The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have moved into a first-place tie with the Ottawa RedBlacks, after a 34-20 win over the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field.
The Tiger-Cats got on the board first, taking the opening kickoff and driving 36 yards in five plays, before Lirim Hajrullahu connected on a 45-yard field goal.
Toronto tied the game on the next drive, when newcomer Drew Brown, playing in his first CFL game, was successful on a 44-yard field goal.
Hamilton responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Masoli to Luke Tasker, to take a 10-3 lead.
Once again, the Argos answered, capping off a seven-play 65-yard drive, when another Argo newcomer, running back Brandon Burks, scored on a five-yard TD pass from James Franklin. The first quarter ended with the game tied 10-10.
Masoli hit Brandon Banks with a TD pass to give Hamilton a 17-10 lead, then a punt single late in the quarter, gave Hamilton an 18-10 half-time lead.
In the third quarter, the Tiger-Cats blew the game open when Masoli hit Luke Tasker with two touchdown passes. One of the converts was not successful, giving Hamilton a 31-10 lead.
Early in the final frame, Brown was good from 21 yards, to make the score 31-13, then Hajrullahu added another field goal to increase the lead to 34-13.
S.J. Green of the Argos scored on a touchdown pass with 52 seconds left in the game.
The win makes Hamilton 8-7 on the season, while the Argos are 3-12.
The Tiger-Cats and Ottawa now meet in a home-and-home series.
The first of those two games is Friday, Oct. 19, in Ottawa.
The second game is Saturday, Oct. 27 in Hamilton.
Ottawa holds the tie-breaker with a 1-0 head-to-head record with the Tiger-Cats.
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