TORONTO, ON – September 23, 2023 – The Toronto Argonauts completed the regular-season sweep of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday night, winning 29-14 at BMO Field.
Chad Kelly finished the game completing 17 of 26 passes for 242 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. His favourite target on the night was National receiver Dejon Brissett, who had six receptions on seven targets for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Wynton McManis had one of the best games of his career, ending with six tackles, one tackle for loss, and two interceptions – one returned for a touchdown. The Argos’ defence also added two sacks in another stout performance.
Without AJ Ouellette and Andrew Harris, the Argos worked starter Deonta McMahon into the game early, and the first-year man helped move the offence down the field with multiple key first-downs on the game’s opening drive. However, the Argos would have to settle for three. Boris Bede knocked a 41-yarder through to make it an early 3-0 advantage for the Double Blue.
The defence quickly followed up with a big play of their own. Wynton McManis jumped a route over the middle, picking off Taylor Powell at midfield and returning it to the house for the pick-6. A point after pushed the Toronto lead to 10.
Hamilton’s first points of the game came off a special teams turnover. A fumble from Javon Leake led to a recovery deep in Argos territory. Hamilton got as close as the Toronto 10, but a Thomas Costigan sack halted the drive, holding Hamilton to a field goal.
With the ball back in his hands, it took Kelly and the offence just a single play to make fireworks. Kelly rolled out to his right and threw across his body to hit Dejon Brissett down the left sideline for a 70-yard touchdown connection.
That made it 16-3 – Bede’s extra point would veer wide left.
However, he’d make that single back later in the second quarter with a 62-yard rouge on a punt that went out of the end zone.
Sitting at 17-3 with under 10 to play in the second, the teams would spend the majority of the second playing the field position game, but Toronto would add a late field goal from Bede while Hamilton got a single of their own to make it 20-4 at halftime.
The third quarter would be quiet for the most part, with the teams trading chances put coming out of it with no points. But with just under 1:30 to play in the frame, McManis struck again, getting his hands on a flea flicker attempt from the Ti-Cats and taking the ball all the way to the Hamilton 4-yard line.
Kelly found Brissett once again after scrambling to his right for another touchdown. Toronto would go into the final 15 minutes with a 27-4 advantage.
Hamilton opened the fourth with a touchdown drive, with Powell and Terry Godwin II connecting to make it 27-11 Toronto.
After causing a two-and-out, Hamilton looked to push for another long drive to cut into the deficit. But Powell was called for intentional grounding in the end zone at the 8:12 mark, leading to two points off a safety and Toronto possession.
Sitting 18 points down with just over 6:30 to play, Hamilton made it into Toronto territory again after a defensive stop. But they were held to a field goal. Marc Liegghio’s 37-yarder brought the game back to within two scores.
But that’s as close as the Ti-Cats would get on the night. The Argos were able to sustain the pressure in the closing minutes and force a turnover on downs in the final minute to put the game on ice.
With the victory, the Argonauts move to 12-1 on the season. They will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Winnipeg for a Grey Cup rematch with the Blue Bombers on Sept 29.