Ticats beat Argos 27-24 | CP24.com

Bo Levi Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief Saturday night.

James Butler and Destin Talbert scored touchdowns, led by turnovers, to help Hamilton hold on and beat the Toronto Argonauts 27-24 for their first win of the season.

“Relief is a great word,” Mitchell said. “That makes us 1-1 in the East.

“I know we’re 1-5, that’s not nice. I told the boys to celebrate, but I still realize what the situation is. Learn from what we’ve done, some good things have happened… there are a lot of things we can clean up and try to prevent those games from becoming close.”

Hamilton (1-5) claimed only its second win in 12 games against its old rival, as the Ticats narrowly avoided going 0-6 for the first time since 2017 (0-8 start).

Hamilton’s defense entered the game with three turnovers, a CFL low. But the Ticats put the Tim Hortons Field crowd of 22,910 on edge late in the game.

Janarion Grant’s 96-yard punt return TD at 12:34 of the fourth put Toronto back within 27-24. Grant contributed to a wild finish by fumbling a punt return that the Argos recovered at their own 21-yard line with 26 seconds left.

On a third-and-seven pass, Hamilton was penalized for pass interference, putting Toronto at the 50-yard line with 14 seconds left. But Nick Arbuckle’s pass to Damonte Coxie on the final play was incomplete.

“When you’re 5-0 at that point, I think you’re pretty confident,” Mitchell said. “When you’re 0-5, it’s pretty tense.

“To make it that exciting again, with the fans there, it just feels dangerous to let it happen like that.”

Mitchell completed 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards with a TD and an interception. But unlike his starter, head coach Scott Milanovich didn’t categorize the win as a relief.

“I don’t know if relief is the right word, I’m happy for them (Ticats players),” he said. “The fact that they made it tonight, even though it was close (that) maybe makes it even sweeter.

“I’m proud of the way they fight, the way they work. They deserve to win and now we have to stack them.”

Butler ran for 50 yards on 11 attempts and added four catches for 53 yards.

Milanovich said the outcome was especially sweet for the six Ticats players and many team officials — including Milanovich — who played or were previously associated with Toronto. Milanovich led the Argos to the ’12 Grey Cup in his first season as CFL head coach.

Toronto (3-3) saw its six-game winning streak against Hamilton snapped, suffering its third loss in four games overall. Starter Cameron Dukes completed 20 of 27 passes for 180 yards before being subbed off in the fourth inning for Arbuckle.

Arbuckle completed eight of 14 passes for 118 yards with a TD and an interception. He hit DaVaris Daniels on an 18-yard scoring strike at 10:18 of the fourth, but the two-point convert was unsuccessful.

“We’re not a good enough football team to make those mistakes,” Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “Good football teams don’t make those mistakes, so we’ve got to get better.

“Too many mistakes at the wrong time… We didn’t play winning football tonight.”

Dinwiddie said it’s too early to say whether Dukes will remain Toronto’s starter.

“We’re going to look at it,” he said. “I’m not going to make a judgment until I see the movie.”

Hamilton moved within four points of third-place Toronto in the East Division. Idle Montreal (5-1) is in first place, ahead of the Ottawa Redblacks (4-2).

“Honestly, I don’t really look, and I hope our players don’t either, at the East Division standings right now,” Milanovich said. “We had to get a win, period, against anybody, at any time.

“Of course the game against Toronto makes it extra special.”

Luther Hakunavanhu had Hamilton’s other touchdown. Marc Liegghio added the converts and two field goals.

Ka’Deem Carey scored Toronto’s other touchdown. Lirim Hajrullahu kicked two converts and a field goal while John Haggerty added a single.

Haggerty’s 50-yard single at 4:27 of the fourth inning made it 27-11 for Hamilton.

Mitchell’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Hakunavanhu with eight seconds left in the third period gave Hamilton a 27-10 lead.

Liegghio’s 29-yard field goal at 10:57 of the third period extended Hamilton’s lead to 20-10. Toronto opened the second half with Hajrullahu’s 43-yard shot at 3:00.

Hamilton converted Toronto’s turnovers into touchdowns to take a 17-7 halftime lead.

Butler opened the scoring with a nine-yard TD run at 3:51 of the first. It followed Ante Litre’s blocked punt that gave Hamilton possession of the ball at Toronto’s nine-yard line.

After Liegghio’s 20-yard field goal in the 1st minute of the second period, Talbert scored on a 31-yard fumble recovery to give Hamilton a 17-0 lead in the 5th minute of the second period. Talbert recovered the Dukes’ fumble on a second-and-one keeper and ran back up the field untouched.

Carey cut Hamilton’s lead to 17-7 with an 11-yard touchdown run at 9:18.

NEXT ONE

Argonauts: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-5) on Saturday.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the Edmonton Elks (0-6) on Sunday, July 28.