Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Homecoming for Cobourne
Ticats running back Avon Cobourne has faced his former team twice during the 2011 regular season, but both games were in Hamilton. He will make his first trip back to the city where he spent the first five years of his CFL career.
For the first time Cobourne will dress in the visitors locker room and run out onto the field as the enemy.
“That’s going to be the weirdest part — the rivalry, playing against them I knew that would be easy – but going back there and being in the visiting locker room, that’s going to be a weird feeling,” he said. “Especially after playing there for so many years and now coming out onto the field from the other side of the stadium.”
“I’ve never been in there, I don’t know what it looks like,” Cobourne said of the visiting team’s dressing room at Percival Molson Stadium. “I think I’ll be right at home regardless.” The versatile runner was certainly comfortable playing in his new home stadium on Labour Day rushing for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
“It was my offensive line, they weren’t allowing much penetration and it allowed me to pick my holes and go,” the 205-pound back said.
Cobourne’s second 100-yard day of the season brought him to within 48 yards of the league’s leading rusher, who happens to play in Montreal, Brandon Whitaker.
“I definitely want to lead the league in rushing, I think that’s anybody’s goal, to be number one,” he said. “You want to be number one at everything you do. I just want to win, really. If I could do that and still win, I’ll take that all day.”
On Sunday, the teacher will try to catch his own student.
Molson House of Horrors
Percival Molson Stadium has been a place where teams go to perish. Montreal has not been a welcoming host, over the past four seasons, to visiting squads. The Alouettes have dropped just five games at home since the start of the 2008 CFL season.
“It’s a great atmosphere, actually it’s one of my favourite places to play,” linebacker Renauld Williams said. “I like going into the jungle, unfamiliar territory with the boos and all that stuff. I like quieting the crowd and I think our defence will feed off that.”
Montreal tends to start fast and score early at home, but Ticats defensive back Ryan Hinds knows what his team must do to slow the quick-starting home side.
“They feed of their fans, much as we do at Ivor Wynne,” he said “We have to set the tone early, we have to come out with the focus of setting the tone.”
“Intensity. Williams said. “We have to match their intensity at their place.”
The tone Hamilton hopes to hear is a quiet one and the Black and Gold know how important it will be to weather the early wave of emotion the Alouettes will be riding, especially after getting blown out on Labour Day.
Conquering Calvillo The Sequel
On offence for Montreal everyone knows it starts and ends with the play of Anthony Calvillo. Hamilton did a heck of a job harassing and confusing the usually precise pivot on Labour Day, holding him to just 215 yards through the air, but the second part of the back-to-back will be tougher with some of the Cats’ cards out of their sleeve.
“Him being able to study and know what we’re doing, we kind of jumped him with some things last time, this time it will be a little harder to jump him,” defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin said.
The first year coordinator believes, with each team having a good idea of what plays will be coming, that the team who simply executes more precisely will come out with a key division win.
“We’re going to have to play man on man. Not man-to-man football, it’s going to be, ‘we know what you’re probably going to do and you know what we’re going to do,’ whoever does it the best is going to win this game.”
One In, One Out
Veteran defensive lineman Matt Kirk has been practicing for a few weeks now, working himself back to full health and into game shape. Many hours of rehabilitation, after suffering a serious foot injury in the final game of the 2010 regular season, will all be worth it when the Queen’s product makes his return to the active roster on Sunday in Montreal.
However, another veteran, centre Marwan Hage has had the injury bug bite. Hage suffered a lower body setback on Labour Day and he will be out of the lineup on Sunday for the first time in 84 games.
Hage’s fill-in, fourth year CFLer Mark Dewit, has practiced with the first team offence all week, looking sharp and ready to confidently step into the starting spot vacated by Hage.
Further Investigation
Ticats defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin on his unit’s impressive showing on Labour Day:
“I think we could have had those kind of performances all along. That’s not being prideful or arrogant it was just simply about guys doing their jobs. There were less mental errors and that is why we had a performance like that. Those same flashes have shown during the year, at the same time I think we’ve grown and progressed to it because we have some young guys in the scheme that have grown to understand what they need to be doing.”
Ticats defensive back Ryan Hinds on the defence building off of last week’s strong showing:
“We had a good game, but that was just one game. We have to do it over and over again for it to really mean something. We have to play games like that consistently. What makes a championship team is consistency.”
Ticats receiver Chris Williams on getting more attention from opposing defensive backfields:
“Anything I can do, to help this team win, if it’s pulling coverage, we got somebody else over there running free or running one-on-one and with the weapons we have on this team, Avon toting the rock like he does, it’s scary. I could go zero for zero, with no yards no catches, as long as I’m doing the things I’m supposed to do and the team wins, I’m happy.”
