THE CANADIAN PRESS

HAMILTON -- If there were any questions about Quinton Porter's ability to lead Hamilton, the Ticats' quarterback silenced his critics on Saturday.

Porter threw one touchdown pass and scored on a quarterback sneak with 46 seconds left in the game as the Tiger-Cats defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 28-21 in front of 19,206 on a rainy night at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

"It feels great," said the 26-year-old starter, who has been pulled twice this season and replaced by veteran Kevin Glenn. "It doesn't feel great because I'm proving anything, it feels great because this team is winning. We're putting in all the work we can right now to get this team on track and now we're 4-2. We're right where we want to be.

"We know we're a good team right now and if people want to keep questioning us, that's fine."

Porter's one-yard run broke a tie game as the Ticats overcame a 12-point first-quarter deficit to win their second game in a row. He completed 26 of 37 pass attempts for 211 yards and no interceptions, while engineering scoring drives of 43, 75 and 93 yards.

The Ticats scored a touchdown off a pass, a rush, an interception return and a quarterback sneak. Running back DeAndra' Cobb, defensive back Geoff Tisdale and receiver Chris Davis each scored for Hamilton before Porter's clincher.

With Edmonton threatening at the Hamilton 21-yard line in the fourth, Ray's pass to Peterson in the end zone was intercepted by Markeith Knowlton.

After keeping the Eskimos deep in their own end, the Ticats got the ball back on the Edmonton 43-yard line with 1:39 left.

A 40-yard run by Cobb took it to the one-yard line and was initially thought to have scored, but after a challenge it was ruled his knee touched down at the one-yard line.

It didn't matter, as Porter kept the ball on the next play and ran it in with 46 seconds left.

Edmonton receiver Kamau Peterson caught a TD for the visitors, his first of the season.

Noel Prefontaine hit all four of his field-goal attempts: from 25, 10, 38 and 20 yards for the Eskimos (3-3).

Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray completed 23 of 37 pass attempts for 335 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice. Edmonton's Fred Stamps led all receivers with 136 yards on seven catches and Calvin McCarty was Edmonton's top rusher with 49 yards on nine carries.

Hamilton's Cobb led all rushers with 75 yards on 12 carries, while newly acquired Arland Bruce III led Ticat receivers with 78 yards on nine receptions.

"I think both teams were executing," said Porter. "It just came down to the end like that. We could play 10 times and probably go 5-5 with them. No team was dominating any aspect of the game. I think what was important for us was no turnovers."

The Ticats were fumble-and interception-free on the soggy night while Edmonton was intercepted twice and had a fumble.

Edmonton coach Richie Hall seemed to agree.

"Whether we're 4-2 or 3-3 the important thing to me is that we continue to play well, and despite what happened to us here, overall, I think we continued to play well," he said. "I'm still encouraged by our team. We've played well in the last three games and won two of them. We just didn't win this one."

Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille credited the bend-but-not-break efforts of his defensive squad to keep Edmonton out of the endzone for most of the night.

"They made plays when they had to and that's what this league is all about," he said.

He admitted to being a little nervous about Chris Thompson's interception return in the second quarter, which he ran back 21 yards, then flipped the ball back to Tisdale at midfield who ran it in the remaining 48 yards for the TD.

"That was one of those: 'No, no, no, no yes, yes, yes, yes' (plays)," laughed Bellefeuille. "I think that our players are intelligent enough to know when you can be aggressive and when not to be aggressive."

The Eskimos went to the locker-room at halftime up 18-14. Trailing 21-14 midway through the third quarter, the Ticats went on a 75-yard drive that culminated in a 21-yard TD pass from Porter to Davis.