Mitchell's late touchdown pass to Lawler rallies Tiger-cats to win over Redblacks

HAMILTON - Points were much harder to come by but Bo Levi Mitchell and Kenny Lawler combined to provide the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with just enough for a third straight victory.

Mitchell's three-yard TD pass to Lawler with 1:54 remaining rallied Hamilton to a 23-20 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday night. It came after Mitchell threw five touchdown passes — including three to Lawler — in last week's 51-38 victory over the Toronto Argonauts.

Hamilton's offence struggled through three quarters as William Stanback's 23-yard TD run to end the third staked Ottawa to a 20-13 lead. But the Ticats' defence forced two fourth-quarter turnovers and a key two-and-out which set up a smart 50-yard, six-play drive that Mitchell capped with his second scoring strike to Lawler.

Hamilton also caught a break when Ottawa's Michael Wakefield received a roughing-the-passer penalty on a second-down incompletion that kept the march alive. Mitchell said earning a win despite the offence not playing its best was invaluable for the Ticats (3-2).

"It makes you understand as a player, as a team as a whole that when you don't have your best stuff it doesn't mean you're going to lose a game," he said. "You can trust and lean on the defence to tighten up, offence to find its way or vice versa.

"Tonight we needed the defence and it was there, it stepped up. I can't wait to watch that film, watch the defence and just admire the amazing game it had."

Mitchell finished 23-of-41 passing for 266 yards and two TDs. Lawler — who had six receptions for 207 yards against Toronto — had six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

Ottawa (1-5) had one final possession at its 19-yard line with 1:51 remaining. But the Redblacks turned the ball over on downs at their 39-yard line with 1:13 remaining, delighting the Hamilton Stadium gathering of 22,913.

Hamilton ran out the clock on a third straight win over a division opponent to move into a tie with idle Montreal (3-2) atop the East Division. Ottawa has dropped three straight.

"You have to win some games like that," said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. "Give them credit, they did a nice job of trying to take away some of the things we wanted to do.

"We did a great job protecting the football and getting the football and I think that's really the difference in the game."

Hamilton won the turnover battle 4-1, including Mack Bannatyne's recovery of Kalil Pimpleton's fumble of Nic Constantinou's 57-yard punt at Ottawa's 15-yard line. But the Ticats drove to the Redblacks four-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 5:12 to play.

Ottawa appeared to go ahead 27-13 on Pimpleton's 105-yard punt-return TD at 1:53. But it was negated by an illegal block penalty, the Redblacks' first of the game following an unsuccessful challenge.

Ottawa started at its 15-yard line, and Dru Brown's pass was intercepted by Jamal Peters, his second pick of the game. That gave Hamilton possession at the Redblacks' 43-yard line, setting up Marc Liegghio's 38-yard field goal at 4:23 that pulled the Ticats to within 20-16.

Brown completed 24-of-38 passes for 283 yards with a TD and two interceptions, his first of the season. Eugene Lewis registered seven catches for 128 yards — both game highs.

"That was a very difficult loss," said Ottawa head coach Bob Dyce. "Right now where we're at as a team, we can't afford critical errors and we had a couple of them.

"I'm never going to question Pimp's heart, he's out there playing offence and special teams … he just wasn't able to secure that catch."

Liegghio kicked three field goals and a convert while Constantinou added a single for Hamilton.

Keelan White had Ottawa's other touchdown. Lewis Ward booted two converts and two field goals.

Ward gave Ottawa a 13-10 advantage with a 14-yard field goal at 9:46 of the third before Liegghio tied it with a 41-yard kick at 12:54.

Mitchell's 44-yard TD strike to Lawler at 2:38 made it 10-10 as Liegghio missed the convert. It followed Ward's 41-yard field goal at 1:08.

Brown's 10-yard TD pass to White, the third pick of the '25 CFL draft, in the first quarter staked Ottawa to its 7-4 halftime lead. The seven-play, 70-yard march accounted for almost half of the Redblacks' 142 net offensive yards through 30 minutes.

Ottawa threatened to go ahead 10-4 but Ward missed from 48 yards out with under three minutes remaining.

Constantinou's 51-yard punt at 3:16 of the second cut Ottawa's lead to 7-1. Liegghio pulled Hamilton to within 7-4 with a 16-yard field goal at 8:59.

"They (Ticats defence) kept us in the game because we were terrible on offence in the first half," Milanovich said. "Our defence played awesome in the second quarter, in particular, and in the fourth quarter, I thought."

UP NEXT

Redblacks: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday, July 20.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday, July 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2025.