The Hamilton Tiger-Cats ended their two-game losing skid in emphatic fashion on Saturday with a dominating 32-3 victory over the visiting Ottawa Redblacks.
Jeremiah Masoli threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns in the second half and the defence forced five turnovers to help Hamilton improve to 5-5 on the CFL season.
With the win, the Tiger-Cats have moved two points behind CFL East Division co-leaders Montreal and Toronto with four games remaining on the schedule.
Masoli tossed a four-yard touchdown to Steven Dunbar Jr. just over three minutes into the third quarter to give Hamilton a 15-3 lead and added an eight-yard strike to Jaelon Acklin to make it 25-3 with 3:20 to play in the game.
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QB Dane Evans rushed for two TDs as well while Jackson Bennett ran for 58 yards on 12 carries as he filled in for injured running back Maleek Irons.
Speaking of injuries, the Ticats lost receiver Bralon Addison to a hamstring injury in the first half after he hauled in a 61-yard reception and ended the game with five catches for a game-high 95 yards.
Hamilton also lost centre Darius Ciraco to a back injury after their first offensive series and were forced to promote backup John Yarbrough to the centre position.
Defensive backs Desmond Lawrence and Cariel Brooks recorded interceptions for Hamilton, as did Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence, while the defence caused two other turnovers on downs.
Receiver Brandon Banks made four catches for 51 yards and moved past Darren Flutie for fifth place on Hamilton’s all-time receptions list with 406. Rocky DiPietro is the franchise leader with 706.
The loss dropped the Redblacks to 2-9 and officially eliminated Ottawa from playoff contention.
The Ticats next game is Oct. 29 in Edmonton.