HAMILTON - Kerry Joseph threw three touchdown passes while Jamal Richardson ran for 124 yards and a TD as Toronto Argonauts earned a 30-17 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to kick off the 2009 CFL regular season Wednesday night.
The win marked the successful debut of Toronto head coach Bart Andrus, the former NFL and NFL Europe coach who was appearing in his first-ever CFL game. Andrus is also serving as the Argos' offensive co-ordinator and is calling the club's offensive plays.
Andrus had the golden touch in the first quarter as Toronto surged into a 20-0 lead and never really looked back, effectively subduing the Ivor Wynne Stadium gathering of 23,211. The Argos effectively cemented the win on Joseph's 22-yard TD strike to rookie Matt Lambros at 2:17 of the third, capping a four-play, 62-yard drive to open the second half.
Joseph finished 14-of-29 passing for 227 yards and the three TDs but was sacked four times.
Sophomore Quinton Porter had a rough outing for Hamilton, completing 26-of-39 passes for 234 yards and two TDs, but also two interceptions. Porter was also sacked five times.
The game featured the intensity usually equated with a Toronto-Hamilton contest, with a melee breaking out on Toronto's second play from scrimmage that resulted in two unnecessary roughness calls and an objectionable conduct penalty. But the game also had way too much sloppiness and undisciplined play by both teams that often kept drives alive and the chains moving.
It was also the first game for the officials, who missed Toronto kicker Eddie Johnson blatantly tripping Hamilton's Marquay McDaniel on a 49-yard punt return in the second.
Arland Bruce III and Reggie McNeal had Toronto's other touchdowns. Johnson booted three converts and a field goal.
Terry Caulley and Prechae Rodriguez had Hamilton's touchdowns. Nick Setta, playing despite a back injury, had two converts and field goal but hit the crossbar on a 48-yard try. With Setta ailing, receiver Dave Stala handled kickoff duties.
The first-quarter outburst and Robertson's power running combined to stake Toronto to a 23-10 half-time lead.
Toronto's offence moved at will in the first as Joseph capped scoring drives of 91 and 98 yards with scoring strikes of 21 and seven yards to Bruce and McNeal, respectively. Bruce made a bonehead play on his touchdown, receiving two objectionable conduct penalties for taking his jersey and shoulder pads off to celebrate the score.
That put Toronto on its 15-yard line, to make matters worse running back Jarrett Payton had to kick while Johnson recovered from making the tackle on the previous kickoff. But the Argos dodged a huge bullet as Hamilton took over at the visitors' 49 but couldn't muster anything.
Robertson, who ran for 102 yards on eight first-half carries, scored on a five-yard scamper to end the first to give Toronto it's 20-point lead, set up by a Kevin Eiben interception.
Hamilton pulled to within 20-10 in the second on Porter's three-yard TD strike to Caulley and Setta's 18-yard field goal. But Robertson's 48-yard run and a 15-yard facemask call on the tackle set up Johnson's 25-yard field goal at 12:41, putting Toronto ahead 23-10.
Hamilton drove to the Toronto 15-yard line late in the quarter, but Lin-J Shell's interception in the end zone snuffed out the threat.
NOTES: The first official challenge came in the fourth when the Ticats questioned an Argos completion. The CFL's new command centre - with replay official Jake Ireland presiding - reversed the on-field call, with it taking less than two minutes for that decision to be reached . . . Kicker Justin Medlock, offensive lineman Shannon Boatman, receiver Hank Edwards and defensive end Ben Ishola were Toronto's scratches. Receiver Drisan James, defensive back Jykine Bradley, offensive lineman George Hudson and defensive lineman Garrett McIntyre didn't dress for Hamilton.
