Toronto Argonauts 35, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 22 (September 8, 2007)

by Silencer76

TORONTO (CP) -- Hamilton Tiger-Cats coach Charlie Taaffe is glad to be done with Michael Bishop.

Bishop threw two touchdown passes and Khalil Carter returned an interception 82 yards for a TD as the Toronto Argonauts swept their Labour Day series versus Hamilton with a 35-22 win Saturday.

Bishop, in his second start since returning from a broken wrist, completed 14-of-23 passes for 261 yards before a sun-drenched Rogers Centre gathering of 28,279. The six-year veteran was relieved by Rocky Butler early in the fourth. Bishop threw for 321 yards and two TDs in Toronto's 32-14 win over Hamilton on Monday.

"[[]Michael Bishop]] made a lot of great plays, too many big plays against us in the passing game," Taaffe said. "We played pretty well in the running game and on defence, but Bishop is too much."

Especially with Hamilton rookie Timmy Chang struggling again. Knocked out at halftime Monday in his CFL debut as a starter, Chang lasted until late in the third Saturday before being replaced by Richie Williams after completing 10-of-22 passes for 75 yards and four interceptions. Chang completed just 5-of-15 passes Monday for 44 yards and an interception that was returned for a TD.

Carter did the honours this time, taking Chang's final interception 82 yards to put Toronto ahead 32-5 at 8:01 of the third.

"It was horrible," Chang said. "They're not the starts I wanted but I've got to bounce back." Time isn't on Chang's side.

Newly signed Casey Printers dressed Saturday but didn't play yet but Taaffe said Printers will definitely see action next week against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

"We're paying too much money for him not to be playing next week," said Taaffe. "We've got to get him ready to go."

Printers' deal with Hamilton is for three years, plus an option for 2010. He received a $250,000 signing bonus and the contract is reportedly worth $1.6 million in total.

"This team is not far away from being a very good team," Printers said optimistically. "We had guys out there who were wide open and my job will be to get them the ball."

Hamilton (1-9) desperately needs a boost. The Ticats are not only last in the East Division but have the CFL's worst record. Toronto (4-6) moved to within two points of second-place Montreal (5-4), with the Alouettes facing the B.C. Lions (6-2-1) on Sunday.

Toronto earned its ninth straight regular-season win over Hamilton and improved to 16-1-1 in its last 18 meetings against its arch rival. The Argos also swept the season series 3-0, all three wins coming with Bishop under centre.

"We didn't play extremely well," said Toronto head coach Mike (Pinball) Clemons. "We played the game we needed to in order to get the win and I guess that's what's most important. "For the most part, Michael was better than the guys around him. If he gets a bit more help, we probably score more points."

Bishop said he felt much more comfortable Saturday than he did Monday, even with the short work week. The former Kansas State star started much stronger in the rematch, completing 7-of-9 passes for 124 yards and a TD in the first quarter alone.

"I didn't have to wait until the second quarter to get a drive going and I was able to spread the ball around and give all the receivers an opportunity," Bishop said.

"Another week of getting my legs under me and throwing more passes and feeling more comfortable will definitely help. "Once I get over that hump, there's no telling how good we can be."

Bishop staked Toronto to an 18-5 half-time lead as the Argos rolled up 304 total yards, compared to just 120 for Hamilton.

Bishop was a big part of that, completing 14-of-21 for 261 yards and TD strikes of 17 yards to Broussard in the first and eight yards to Johnson in the second.

More importantly, Toronto moved ahead of Edmonton in the cross-over playoff scenario. The Eskimos (3-6-1) are fourth in the West, and if the fourth-place finisher in one conference ends the season with more points than the third-place finisher in the other, the fourth-place team will move to the opposing division as the No. 3 seed.

And the Argos head into a very important stretch of games. They're at B.C. next weekend before hosting East-leading Winnipeg on Sept. 23, then kicking off a home-and-home series with Edmonton. After that, Toronto stages a home-and-home series with Montreal, then hosts Winnipeg before concluding the regular season at West-leading Saskatchewan (7-2) on Nov. 3.

Hardly a casual stroll in the park.

"We've got some work to do," Clemons said. "But it's great to be in this position after going through what we did in the first half of the season. "It's a great place to be."

Jamall Broussard, Patrick Johnson and Robert Edwards had Toronto's other touchdowns. Noel Prefontaine added the converts, two field goals and a single.

Jason French had both of Hamilton's touchdowns. Nick Setta booted the converts and two field goals. The other points came on a safety.

NOTES: Toronto is 0-6-0 this year when Bishop doesn't start . . . Receiver Tony Miles was a surprise scratch for Toronto while fullback Jeff Piercy, obtained by Hamilton on Friday from Montreal in the Jason Maas deal, was among Hamilton's scratches . . . Printers wore his usual No. 1 as receiver Jason Armstead gave up that number for his new quarterback and wore No. 88 instead.

Courtesy of CFL.ca

DATE:

September 8, 2007