Brandon Banks ‘returns’ to his roots
Brandon Banks has established himself as an impactful receiver since June Jones took over as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But his performance on Sunday proved he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Banks still remembers how to return a football.
Early in the second quarter, the Ticats held just a 2-point lead, and the game was still very much in doubt. Montreal’s drive stalled, and the Alouettes’ kicker Boris Bede was called on to punt the ball away. He punted the ball 45 yards downfield, but it was destined to come back the other way. Brandon Banks was back at the Hamilton 45-yard line, and he received the punt before floating to his left and shooting a hole to move the ball vertically in a hurry. He burned up the yards and went untouched to the end zone, skipping it in for the major.
Banks also continued with his stellar play at receiver.
Banks added six receptions for 129 yards and a receiving touchdown. The more impressive stat in his total was his average yards per reception. Banks was certainly a downfield threat, as he averaged 21.5 yards per catch.
All-in-all, Banks posted 240-all-purpose yards on Sunday.
Kenny Allen goes five-for-five
When Sergio Castillo went down with an injury in Week 16, fans in TigerTown held their collective breath. Former Laval receiver Felix Faubert-Lussier stepped in at kicker and did an admiral job punting the football for the Ticats. Thankfully for Faubert-Lussier’s nerves, the game didn’t come down to a last-minute field goal.
The Tiger-Cats were quick in replacing Castillo, as within minutes Ticats’ brass was on the phone with Kenny Allen.
Allen was a standout player in college. He played for the University of Michigan, where he graduated as the second-most accurate kicker in the school’s history, kicking field goals at 82.2% accuracy. His punting is what really caught the eye of scouts. Allen averaged 43.7 yards per punt in college. In practice for the Ticats, he has been known to rifle off punts of 60+ yards in the air, with incredible hang-time.
Allen went five-for-five against the Als on Sunday, and he averaged over 40-yards per punt. His longest field goal of the night was 48-yards, and he looked comfortable hitting from far out.
The Ticats keep the foot on the gas
In media availability this week, Head Coach June Jones said he was going to play the players that gave him the best chance to win the game. He stated that he was being evaluated on the number of wins he produced, and he was going to do everything in his power to earn as many wins as possible before the end of the season.
Towards the end of the game, the Ticats began substituting some backup players for starters, including some interior offensive lineman and quarterbacks. Zach Collaros and Everett Golson got some reps behind centre, but only once the game was well out of reach. The Ticats laid the body on the Alouettes until the only conceivable result was a Ticats’ victory.
The takeaway for Ticats fans is that they can expect two more competitive games to close the season. The 2017 Tiger-Cats aren’t going to let up until the season is in the books.
