convert.
Notes: Former Ticat stars Grover Covington, Joe Montford and Rob Hitchcock took part in the pre-game festivities . . . Receivers Glenn MacKay and Willie Thornton, linebacker Shannon James and defensive lineman Eddie Steele didn’t dress for Hamilton. Defensive back Michael Grant, fullback Jeff Johnson and offensive linemen Shannon Boatman and Jonathan St-Pierre were Toronto’s scratches.