CFL.ca
Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Coming Along
Ticats defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin, who doubles as the defensive backs coach, wanted a certain type of player brought to Hamilton to play in his secondary during the off-season. He wanted bigger defensive backs that were able to play well locked up in man-to-man coverage and didn’t mind if their CFL experience was lacking. Chamblin coveted the best athletes who could flat out cover to play in his secondary and he knew over the year, under his tutelage, the unit would grow to be ready for playoff time.
“Every day, he is one of the last ones to go home. I guarantee you he puts in the work, so we see that and we just do what he does,” Carlos Thomas said. “They can only hold us for four hours, but the defensive backs we feed off our coach and we know he’s going to work so we go put in the extra time as well.”
It certainly seems, after back-to-back stellar performances against B.C. and Saskatchewan, that the secondary is starting to hit their stride at the most crucial time of the year. Thomas led the way two weeks ago against the Lions grabbing the first interception of his career and he called his own showing the best of his career. He feels only half of his potential has been realized
The same could be said for the rest of Hamilton’s defensive backfield, which limited the CFL’s second leading passer in Travis Lulay to complete less than 50 per cent of his throws and sent him to the bench in he fourth quarter with the game well in the Ticats grasp.
Last Saturday in Regina the secondary held the Roughriders to 139 yards through the air and starting quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie completed just seven of his 20 pass attempts.
“I’ve never had a coach like Coach Chamblin before. He’s a great coach – great players develop from great coaches,” Thomas said.
Against the Lions and Riders we saw just what Hamilton’s group of cover men are capable of and hopefully showings such as those continue versus Toronto and on into the post-season.
Porter Set To Shoulder The Load
Running back Daniel Porter has been with the Ticats for all of one week, but he has picked up the offence rapidly and will be the main man in Hamilton’s backfield against Toronto.
”I am real comfortable with the plays, so it’s all about going out there and playing fast,” Porter said. “I want to get out there and show the Ticats what I’m about and what I bring to this team.”
“It’s key for me right now as far as going into the playoffs, trying to let the coaches see the better side of me so they can depend on me in the playoffs.”
With Terry Grant lost for the season the Tiger-Cats brought in Porter to back up prized off-season acquisition, Avon Cobourne. Porter will allow Cobourne to be fresh heading into the post-season.
“With Daniel being here just a few days, he hasn’t had a chance to play yet, and knowing that we don’t have Terry Grant sitting in the wings waiting, I think it’s prudent that we keep Avon out of this game and make sure that he is ready to go in the playoffs,” head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said.
Porter is looking to kick-start a Ticats rushing attack that has been stuck in a rut of late.
“It’s real important to get the ground game going because everything revolves around the run,” Porter said.
His new head coach is anxious to see what Porter can accomplish within the framework of Hamilton’s offence on Thursday night.
New Temporary Middle Man
For one game rookie Brandon Denson will take over in the middle of Hamilton’s linebacking corps. Veteran Renauld Williams will sit out the season finale to ensure he is as healthy as can be for the CFL playoffs. The chance to start and see extended playing time is something Denson is looking forward to.
“I’m fired up, ready to go and play ball,” he said. “It means a lot that I am taking on a bigger role, but I think I‘m ready to help my team out moving forward in the process as we get ready for the post-season.”
Number 42 has worked hard in practice all season to master the nuances of playing linebacker on the bigger Canadian field.
“I think that I’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year,” Denson said. “I think I truly earned it, to be put in the position I am.”
Further Investigation
Ticats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille on what he would like to see out of his team in Toronto:
“A few things. I want to see us execute better on offence and get back into a rhythm. The second thing is, I want to see the continued development and growth of the areas we have improved in, defensively and in our secondary. The third things is, there are some different players that are going to get an opportunity to play and we want to see those guys play and how they come along.”
Ticats linebacker Brandon Denson on the Argos offence:
“It starts by shutting down the run. They do some good things up front, they have nice running backs and they’re going to try and get after it in the run game. It’s going to be a physical match up, which starts up front with our defensive lineman. It’s going to be a hard fought game up front.”
