Six Pack: Standout players from Friday night's win over the Riders

Jeff Mathews comes out slingin’
Jeff Mathews looked like a changed man in his second career CFL start. Mathews looked much more comfortable from the get-go, completing his first seven passes of the game for 107 yards. A dropped pass by Tiquan Underwood was Mathews’ first incompletion and only one of two in the half for the rookie quarterback, as he cruised to 15-of-17 passing for 191 yards and his first and second career CFL passing touchdowns.
The second half brought more of the same for the rookie pivot, as he added another touchdown pass and just under 200 yards of passing. In total, Mathews carved up the Riders defence for a total of 385 passing yards on the night and 3 touchdowns on the night, completing 66% of his passes in the process.

Mathews hung in tough under pressure and took some hard hits over the course of the night, but his awareness and ability to avoid pocket pressure was much-improved in the game. The rookie QB showed off an ability to move the ball on the ground responsibly as well, gaining 27 yards on three rushes, while holding onto the ball despite some hard hits. All-in-all it was a significantly better game for Mathews, one which showed the high ceiling of this young quarterback’s game.
Eric Norwood returns in style
Eric Norwood played for the first time since August 27 against the Alouettes, and the four-game hiatus did not appear to slow down Norwood one bit. The Ticats ferocious edge defender was all over the field on Friday night, settling back into his routine of wreaking havoc on opposing defences.
The highlight of Norwood’s night was when he chased down Riders speedy quarterback Brett Smith for a sack in the third quarter. Norwood chased down the fleeing quarterback, closing the gap and beating Smith to the sideline before dragging him down to record his sixth sack in five games this season. Along with the sack, Norwood recorded four tackles and another three quarterback pressures on the night, quickly making his presence felt on the Ticats defensive line.
Tiquan Underwood steps up in Toliver’s absence
An injury forced the Ticats to make receiver Terrence Toliver a late scratch on Friday, keeping the rookie receiver out of the lineup for the first time all season. In Toliver’s absence, fellow CFL rookie and professional football vet Tiquan Underwood entered the lineup and stepped up big time.
Underwood displayed instant chemistry with Jeff Mathews in the Friday-night game, as the two connected four times for 77 yards and a touchdown in the first half. The touchdown was Underwood’s third of his rookie season, despite playing in just 10 games. Underwood’s five receptions were tied with Luke Tasker for the team lead in that regard, and his 108 receiving yards were second only to Terrell Sinkfield. Underwood was particularly dangerous in the deep passing game, hauling in three of his five receptions on plays of 20+ yards. The outlook on Toliver’s injury is unclear, but Friday night’s game was another display of the Ticats extraordinary receiver depth.
Sinkfield bounces back for another standout game

After recording four 90+ yard games in five contests, Sinkfield was quiet in Week 15 recording just four receptions for 14 yards against the Stamps. The second-year receiver bounced back well, amassing a massive 163 receiving yards on four receptions on Friday night against the Riders. Sinkfield’s night was highlighted by an 87-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter in which the shifty receiver broke a tackle and was off to the races for the longest Ticats passing play of the season.
Sinkfield has proven to be a dynamic playmaker for the Ticats in 2015 and his electric play was in the spotlight yet again tonight.
Brandon Stewart makes his mark 
Brandon Stewart goes relatively unrecognized on the Ticats defence on most nights, but there was no mistaking the mark he made on Friday night’s game. The veteran defensive back made a number of notable plays against the Riders, most significantly his second quarter interception of Kevin Glenn. Stewart got way up on the play, climbing the ladder to bring down the overthrown pass and give the Ticats possession at midfield.
While it was the most obvious, the interception was not Stewart’s only impactful play in Friday’s game. The veteran made a strong special teams tackle early in the game and another late in the fourth quarter, a punishing tackle for loss on a sweep play in the fourth quarter and another strong coverage play against veteran receiver Chris Getzlaf in the third quarter. Stewart’s strong performance was a big in the success of both the Ticats defence and special teams in Friday night’s win.
Michael Ford notches second straight strong performance
Michael Ford rejoined the Ticats just two weeks ago, but he’s already made a big impact on the offence. The 27-year old back recorded 117 yards in his debut CFL start last week, and he followed that up with another solid performance on Friday night, rushing for 54 yards on 10 carries while adding another 11 yards on three receptions. Ford’s no-nonsense, North-South running has given the Ticats rushing offence a big boost and has taken a weight off of their rookie quarterback’s shoulders as he settles into running the team’s offence.