THE CANADIAN PRESS
THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON, Ont. — Hamilton quarterback Kevin Glenn threw three touchdown passes to lead the Tiger-Cats to a 29-22 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Ivor Wynne Stadium on Saturday night.
Hamilton improves to 2-4 and Winnipeg falls to 2-4 as both now share the East Division basement. The teams meet again on Friday in Winnipeg for their fourth meeting of the season.
Hamilton took the lead for good when Winnipeg quarterback Steven Jyles was sacked and fumbled at his own 27-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. The ball was recovered by Hamilton linebacker Otis Floyd, setting up Glenn’s 15-yard TD strike to Dave Stala with 6:58 left in the game. A two-point conversion failed, but the Ticats took a 26-22 lead.
After a 41-yard drive stalled at the 17-yard line when Glenn was sacked, kicker Sandro DeAngelis hit a 24-yard field goal to put the Ticats up 29-22 with just 1:59 left in the game.
But Jyles began a 50-yard march down field, aided by a facemask call, and the crowd became nervous. On third-and-four at the Hamilton 30, the ball sailed through the hands of Adarius Bowman. Hamilton went two-and-out on its next possession, handing the ball back to Winnipeg with 32 seconds left.
Jyles hit Brock Ralph with a 49-yard pass to the Hamilton three-yard line with nine seconds left in the game. With the crowd noise deafening, Hamilton defensive end Garrett McIntyre came up with the game-saving tackle on a scrambling Jyles to end the game in front of 23,653 fans.
Stala, Matt Carter and Arland Bruce III scored touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats, while Terrence Edwards and Bowman each scored for Winnipeg.
Bomber kicker Alexis Serna made just one of three field-goal attempts, hitting from 19 yards, but missing from 32 and 28. DeAngelis was 3-for-3, hitting from 45, 43 and 24 yards out.
Jyles threw two TD passes before being removed from the game with 13:09 left. He was replaced by third-stringer Alex Brink for one series before returning.
Glenn completed 24 of 41 pass attempts for 370 yards. He also threw one interception.
Winnipeg scored two touchdowns in the final minutes of the third quarter to take a 22-20 lead into the fourth. Fred Reid scampered 43 yards to the Ticat six-yard line and a facemask penalty took it to the three. Jyles hit Edwards on the next play streaking into the back left corner for the score with 4:22 on the clock. That cut the Ticat lead to 17-15.
DeAngelis hit a 43-yard field goal to give Hamilton a 20-15 lead with just one minute left to play. But the Ticats had little time to celebrate as Winnipeg needed just two plays to take the lead. Jyles hit Bowman with a 54-yard pass on the very next play, which set up the 21-yard TD strike to Bowman.
The opposition has now outscored the Ticats 51-14 in the third quarter so far this season.
Hamilton had scored two touchdowns in the final minutes of the first half to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
Winnipeg went up 6-3 in the first quarter on a punt single, a conceded safety and Serna’s 19-yard field goal. DeAngelis kicked a 45-yard field goal, his longest of the season, with six seconds on the clock to give the Ticats their first points.
But Serna missed two field goals early in the second quarter, one of which was run out.
That bought some time for Ticats pivot Glenn to get things going. He hit Bruce for a 50-yard gain to the Bomber nine-yard line midway through the quarter, setting up a nine-yard TD pass to Carter on the next play to give Hamilton a 10-7 lead with 6:05 on the clock.
The Ticat defence held Winnipeg on the next series and Glenn came back on the field to lead another 75-yard touchdown march, highlighted by a third-and-one conversion and a 34-yard strike to Adam Nicolson on the Bomber 10-yard line. Glenn went straight to Bruce as he was crossing the goal line for the lead.
