Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
What’s the difference between a tackle for a loss and a 20-yard run? What separates a touchdown from 3rd and 15?
So often, it boils down to a matter of milliseconds, or one moment of focus lost.
“This is a game of inches,” says Ticat defensive end Greg Peach. “Any mistake that you make is going to be exposed, especially by professional players.”
“We work every week to cancel those mistakes out.”
The recent past has seen such errors decide close games and tilt the scales in favour of the Ticats opponents. But with the coming of a new contest, there is optimism among the men in Black and Gold that the game of inches is a game that they can win.
It will certainly be no easy task, as Hamilton faces an Edmonton team equally eager to come away with a win tonight and keep pace with Calgary in the West Division.
“We know that they’re going to come out roaring and doing whatever they have to do to get back into the win column, because now Calgary’s ahead of them out west,” says Ticat quarterback Henry Burris. “We’re expecting a team coming in here full of piss and vinegar.”
“We’re the same sort of team right now, because we’ve been embarrassed for the past few weeks. We want to make amends, because to be a good team, we have to win at home.”
Winning will require a clean effort across the board. Because as offensive tackle Brian Simmons explains, football has a cruel way of exposing mistakes unlike almost any other sport.
“Football is the one sport where 11 guys can be doing their job and if one guy’s not doing his job, the whole thing is out the window,” says Simmons. “That’s how football is.”
“It’s not like basketball, where you can have a Lebron James or Dwyane Wade and everyone else fits in.”
Player roles are carefully constructed within the orchestra of football, each one subtly complementing the other.
Danger – according to linebacker Jamall Johnson – emerges when players attempt to overcompensate, to take on the responsibilities of others. His team has worked to counteract that tendency this week.
“One thing we’ve been trying to focus on this week is everybody concentrating on their job and not trying to farm another man’s land,” remarks Johnson.
“You do your job and trust the man next to you, and then just make plays within the scheme.”
Eliminating mistakes entirely is impossible, of course.
So while the Ticats have drilled to minimize errors, they’ve also practiced the strategies that will allow them to contain the damage that occurs when – inevitably – the Eskimos make plays.
“One small mistake and a guy can squirt through. That’s where pursuit comes in,” says Johnson. “You want everybody pursuing to the ball. Once you see where the ball’s going, everyone’s got to bust their butt to get there.”
While minimizing the gains of the Eskimos, the Ticats will look to capitalize more often on their own opportunities tonight.
Simmons contends that in the rough-and-tumble, offensive carnival that is the CFL, the Ticats offence must have a killer instinct to survive.
“I think when we’re up on people, we’ve got to mash the gas,” says the offensive tackle. “We’ve got to go full throttle and learn how to take people out and not leave them lingering around.”
“The CFL is a very offensive game and so many things can happen in so little time.”
There is much to manage, but if the Ticats can come out the winner tonight, they will take an important step in the right direction.
While much work remains to be done to pull Hamilton back into contention in the East Division, a victory would lend the team a mental edge.
Head Coach George Cortez encapsulates the belief that accompanies a win in a simple adage.
“You always think that you’re better after a win, whether you are or not.”
