Ticats.ca
Justin Dunk
A tough 24-16 loss to the Bombers in the Ticats home and season opener on Canada Day was not the way Hamilton would have liked to start the season, but there were many reasons for optimism going forward.
“A loss is not good enough. This is a good lesson, you gotta be tuned in, dialed in every single play,” middle linebacker Rey Williams said after his own seven-tackle performance. “If we don’t give them that touchdown it’s a different story, that was a mistake on our part.”
Terrence Edwards was on the receiving end of the 49-yard first-quarter touchdown Williams was alluding to, though it was the only major the Ticats defence surrendered on the evening.
“I always knew the defence here was good, I played against them when I was in Montreal,” running back Avon Cobourne said. “It was actually a great show by them, I wish we would of played better for them.”
Slotback Maurice Mann recorded his first 100-yard game of the season hauling in nine balls for 120 yards and Hamilton’s first touchdown of the 2011 campaign.
Although, the Ticats main story all night long was about the Black and Gold defence that was very active all game, swarming the football and pressuring Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce.
“There’s some good players on this defence, front and the back end and the linebackers,” Williams said. “I’m excited about the defence we have, and the team we have we just gotta keep plugging away at it.”
Up front the Ticats certainly played up to their billing, recording five sacks and forcing Pierce out of the pocket on a number of occasions.
Weak side linebacker Jamall Johnson – who had a team-leading seven tackles and two sacks in the contest — provided a hit for the ages in the third quarter, screaming in untouched off the backside and planting his helmet under Pierce’s chin, popping off the pivot’s helmet while driving him into the TigerTown turf.
”It’s going to get worse for (other team’s) offence,” Williams said about the disruptions the Ticats defence plans to cause in the future. “We have a lot of speed on this defence.”
Eddie Steele notched his first career sack, while Stevie Baggs and Albert Smith added one quarterback takedown each.
Meanwhile, offensively the Bombers managed just 260 total yards against a stout Tiger-Cats unit, and a green secondary showed they are full of promise giving up a measly 151 passing yards. Not to mention first-year corner Marcell Young, who came up with his first career interception in his Ticats debut.
“Everybody was making a big deal out of our secondary, they just didn’t know who was here,” Williams said. “We have some good guys back in that secondary that will make plays and cover one-on-one.”
A couple of other new additions put together solid outings in their first game in Ticats uniforms.
Kicker Justin Medlock hit on all three of his field goal attempts a welcome sight after the kicking woes of a season ago.
“It was good, a good start and hopefully we just keep getting better,” Medlock said.
Number 22 was instrumental in setting up the Ticats opportunities for points, Cobourne accounted 111 yards from scrimmage on 20 total touches, although he feels his performance was not up to standard.
“Not well enough, we lost, it’s not about personal goals when you lose,” Avon Cobourne said. “It’s going to be how we respond to this loss that’s going determine how the season goes. I think we will come out to practice next week fired up and ready to go.”
