QB Kelly reaches 10,000 yards passing as Argos beat Cats in QEW battle
- Buzzer Beater Sports
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Chad Kelly threw three touchdown passes, two to Damonte Coxie, and added a rushing score as the Toronto Argonauts weathered the storm with a dominant second half and took down the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 39-20, at BMO Field, on Saturday night.
A downpour delayed the battle of the QEW by just over an hour, but most of the 18,842 fans hung in for the latest chapter of this storied rivalry.
Kelly completed 26 of 34 passes for 289 yards and one interception while adding a rushing touchdown, Isaiah Smith led Toronto on the ground with 99 yards, while Coxie pulled in four balls for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensive lineman Shawn Lemon had a huge game with two sacks and a forced fumble.
Hamilton quarterback Tre Ford threw for 356 yards in the rain, with wide receivers Keric Wheatfall and Kiondre Smith both having 100-yard receiving games.
The Argos (5-5) struggled to establish the run early, gaining just 28 yards on the ground in the first half. Coach Mike Miller's second-half adjustments changed the game, however, as Toronto piled up 145 rushing yards and held Hamilton (4-7) to three points after halftime.
"And it was nice, the guys dug in on the run game," Coach Miller said after the win. "Thats a good football team, they're well coached, and we knew it was going to be a battle, and it's going to be another battle in a couple of weeks."
With nine minutes remaining in the fourth, the Tiger-Cats threatened to gain momentum when Ford drove Hamilton down the field. But Lemon had other ideas. He stripped the quarterback, and Johnathan Kongbo recovered the fumble, giving Toronto excellent field position.
Kelly immediately made the visitors pay. He found Coxie for his second touchdown of the night after the Ti-Cats secondary got completely lost on a well-schemed play from Toronto, extending the lead and putting the Argos in the driver's seat.
“Me and Miller (WR, Mike Miller) we are always on the same page, so we see something we’re going to execute,” Coxie said, in an energetic Argos locker room. “A couple plays before we ran that same play, and we saw that they weren't really paying attention, Chad dialed it up.”
Toronto pulls away
Hamilton opened the final quarter with a field goal to pull within five, at 25-20. But the Argos responded by leaning on their running game and making timely throws. Kelly controlled the clock and kept the Tiger-Cats' offence on the sideline and helped Toronto eventually pull away.
As the Hamilton fans began heading for the exits, Kelly finished the night with a one-yard rushing touchdown to put the Argos up 39-20.
Toronto's defensive adjustments and improved offensive line play powered the second-half takeover. The Argos trailed 17-15 at halftime after a slow, sluggish opening half in the wet conditions, but rookie kicker Brady Lidster kept Toronto within striking distance. Lidster connected on three of four first-half field goal attempts, including a 49-yarder through the driving rain.
Kelly led the Argos on a 10-play, six-minute scoring drive to open the second half that put Toronto up 22-17. The Toronto pivot found Mital on the 12-yard touchdown for the quarterback's second major. Lidster connected on his fourth field goal of the game as the Argos took a 25-17 lead as the third quarter came to a close.
The veteran and star defensive player of the night, Lemon, recorded the first sack of the game in the second quarter, but Ti-Cats kicker Marc Liegghio made his first field goal of the night on that same drive, making it 12-10.
After a promising eight-play drive and a third-down conversion, Kelly scrambled to keep a play alive, but Stavros Katsantonis picked it off at the Hamilton 18, intended for Coxie. But the Argos still managed to get more points on the board before halftime. After a 46-yard punt return from Janarion Grant set up a 24-yard field goal to put the Argos up 15-10 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
Ford and the Ti-Cats then responded with a 40-yard touchdown drive. Jake Dolegala, out of the jumbo set, put Hamilton ahead 17-15 before the shortened halftime.
Kelly's 19th touchdown pass of the season opened the scoring at 10:40 of the first quarter. From the shotgun formation, Kelly connected with Coxie for a 35-yard touchdown. The Argos failed to convert the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. However, Toronto's special teams unit bounced back. Kelly handled the difficult conditions with confidence, completing 8 of 10 passes for 115 yards in the opening quarter and repeatedly converting key second downs.
Ford responded with a 53-yard completion to Wheatfall, setting up Larry Rountree's eight-yard rushing touchdown to put the Ti-Cats on the board on the final play of the first quarter.
Toronto will now hit the road to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-3) next Saturday, Aug. 29.
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