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TORONTO — There have been precious few feel-good stories for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats the past few seasons.
So when the Tabbies marched off the field at halftime with a surprising 14-6 lead over the Toronto Argonauts Thursday night, they did so with a spring in their step that suggested they believed their run of ineptness might be coming to an end.
The sad truth of Hamilton's recent history is that most of its wins have been moral victories, the kind that don't really matter with a season already flushed away.
But in Thursday's 32-13 win — only Hamilton's second in June or July the past four seasons — the Tiger-Cats confidently stung the Argos with a game plan built mostly along the ground behind powerful Canadian running back Jesse Lumsden, who carried 20 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
Lumsden, who grew up in nearby Burlington, the son of former Tiger-Cat running back Neil Lumsden, had enjoyed nothing but success in high school and university before joining the CFL three years ago. But his time with the Tiger-Cats had been mostly misery, the story of a hometown kid caught in the swoon of a once proud franchise stuck in the mud.
Before the start of the season, Lumsden had guaranteed that wouldn't continue. Thursday night he played as though he wore that promise across the front of his jersey, busting tackles and surging forward after contact on nearly every carry.
When Hamilton needed a knockout punch, Lumsden delivered with a 57-yard touchdown run with just more than three minutes to play that put the game out of reach.
"It feels awesome, I just can't stop smiling, happy, happy, happy," Lumsden said. "But we're not going to celebrate this like it's the Grey Cup. If we keep doing the right things, it will be the first of many. If you feed off this win, it will be the first of many. It's like having a good meal — you want more."
It may be just the second week of the CFL season, but it's hard to think of a team that has needed a win this badly, this early, in any year. Hamilton not only evened its record at 1-1, the Tiger-Cats also ended a nine-game losing streak against Toronto and a run of 10 consecutive losses away from Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Overall, Hamilton had 313 yards along the ground, 75 of which came from Lumsden's backfield mate, Tre Smith.
"This was a very, very big win," Hamilton head coach Charlie Taaffe said. "We're going to enjoy this one and I told them to capture the moment and enjoy what it feels like to capture a hard-fought game."
The Cats fell behind 3-0 early, then replied with two first-half scoring drives, both built on the running game and ending with quarterback Casey Printers carrying the ball across the goal line.
"The offensive line did a superb job blocking," Taaffe said, "but a lot of those plays were plays where Casey has to read the defence and decide whether to give it to the back. I thought he was magnificent in that phase of the game."
The Argonauts, 1-1, struggled on offence for the second week in a row, producing just one offensive touchdown before a crowd of 30,822, their largest home-opening audience since Rocket Ismail was an Argo.
The Argos couldn't run during the first half and Kerry Joseph did little to quell the brewing quarterback controversy between him and backup Michael Bishop, who was warming up on the sideline at the end of the first quarter.
Given that Toronto head coach Rich Stubler has suggested he plans to use both quarterbacks — and did a week ago at Winnipeg — it was somewhat surprising to see Joseph under centre for the start of the second half.
"I didn't feel like [a change] was warranted," Stubler said. "Kerry was running the plays. He can't catch the ball."
Joseph drove the Argos down the field 95 yards on Toronto's first possession of the second half, pulling Toronto to within eight points at 21-13.
Bishop, who hasn't hidden his displeasure at backing up, seemed disappointed at spending the game on the sideline.
"You never know when the opportunity's going to come up," Bishop said. "I thought I had the opportunity, but it turned out I didn't."
With a report from Matthew Trevisan
