For the second consecutive year, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats advanced to the Grey Cup thanks to a second-half resurgence on their way to a 27-19 win over the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field.
This will be the Tiger-Cats 22nd appearance in the Grey Cup, and it’s a special one being at Hamilton next week. The last team to win a Grey Cup in their home city was the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Grey Cup 101 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 in 2013.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats started Jeremiah Masoli, who went 4/6 for 22 yards, and two carries for five yards. He played one quarter before Dane Evans took over. Evans finished the day a perfect 16/16 for 249 yards, one touchdown, and six carries for 14 yards and two touchdowns.
Dane Evans’s touchdowns happened in the second half. In the third quarter, with 5:49 left, Evans from the shotgun threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jaelon Acklin, who was by himself that tied the game 12-12 after a failed two-point conversion.
Acklin led the Tiger-Cats receivers with eight catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. Evans had two one-yard rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first one gave the Tiger-Cats a 20-13 lead with 11:25 left, followed by another one-yard rushing touchdown that made it 27-16 with 2:48 left in the game. Running back Don Jackson led the Tiger-Cats rushing with 16 carries for 95 yards.
The Tiger-Cats special teams started the resurgence when Papi White returned a 92-yard punt for a touchdown that cut the Argonauts lead 12-6 in the third quarter. The defense recorded three sacks, two of them by Ja’Gared Davis.
Toronto Argonauts quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 24/38 for 283 yards, and one carry for two yards. The Argonauts did not score a touchdown in the game.
D.J. Foster led the Argonauts rushing with 11 carries for 38 yards, Kurleigh Gittens Jr. led the receivers with four catches for 74 yards, and kicker Boris Bede made 6/7 field goals with his longest field goal for 47 yards. In addition, the Argo’s defense recorded five sacks, two of them by Kony Ealy, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
The 108th Grey Cup championship game is next Sunday, December 12th, from Tim Hortons Field at 6 pm on ESPN2.
