Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
All three of Hamilton’s quarterbacks got a chance to get into the game on Thursday evening, as the Ticats suffered a 33-16 defeat to Toronto at the Rogers Centre in their regular season finale.
The pivots combined to complete 26 of 45 passes for 264 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Their target of choice on the evening was Dave Stala who hauled in nine passes for 84 yards.
“They did some good things – it was a real tough situation, offensively, with all the guys who were sitting out,” head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said.
Robert Rose recorded his first ever CFL sack and fellow defensive end Justin Hickman notched his 13th quarterback takedown, tying him for the league-lead with Winnipeg pass rusher Odell Willis on the season.
“Pass rushing and shutting down the run game, he’s been a good addition to our line,” Hickman said of his line mate. “Quickly running through the game in my head I think I could of had a couple better rushes.”
Hickman will be watching when Willis plays against Calgary on Saturday.
“I will check the games out, so hopefully those other offensive lines can lock those dudes down,” he said.
Brandon Denson performed well in his first pro start at linebacker. He recorded three tackles on the evening.
Markeith Knowlton had a quick start on defence, knocking away a second down pass on the Argos first series of the game and grabbing an interception – his first of the season — on Toronto’s second possession.
Hamilton turned the Knowlton takeaway into the first points of the ball game, when Justin Medlock booted a 34-yard field goal to give the Tiger-Cats a 3-0 lead.
Toronto would answer the Hamilton field goal with a six play 81-yard touchdown drive,capped by a 20-yard major when Dalton Bell tossed up a fade route to Andre Durie, who made a great adjustment to the underthrown football, giving the Argos a 7-3 advantage.
Medlock would connect on his second field goal attempt of the game, from 33 yards out, with just over five minutes to go in the first half, making the score 7-6 in favour of the Argos.
With 17 seconds left in the opening half, after an eight play 55-yard drive, Noel Prefontaine hit from 46 yards out to extend the Argo lead, 10-6, heading into recess.
After an 11 play 63-yard drive halted inside the red zone, Medlock came on to put through his third three-pointer of the game from 22 yards out, cutting the Toronto lead to 10-9.
Chad Kackert returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards, which set up a 51-yard Prefontaine field goal, pushing the Argos lead back to four, 13-9.
Prefontaine would connect on another long field goal attempt, extending Toronto’s advantage to 16-9, this time from 49 yards out after Hamilton turned the football over on downs — quarterback Quinton Porter was stuffed on a third and short quarterback sneak attempt.
Hamilton’s defence provided the offence with some great field position, forcing the Argos to punt from inside their own end zone. The Ticats would take over the ball in Toronto territory and Porter would engineer a seven play 54-yard drive, resulting in a touchdown when he found Aaron Kelly from five yards out. Kelly’s scoring grab helped to even the score at 16 a piece early in the final frame.
Immediately, Toronto would strike back. Bell found a streaking Andre Durie, who hit pay dirt from 42 yards out on the catch and run play. In just three plays the Argos covered 78 yards and reclaimed their seven-point lead, 23-16.
Toronto would extend their lead to 14 points, 30-16, capitalizing off of a Porter interception, when Cory Boyd crossed the goal line from six yards out.
Knowlton would thwart a late Argos drive by stripping Boyd of the football inside Hamilton’s five-yard line, which the Ticats would recover.
Toronto’s kicker would add to the Argos lead, hitting a 31-yard field goal, making the final score 33-16 in favour of the home side.
Despite the loss, Medlock continued his stellar season kicking the football, making good on all three of three of his field goal attempts, his longest coming from 34 yards.
Along with Knowlton – who added a sack and forced fumble to go with his interception — Carlos Thomas also recorded an interception, his second of the season, as he continues to look more and more comfortable at the free safety position.
In the end Hamilton’s loss won’t mean anything, since they have been assured a playoff spot for weeks and will wait to find out who their opponent is after the completion of the CFL’s regular season.
“From here on forward it’s a brand new season,” Bellefeuille said. “We’ve earned the right to determine our fate.”
