With the Labour Day victory, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats move into first place in the East Division standings.MARK BLINCH/Reuters
Zach Collaros and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats regained their Tim Hortons Field swagger Monday afternoon.
Collaros threw four touchdown strikes to lead Hamilton to a convincing 42-12 Labour Day victory over the arch-rival Toronto Argonauts. The Ticats were coming off a 26-23 loss to Montreal on Aug. 27 that snapped their 10-game win streak at the new stadium.
Collaros, who finished 26-of-38 passing for 400 yards and helped Hamilton improve to 4-1 at Tim Hortons Field, said it was important that the Ticats re-establish their home dominance.
"You never want to lose back-to-back games, especially at home," he said. "You always want to defend your home field. I thought it was huge; it was imperative to win this one."
After a docile first half, tempers flared in the second. One melee with just more than five minutes remaining in the third quarter resulted in five flags, and yet another loud chant of "Argos suck" from an energetic, season-high Tim Hortons Field gathering of 24,390. And many voiced their displeasure when Ticats Brandon Banks, Taylor Reed and Adrian Tracy were all flagged for unnecessary roughness.
A fan ran on to the field with 2 minutes 42 seconds remaining and managed to elude security staff before Toronto defensive back Devin Smith and Hamilton receiver Terrence Toliver combined to make the tackle.
Collaros definitively came to play, showing plenty of emotion especially early on. He chalked it up to wanting to make up for the loss against Montreal as well as facing his former team. Twice Collaros threw balls into the stands following Hamilton TDs, one near Toronto's bench.
"The way we lost last week, I was still angry about that," he said. "There's no hard feelings [toward the Argos]; I love [head coach] Scott Milanovich and a lot of the guys on that team.
"But I think anybody would be lying if they said they weren't amped up to be playing against their old teammates and old organization."
Hamilton coach/general manager Kent Austin was pleased with his team's response following its loss to Montreal. While being happy with Collaros's play, Austin predictably said his young quarterback can still improve.
"He's playing well, we understand that and he needs to play well for us," Austin said. "Things do centre around the quarterback quite a bit in this league.
"That being said there hasn't been a perfect game played yet in football and there won't be one ever played in the future. Zach understands that better than anybody on this club and he'll get back to work."
If Hamilton has a weakness, it's penalties. The Ticats entered weekend action as the second-highest penalized team in the league and were flagged 17 times Monday for 152 yards.
"We've still got to eliminate some of the dumb penalties that are hurting us," Austin said. "It will especially show up in tight football games … so we've got to be careful and get those things cleaned up.
"But I thought for the most part our execution was pretty good across the board."
Hamilton (7-3) assumed sole possession of first in the East Division while improving its Labour Day record against Toronto (6-4) to a stellar 31-13-1. The Ticats also clinched the season series with the Argos after winning the opener 34-18 on Aug. 3.
If Hamilton and Toronto finish tied, the Ticats will assume the higher position. The two teams complete their regular-season series Friday night at Rogers Centre.
Hamilton dominated Monday's contest with 42 first downs and 502 net yards. Its defence held Toronto to 12 first downs and 242 net yards while recording four sacks and three turnovers.
It was a second-straight one-sided loss for Toronto, which dropped a 38-15 decision in Edmonton on Aug. 28. Quarterback Trevor Harris finished 24-of-34 passing for 211 yards with a TD and interception.
"I really thought we'd play well," Argos coach Scott Milanovich said. "I thought we were ready to play well and it didn't materialize so well.
"I'm very surprised about that and I'm looking forward to finding out why."
The game-time temperature was 30 C but the teams also had to deal with a stiff northerly wind. Hamilton and Toronto both wore their third jerseys – powder blue and white for the Argos, all black with gold numbers for the Ticats.
Terrell Sinkfield had two TDs for Hamilton, which took a commanding 27-1 halftime lead. Terrence Toliver, Jeff Matthews and Tiquan Underwood had the others while Justin Medlock kicked three field goals and three converts.
Kevin Elliott had Toronto's touchdown. Anthony Coombs added a two-point convert while Swayze Waters booted a field goal and single.