3 stats that defined Hamilton’s OK Tire Labour Day Weekend win over Toronto

HAMILTON – Going into the OK Tire Labour Day Weekend contest, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had a 2-9 record going up against the Toronto Argonauts. They had the advantage of their home crowd on their side, but were coming off a slow start earlier in the season.

On Monday, their start was anything but that as they scored 21 first quarter points, leading the Argos by 18, and holding a comfortable lead going into the half.

A team as talented as the Argos wouldn’t stay down, and managed to even find a late lead before the Ticats tied the score and eventually took back the lead, before Hamilton’s defence had some of their strongest plays back-to-back to force Toronto to punt and secured the win.

CFL.ca brings you three key stats from the Ticats win over the Argos on Labour Day.

OK TIRE LABOUR DAY WEEKEND
» Depth Chart: TOR | HAM
» Game Tracker: Argos, Ticats by the numbers
» Through the Lens: Toronto at Hamilton
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7 – LABOUR DAY WINS FOR BO LEVI MITCHELL

Going into Monday’s matchup at Tim Hortons Field, Bo Levi Mitchell had a 6-0 record in the Labour Day Classic, despite not playing in one in five years. Quickly into the first quarter Mitchell came alive, proving why his record is perfect on the holiday.

Finding Tim White twice in the first quarter, by halftime Mitchell had completed 14 of 18 pass attempts good for 259 yards and two touchdowns, and finished the game with 347 total yards. Not wanting to risk giving the Argos the ball back, on the final drive of the game, Mitchell made one last throw to Brendan O’Leary-Orange for 48 yards to secure the win.

The game was Mitchell’s sixth 300-plus yard game this season, but his first since July, and his first multi-touchdown game since July as well, giving Hamilton their first win since Week 8’s win over Edmonton.

8 – SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOALS KICKED

Both the Argos and Ticats needed crucial shots from their kickers in the Labour Day Classic, and both delivered as they combined for eight successful field goals kicked, with Lirim Hajrullahu putting five through the uprights while Marc Liegghio added another three.

Hajrullahu scored Toronto’s first nine points of the game, and also contributed massive field goals as long as 47 yards, while Liegghio kicked what would hold as the game winner as his 55-yard attempt with just over two and a half minutes to play gave Hamilton one final three-point lead.

2 – TIM WHITE TOUCHDOWNS

After only breaking 100 yards once this season before August, Tim White has had a massive two weeks, recording back-to-back games with 130 or more yards, and tallied more yards against the Argos than he did against the Elks and Alouettes combined.

Hamilton’s Week 8 win against Edmonton was the only game this season White had tallied multiple touchdowns, but had already tallied over 100 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Ticats a massive lead.

When the Ticats needed a receiver to show up in order to defeat the 6-4 Argos, White and Mitchell had solid chemistry for a second-straight week and gave the Ticats enough cushion early to be able to hold off the comeback attempt from Toronto.