MONDAY CFL LABOUR DAY RECAP: TICATS, ELKS VICTORIOUS

HAMILTON – Frankie Williams returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown and Dane Evans threw two TD strikes to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats past the Toronto Argonauts 32-19 on Monday.

Williams broke the game open at 7:41 of the third quarter to stake Hamilton to a 17-4 advantage. Williams was the CFL’s top special-teams player in 2019.

Evans put Hamilton ahead 25-4 at 12:40, first with a 57-yard TD pass to Tim White. Evans then found Jaelon Acklin for the two-point convert.

Toronto made it interesting when Nick Arbuckle found Eric Rogers on a 12-yard TD pass at 7:56. After hitting the convert, Boris Bede booted an 80-yard single off the kickoff at 8:12 that cut Hamilton’s lead to 26-12.

But a terrific 58-yard punt by Joel Whitford, which wasn’t returned, put Toronto on its own 11-yard line with roughly 5:30 to play. Simoni Lawrence corralled a Jovan Santos-Knox deflection and returned the interception three yards for the TD at 10:12 to give Hamilton a 32-12 advantage.

Evans finished 21-of-29 passing for 248 yards and the two TDs. Arbuckle completed 18-of-32 attempts for 207 yards and a touchdown but two interceptions before being replaced by McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

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CALGARY – Trevor Harris threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers to lead the Edmonton Elks to a 32-20 win over the Calgary Stampeders on Monday at McMahon Stadium.

Ernest Edwards, Jalen Tolliver, James Wilder Jr., and Mike Jones hauled in TD passes from Harris as Edmonton (2-2) ended its eight-game losing streak (from 2012-19) in the annual Labour Day Classic between Alberta’s two CFL clubs.

Sean Whyte also had a field goal for the Elks, while Hugh O’Neill kicked a single.

For Harris, it was his first-ever win as a quarterback against the Stampeders. In 11 previous regular season games with the Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton, Harris had gone 0-9-2 against Calgary.

He was also on the losing end of the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton on Nov. 25, 2018 when his Redblacks lost 27-16 to the Stamps.

Ka’Deem Carey had a rushing score for the Stampeders (1-4), while quarterback Jake Maier threw a TD pass to Markeith Ambles. Rene Paredes kicked a pair of field goals for the Stamps, who will travel to Edmonton to face the Elks in the Labour Day rematch on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.

(Canadian Press)