Ricky Williams and Eric England scored second-half touchdowns as the Toronto Argonauts hung on for a tense 23-16 home win over the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday night.
England brought the season-high Rogers Centre gathering of 32,410 to its feet in the third quarter with an 80-yard interception return that broke a 9-9 tie. Williams put Toronto ahead 23-9 with a nine-yard TD run at 2:46 of the fourth, his second touchdown run of the year and first at home. His only other CFL TD came on a four-yard run June 30 in a 26-19 loss to the B.C. Lions.
Calgary made it interesting late in the fourth as Burris drove the Stampeders to the Toronto 29-yard line before Argos linebacker Mike O'Shea's interception with 2:48 remaining. The Stampeders got that back when Sheldon Napastuk recovered Jeff Johnson's fumble at the Argos' 22-yard line and Burris hit Ken-Yon Rambo on a 10-yard TD pass with 1:48 remaining.
Then, after Calgary's Nik Lewis recovered the onside kick, Burris took Calgary to the Toronto 20-yard line but Rambo couldn't hang on to Burris's third-down pass in the end zone with 23 seconds remaining.
Toronto (8-6) moved into a first-place tie with Montreal (8-6) atop the East Division standings with its third straight home victory overall and sixth straight win over Calgary at Rogers Centre.
The Stampeders (9-6), who beat Toronto 39-18 last week at McMahon Stadium, fell to second in the West Division behind the B.C. Lions (10-4), who beat Hamilton 28-8 earlier on Saturday.
England put Toronto ahead to stay at 9:39 of the third. Argos linebacker Kevin Eiben had Burris at the ankles but as Burris was going down he tried to throw to Rambo. However, he couldn't get the ball over England, who chugged untouched into the end zone.
Williams capped a stellar 13-play, 95-yard drive early in the fourth by taking the handoff, beating a Calgary defender around the end, then going airborne for the final three yards to score. However, Williams limped off the field on Toronto's next offensive series. Three plays later, Allen left going down hard on his left hand.
Allen broke the middle finger on his left hand in Toronto's season opener and missed five of the next six starts. He returned on Toronto's next offensive series, but Williams didn't.
Noel Prefontaine had three field goals and two converts for Toronto.
Sandro DeAngelis booted three field goals and a convert for the Stamps.
Prefontaine's 15-yard field goal at 14:48 of the second made it 9-9 at halftime as missed opportunities plagued the Argos.
Toronto opened the game with Bashir Levingston's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but it came back on a holding call. Five plays later, R. Jay Soward dropped Damon Allen's touchdown pass and Toronto had to settle for the early field goal.
On Toronto's next offensive series, Arland Bruce III got behind Calgary's secondary, but he dropped Allen's bomb. In the second, Levingston's 41-yard punt return and unnecessary roughness call on Calgary put the Argos on the visitors' 44-yard line, but again they settled for a field goal to tie the score 6-6.
The Argos also drove to the Calgary 18-yard line in the quarter, before Stampeder Trey Young's end zone interception. And in the dying seconds of the first half, Toronto was first-and-goal from the Stamps' eight-yard line, but two Allen incompletions put Prefontaine back on the field.
Calgary also had some tough first-half luck, too, when DeAngelis hit the uprights on a 39-yard field goal in the first following a smart 10-play drive. In the second, game officials missed an Argos defender grabbing Burris's facemask on a sack, then missed Stampeders receiver Elijah Thurmon being mugged downfield on a pass play.
Notes: Running back John Avery and defensive backs Khalil Carter and Jermaine Mays and Dave Donaldson were Toronto's scratches. Linebacker John grace, defensive back Tony Tiller, linebacker Riley Clayton and defensive lineman Miguel Robede didn't dress for Calgary . . . Bruce came into the game Toronto's leading receiver with 1,050 yards. Tony Miles was a distant second with just 365 yards. By comparison, Lewis is Calgary's receiving leader with 948 yards, with Jeremaine Copeland (820 yards) and Thurmon (583 yards) behind him.