August 1, 2024; Hamilton, Ontario, CAN; Montreal Alouettes defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-16 at Tim Hortons Field. Photo by John E. Sokolowski
The Tiger-Cats enter the biggest – an adjective which has applied for several weeks now — a game of the season without two injured players, receiver Shemar Bridges and running back Greg Bell, who’s been among the most important offensive contributors in their month-long surge.
And they’ll also be missing Nick Usher due to injury. The defensive end has been a critical force playing a hybrid kind of role since Chris Jones took over as defensive playcaller. And here comes the Winnipeg Blue Bomber offence Friday night at Tim Hortons Field with an arsenal of dangerous offensive weapons: only the league’s leading rusher (Brady Oliveira); receivers Kenny Lawler and Nick Demski who are on streaks of, respectively, 50 and 68 games, of catching at least one pass; and Hall of Fame shoo-in Zach Collaros who, despite not having his strongest season overall, is coming off a career-high six touchdown passes in a rout of Edmonton last Friday.
It was also Collaros who, despite being intercepted three times earlier in the game, choreographed the improbable rally which led to the Bombers’ 26-23 comeback victory over the Ticats on Aug. 23.
Neither team has lost since then.
The loss of Usher is particularly significant because he would have been asked to close off Collaros’s roll-out to his side of the field but the Ticats do have some depth at that spot and will start Tim Ward at the end. The 6-foot-6 North Carolina native has played in the NFL with Kansas City and had five tackles and a sack in his debut game with the Chiefs but he is brand new to the CFL and `this will be the Ticats’ fans first look at him.
“This is going to be my first look at him, live, too,” says Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “I’ve seen him practice, seen him do one-on-ones. He’s long, he looks the part. Quiet guy, reserved, pays good attention.
“I’m looking forward to what he can do. He’s got some natural pass-rushing abilities, as far as being able to bend and dip and things like that. We’re excited to see him play. We think he’ll do well but he has to go out and show.”
Ward will be playing right beside Casey Sayles, the defensive tackle who’s been having an excellent season and will do a little coaching of his linemate during the game.
“He’s been on the practice squad for a couple of weeks and we’re excited for him to get going and we’ll do what we can to speed him up to things,” Sayles said, noting that the Ticats had made some switches from former defensive coordinator Mark Washington’s playbook to some of new play-caller Chris Jones’ concepts. “I think it helped out a bit, makes it a bit easier, getting him up to speed a bit.”
The rugged Butler will replace Bell, the man who had replaced him, and his compact sheer physical strength will help the blocking and the hard, quick-hitting run. Bell has those two changes of speed in the open field, but when Butler played his first game in more than a month two weeks ago in Toronto he had 17 touches on runs and passes, for over 100 scrimmage yards. It was he who made that huge 3rd-and-5 outlet catch to set up the game-winning field goal. The Ticats are confident with him on the field.
Bridges, the rookie sensation who is only six receptions shy of the all-time CFL mark for first-year players, is not dressed because of the quad injury he incurred in last Friday’s inspiring win in BC, He’ll be replaced by former Indianapolis Colt Dezmon Patmon, who suits up for the fifth time this season. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder had four of his five catches this year in the same game, in Saskatchewan week three, collecting 52 yards.
“He’s big, strong, can win 50-50 balls,” said Milanovich who knew Patmon when they were both with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts two years ago. “I thought he would have had a chance to play more this year but fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, guys have stayed healthy at receiver so he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities. It’s a great opportunity for him to prove what he can do. I think he can play at a high level.”
These are by far the two hottest teams in the CFL and, not uncoincidentally, the ones that are playing the best, and most complementary, football.
During their four-game winning streak—they actually started playing much better during that heart-breaking loss to Winnipeg the game before they started winning—the Ticats have overcome a 16-point deficit to win (last week in BC), completed 77 percent of their passes, have had possession of the ball an average of five minutes per game more than their opponents and successfully converted 61 percent of their second downs, up from 45 percent during their 2-9 start. And they’ve been high-spirited off the field too, best exemplified by the fans’, players’ and national media’s fascination with Mitchell’s white overalls, a.k.a ‘Bo-veralls’.
Meanwhile, during their seven-game streak, the Bombers have scored first in all seven, and had a lead at some point of at least 10 points and have never trailed by more than 7; had a plus-10 turnover rate during the tear, after being minus-8 up until then; they entered the streak with a turnover rate of minus-8 but are plus-10 during the tear,
“I was there for two years I know how they are,” says Sayles who came to Hamilton from the Bombers as a free agent last season. “They have a lot of vets. I knew when they went 0-and-4 that it was just a matter of time before they picked up. I think the same thing here…it was a matter of time. Everyone just kind of kept their head down and kept working. No one likes being, whatever our record was—it wasn’t good—but we got the resurgence of energy. “It’s kicking back up and we’re on a roll now. But so’s Winnipeg. This game is a big one. It’s going to be the best one of our season, it’s going to be our biggest one. It’s going to be a packed house so I think we’re going to be ready.”
CATS CLAUSES: The two newest members of the Ticats Wall of Honour, defensive lineman Mike Walker and coach/educator Bernie Custis, will be honoured during a ceremony at half-time …the Ticats’ offensive line was named to the CFL September Honour Roll as the CFL’s top offensive line for the month, WR Jevoni Robinson was selected as the top receiver and Bo Levi Mitchell and Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros —who’ll go against each other Friday night—were the two honourable mentions for the offensive player of the month … Ticat MLB Ryan Baker, the rookie who’s now playing regularly, has 26 tackles in his last five games and making just four in his first 10 games … the 34 completions Mitchell had against BC last week matched his career high, set against Montreal in July, 2017 … Winnipeg receivers Nic Demski and Kenny Lawler are on incredible reception streaks with Demski having caught passes in the last 68 games he’s played, and Lawler in 50 straight … Bomber kicker Sergio Castillo, once a Ticat, has made 9 field goals from 50 yards or deeper, breaking the CFL single-season record of 8 … Bomber fullback Mike Chris-Ike was a high school superstar at Hamilton’s St. Thomas More …Brady Oliveira leads the league in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage, reaching 1000 rushing yards for the third straight season … Bomber WR Ontaria Wilson needs 115 receiving yards to hit 1000 in his first CFL season.
