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Toronto rallies in snow in Grey Cup to beat Calgary

Toronto rallies in snow in Grey Cup to beat Calgary
Posted at 11:04 PM, Nov 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-26 23:04:23-05

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) -- Lirim Hajrullahu kicked a 32-yard field goal with 49 seconds left and the Toronto Argonauts stunned the Calgary Stampeders 27-24 on Sunday in the Canadian Football League's snowy 105th Grey Cup.

Toronto tied it with 4:35 to go on Cassius Vaughn's Grey Cup-record 109-yard fumble return and Ricky Ray's 2-point conversion pass to Declan Cross.

After Hajrullahu's field goal, Matt Black picked off Bo Levi Mitchell's pass in the end zone to send the Stampeders to their second loss in two years in the title game. Last year, they fell to Ottawa 39-33 in overtime.

On a snow covered field in blizzard conditions, Ray hit DeVier Posey for a Grey Cup-record 100-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half.

Toronto won its record-extending 17 championship, and the 38-year-old Ray became the first starting quarterback to win four Grey Cup titles.

The Stampeders led the CFL in the regular season with a 13-4-1 record, while Toronto topped the East Division at 9-9. Calgary also was the top regular-season team last year at 15-2-1.

Calgary had won its last eight games against Toronto.

The snow started to fall about two hours before kickoff, lightly at first and steadily increasing. The snow forced the cancellation of the pregame flyover of two CF-18 Hornets. During each play stoppage, stadium employees shoveled the yard lines while two snow plows cleared the hash marks.

At halftime, two full-sized plows helped clear the field prior to country star Shania Twain's performance. The multiple Grammy Award winner arrived on a dog sled before starting her snowy three-song set.

The snow tailed off to start the second half, and Toronto pulled to 17-16 at 4:09 of the third quarter on James Wilder Jr.'s 2-yard scoring run and Cross' 2-point conversion catch.

The Stampeders countered with Mitchell's 6-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Messam at 8:56.