The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have booked a trip to the 107th Grey Cup after a 36-16 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL’s Eastern Final Sunday afternoon at Tim Hortons Field.
Hamilton will face Winnipeg in the CFL’s title game after the Blue Bombers beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 20-13 in the Western Final.
Ticats quarterback Dane Evans threw for 386 yards and one touchdown while kicker Lirim Hajrullahu booted four field goals on a sunny but chilly day in front of 25,177 fans to lead Hamilton to its first Grey Cup appearance since 2014. Hamilton last won a championship in 1999.
Hamilton scored 10 points off three Edmonton turnovers and intercepted Eskimos QB Trevor Harris twice, and sacked him three times.
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Hajrullahu opened the scoring 3:51 into the game by connecting on a 48-yard field goal.
About three minutes later, after Edmonton running back C.J. Gable fumbled at the Eskimos 43-yard line, Ticats backup QB David Watford scored a rushing touchdown on third and goal from the Edmonton two-yard line.
The Tiger-Cats ended the first quarter with a 13-0 lead after Hajrullahu converted a 19-yard field goal with 85 seconds to go.
Harris got the Esks on the scoreboard 2:34 into the second quarter when he and receiver DaVaris Daniels connected on a 21-yard touchdown to cut Hamilton’s lead to 13-7.
Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player candidate Brandon Banks made the play of the game with a diving catch in the endzone less than two minutes later to restore Hamilton’s 13-point advantage.
A pair of Sean Whyte field goals, from 49 and 17 yards, trimmed the Cats’ lead to 20-13 but Hajrullahu booted a 41 yarder with no time left to give Hamilton a 23-13 lead going into halftime.
Tyquwan Glass intercepted Evans at the Edmonton four-yard line early in the third quarter, but the Tiger-Cats went up 25-13 when Eskimos punter Hugh O’Neill conceded a safety with the team pinned deep in their own end.
Another field goal from Hajrullahu, from 34 yards out, extended Hamilton’s lead to 28-13 before Whyte answered with a 30-yard field goal 5:11 into the final quarter to make it a 12-point affair.
The Tiger-Cats sealed the game with a seven-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Watford scoring his second rushing major of the contest with 6:51 left.
Hajrullahu rounded out the scoring with a 70-yard punt single with about four minutes to play.
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