Canadian Football League News

Allen tops Moon as football's all-time No. 1 passer

Sep 5, 2006, 1:55 GMT

Hamilton, ON - Damon Allen passed former CFL and NFL star Warren Moon as pro football's all-time leading passer, throwing for 207 yards and two scores to lead Toronto past Hamilton, 40-6.

Allen broke the record in grand fashion with 9:58 left to play in the third quarter, completing a shovel pass to receiver Arland Bruce, who broke a couple tackles to reach the end zone and give the Argonauts a 12-3 lead.

With Hamilton's fans on their feet, play was stopped and Allen was honored with a ceremony at midfield by CFL commissioner Tom Wright. The 22-year CFL veteran finished the game with 70,595 career passing yards.

The previous record of Moon stood at 70,553 passing yards during his 23-year professional football career.

When play resumed, Jamie Boreham's 42-yard field goal brought Hamilton within six, but the Argonauts scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Allen threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 18-yard strike to Jeff Johnson, with just over 11 minutes left to play to give Toronto a 19-6 advantage.

Then, on the Tiger-Cats next possession, Byron Parker picked off a Jason Maas pass and ran it back 86 yards for a score.

Michael Bishop, in relief of Allen, hooked up with Bruce for a 20-yard touchdown pass, and Parker ran back another pick for a touchdown, this one for 46 yards, to complete the scoring.

Johnson had five catches for 58 yards and also rushed for 50 yards for the Argonauts (6-5), who forced nine Hamilton turnovers to win their fourth game in a row.

Toronto was without running back John Avery, who aggravated an ankle injury in Toronto's 18-15 win over Winnipeg last week.

Maas completed 14-of-26 passes for 189 yards and four interceptions for the Tiger-Cats (2-10), who have lost four straight at home and have been outscored 140-16 in those games.

Hamilton committed four turnovers in the first half, but Toronto held just a 5-3 lead at the break.

After Boreham kicked a 36-yard field goal to give the Tiger-Cats an early lead, Hamilton conceded a safety before Noel Prefontaine kicked a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter to give Toronto the slim lead.

Game Notes

Allen completed 16-of-24 passes.

Last week, Hamilton hired Marcel Desjardins to be the team's new general manager..Toronto's defense leads the CFL in points allowed per game.

Steve Mariucci, a former NFL head coach and Allen's quarterback coach early in his college career at Cal State Fullerton in the 1980s, also took part in the halftime ceremony.

© 2006 The Sports Network