73rd Grey Cup The 73rd Grey Cup was the 1985 Canadian Football League championship game that was played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal , between the BC Lions and the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . The BC Lions easily handled the Tiger - Cats with a 37 - 24 victory . Game summary . BC Lions ( 37 ) - TDs , Ned Armour ( 2 ) , Jim Sandusky ; FGs , Lui Passaglia ( 5 ) ; cons . , Passaglia ( 3 ) ; single , Passaglia . Hamilton Tiger - Cats ( 24 ) - TDs , Ron Ingram , Johnny Shepherd , Steve Stapler ; FGs , Bernie Ruoff ; cons . , Ruoff ( 3 ) . First Quarter BC - TD Armour 84 yard pass from Dewalt ( Passaglia convert ) BC - FG Passaglia Second Quarter BC - FG Passaglia HAM - TD Ingram 35 yard pass from Hobart ( Ruoff convert ) HAM - TD Shepherd 00 yard pass from Hobart ( Ruoff convert ) BC - TD Armour 59 yard pass from Dewalt ( Passaglia convert ) BC - FG Passaglia Third Quarter BC - FG Passaglia BC - FG Passaglia Fourth Quarter HAM - FG Ruoff BC - Single Passaglia BC - TD Sandusky 66 yard pass from Dewalt ( Passaglia convert ) HAM - TD Stapler 35 yard pass from Hobart ( Ruoff convert ) The 1980s proved to be a decade of halting Grey Cup droughts . The Toronto Argonauts ended 30 seasons of futility by recapturing the title in 1983 . The Winnipeg Blue Bombers ended a 21 - year drought without a national title the following year . It was the BC Lions turn in 1985 . The Lions hadn ’ t won a Grey Cup since their inaugural championship in 1964 . Fittingly , their opponent in 1985 was the Hamilton Tiger - Cats , the same team they defeated for their first title . It was the second straight trip to the final for the Ticats . The Lions jumped out to a quick start when five minutes in , quarterback Roy Dewalt and receiver Ned Armour combined on an 84 - yard passing play for a major . BC added two field goals to take a 13 - 0 advantage early in the second quarter . But much like they did the previous season , the Ticats made it interesting . Hamilton recovered a fumble by Lions running back Freddie Sims at the BC 50 . It led to rookie quarterback Ken Hobart ’ s 35 - yard touchdown strike to Ron Ingram , cutting the margin to six . Late in the opening half , Hobart broke free from the Hamilton 33 and utilized great blocking to get to the BC 15 . Two plays later , Johnny Shepherd leaped high to snag a touchdown reception , giving the Ticats a 14 - 13 advantage with 1 : 35 remaining in the first half . After failing to get a first down on their next possession , the Lions were forced to punt . Hamilton ’ s Mitchell Price and Grover Covington bore down on B . C . ’ s Lui Passaglia in an attempt to block the kick and Passaglia , seeing the danger , wisely kept the ball and scrambled to his right , resulting in a first down . BC then went for the dagger . Dewalt hit Armour again on a 59 - yard touchdown play , giving the Lions the lead for good . Shortly after , James " Quick " Parker forced Hobart into a fumble , setting up a Passaglia 24 - yard field goal . Instead of a one - point lead at halftime , Hamilton was in a hole 23 - 14 . The Lions never looked back . Passaglia booted another two field goals for five in the game , and Dewalt threw another big touchdown pass in the fourth quarter , a 66 - yarder to Jim Sandusky . Hobart would hit Steve Stapler for a 12 - yard touchdown late in the game , but it was too little , too late , and the BC Lions won their second Grey Cup championship .