Argonauts survive turnovers to beat Tiger-Cats and stay in thick of playoff race

TORONTO – Toronto Argonauts coach Scott Milanovich said it best: “You’re not going to win many games when you have four turnovers.” The Argos did just that on Saturday though, surviving the turnovers and a rally to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 26-24.

Toronto lost three fumbles and quarterback Ricky Ray threw one interception but the Ticats only managed seven points off the turnovers.

“I was relieved to get out of there with a win,” Milanovich said. “If you keep doing things like this it’s going to catch up to you. How many more wins would we have if we could protect the football?”

The Argos and Ticats are now both 7-9 on the season, tied for second place in the East Division behind the Montreal Alouettes. The Argos and Alouettes face off next week in Montreal with the winner clinching a playoff berth.

The Argos also hold the tiebreaker over the Ticats thanks to Saturday’s win. It was the third and final meeting between the two rivals this season with the first two games both being decided by one point.

The Argos were in control early on all three sides of the game. Hamilton’s first offensive series of the game resulted in a safety when Zach Collaros was called for intentional grounding in the endzone. At the end of the first quarter Toronto extended its lead when Ray shoveled a pass to Steve Slaton who took it 22 yards for a touchdown and a 15-0 lead after an eight play, 70-yard drive. Hamilton only managed five offensive yards in first quarter.

Hamilton looked to get some momentum back in the second corner when Rico Murray picked off Ray. But on the ensuing drive the Ticats went two-and-out, as was the case with most of the drives following turnovers.

Midway through the second quarter the Ticats got on the board when Collaros connected with Luke Tasker on a 50-yard catch and run touchdown, capping a 78-yard drive. It Collaros’ longest touchdown pass of the season. Milanovich pointed out the Argos, somehow, only had 11 men on the field for the play.

The Tiger-Cats finally made the Argos pay for their turnovers in the second half. On the first drive of the third quarter John Chiles fumbled and the Tiger-Cats recovered. Five plays later Collaros found Samuel Giguere who took it 43 yards for a touchdown. That touchdown cut the Toronto lead to 15-14.

Hamilton took the lead for the first time late in the third quarter when Collaros threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Banks.

“We laid down for two quarters,” Milanovich said of the Ticats’ comeback.

The Argos fourth turnover of the day led immediately to the Ticats’ first. Collaros had a pass tipped and intercepted by James Yurichuk which led to a Swayze Waters field goal and cut the lead to 21-18. Toronto went on top again for good in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Mitchell Gale scored on a QB sneak from the one-yard line.

“We did what we came to do, we got a win,” Milanovich said. “The locker room was excited, I’m proud of the way we fight, but there’s a lot of things we have to clean up.”

The game took on extra importance after Montreal beat Ottawa on Friday night to take sole possession of first place in the East Division. Toronto’s win means that all three teams still have a shot at winning the division and hosting the East final.

It is also still very likely that the third-place team in the East will miss the playoffs due to the crossover rule. The West Division’s fourth-place Lions are two points up on both Toronto and Hamilton before facing the Blue Bombers later Saturday night.

It’s looking increasingly likely that it won’t be the surprising Alouettes who miss the playoffs. Their late-season turnaround will probably keep their playoff streak alive – the Alouettes have never missed the playoffs since returning to the CFL in 1996, the next longest active playoff streak belongs to the Lions who have not missed the playoffs since 1997.