CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON, Ont. — Swayze Waters’ 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining earned the Toronto Argonauts a wild 33-30 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Monday in the final Labour Day contest at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Ricky Ray marched the Argos 51 yards on seven plays to the Hamilton 27-yard line with just over two minutes remaining, setting up Waters’ game-winning boot, to the dismay of the sun-drenched gathering of 31,032.
Hamilton took over at its own 35-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs following three incompletions.
Henry Burris pulled Hamilton into a 30-30 tie with a 10-yard TD strike to Brandon Rutley at 12:40 before finding Dave Stala on the two-point convert.
That came after Toronto erased an 11-point deficit by scoring 19 points to start the fourth quarter. After Hamilton conceded a safety early in the quarter, the Argos pulled within two points on Chad Kackert’s one-yard TD run at 5:46.
Just under two minutes later Ahmad Carroll returned a Burris interception 37 yards for a touchdown, and then a 26-yard Swayze field goal gave Toronto an eight-point lead.
The fourth-quarter fireworks stole the spotlight from a record-setting achievement by Hamilton’s Chris Williams, who registered his CFL-record sixth return TD of the season. The diminutive receiver ran a punt back 82 yards for the touchdown in the first, his fifth punt return TD of the season (the other came on a missed field goal). It also marked the third straight game Williams has taken a punt back for a score, another CFL record.
Williams had three TDs in Hamilton’s 36-27 home win over Toronto, returning a punt and missed field goal for scores in that contest and has scored a league-leading 11 touchdowns this season. He’s challenging Milt Stegall’s single-season TD record of 23, recorded in 2002.
Williams also had a 52-yard catch and 63-yard punt return in the second half that set up field goals for Hamilton (3-6), which suffered its fourth straight loss.
Toronto (5-4) left victorious in its final Labour Day appearance at Ivor Wynne Stadium, which is scheduled to be demolished in the off-season and replaced with a new facility that the Ticats will call home in 2014.
The huge TD was sweet redemption for Carroll, who was flagged four times for 89 yards in Toronto’s 27-16 home loss to Edmonton last week.
Hamilton dropped its Labour Day record against Toronto to 29-13-1. Toronto is 4-3-1 in its last eight Labour Day contests at Ivor Wynne but earned its first victory since 2008.
Burris dropped to 17-10 in head-to-head matches against Ray (16-9 during season, 1-1 in playoffs).
Burris’s 17-yard TD strike to Onrea Jones at 14:16 of the second staked the Ticats to a 16-10 half-time lead, an advantage kept intact when Hamilton’s Dee Webb blocked Waters’ 42-yard field goal try to end a sloppy opening half. But it was Williams who provided the half’s biggest play, returning a punt 82 yards for the TD at 9:09 of the first.
But the impact of the play was lessened when Hamilton missed the subsequent convert to still trail Toronto 7-6. The Argos opened the scoring on Ray’s 40-yard TD strike to Chad Owens at 4:33.
NOTES — Ticats owner Bob Young announced during Monday’s game The Tragically Hip will perform in the final concert at Ivor Wynne on Oct. 6. It will mark the first concert there in 33 years . . . . Hamilton honoured former all-star receiver Earl Winfield at halftime . . . . Receiver Ken-Yon Rambo, promoted from the practice roster Sunday, replaced veteran Jason Barnes on Toronto’s 42-man roster for Monday’s game. With rookie Chevon Walker back from a lower body injury, veteran running back Avon Cobourne was among Hamilton’s pre-game scratches . . . . Ray became the sixth different quarterback to start a Labour Day game since 2006 for Toronto. Only Cleo Lemon (2009-’10) started multiple contests over that span . . . . Monday’s game was broadcast in the U.S. by NBC.
