Hamilton wide receiver Airese Currie breaks up field during Friday's home win. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)  Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Quinton Porter rebounded from an awful first half and had some help from his backup in the second to post a 24-17 win over the Calgary Stampeders on Friday in Hamilton.

Porter hooked up with receiver Arland Bruce early in the fourth quarter to draw the teams even at 17 while Adam Tafralis connected with Bruce for a 36-yard strike with four minutes to go for the winning score.

With the win, Hamilton improves to 6-5 while Calgary drops to the same record. Both teams sit in second place in their respective divisions.

"You've got to remember, there's four quarters in football," said Bruce. "You've got to be patient and let the game come to you. And that's what the quarterback did. And being a receiver, I would be patient and wait 'til the game came to me."

In his first game back after missing the last four with a knee injury, Porter looked a bit rusty. The quarterback fumbled on his second play of game and was responsible for two of the three turnovers committed by the Ticats in the first quarter.

Porter completed 19 of 32 passes for 246 yards with a fumble, an interception and one touchdown.

He said later his mistakes were the result of overconfidence, not tentativeness.

"From the very beginning I was feeling confident," said Porter. "For the most part, I was making all the reads I could. If anything, I was trying to do a little too much when nothing was there."

His first gaffe gave the Stampeders the ball just nine yards away from the Ticats' end zone.

After being handed this gift, Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris and the Calgary offensive line received another goodie from Hamilton as Ticats defensive back Geoff Tisdale was tagged with a pass interference call that put the ball on the goal line. A one-yard run by Burris and a Sandro DeAngelis convert put the Stamps up 7-0 less than five minutes in. Turnovers trouble Ticats early

After the Ticats replied with a Nick Setta 34-yard field goal, the Stampeders once again scored a touchdown off a turnover. Ticats running back DeAndra' Cobb had the ball stripped from him on the Hamilton 39-yard line by Miguel Roebede. The ball was recovered and taken the distance by Milton Collins, good enough for a 14-3 Stampeders lead.

Things seemed to be rolling for Hamilton on their next possession — a facemask call on Calgary's John Eubanks gave them an extra 15 yards and put the ball on the Calgary 34. Two plays later, Porter threw the ball in the end zone into a pair of waiting arms — those of Calgary's Wes Lysack, who picked up the interception.

Nothing came of the Calgary possession and they were forced to punt in the opening of the second quarter — but the kick didn't make it very far. Hamilton's Markeith Knowlton came up with a block, setting up Setta's second field goal of the night, this one from 13 yards out.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, it was Calgary's turn for a turnover. Wide receiver Titus Ryan fumbled and the Ticats' Lamont Reid gobbled up the loose ball. Hamilton once again had to settle for a Setta field goal, but this time their kicker was wide and they came away with only a single, cutting the Calgary lead to seven.

Setta added his third field goal of the night with 31 seconds to go in the half to cut the deficit to four.

"I really can't put it into words," said Burris. "When we did get something going, we did things to shoot ourselves in the foot. We didn't make enough plays tonight.

"This is an atypical offensive output. This isn't something I expected because this was a big game for us here."

The Stampeders opened the second-half scoring with 1:35 to go in the third quarter with a DeAngelis field goal to restore their lead of seven. The 17-yard pass capped off an eight-play, 58-yard drive.

A DeAngelis kick from 45 yards out was wide with 7:45 to go in the game. That set the stage for the 36-yard catch by Bruce from Tafralis for the Ticats' first lead of the game and what turned out to be the winner.

With files from The Canadian Press