Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
The Ticats desperately needed to awaken their slumbering offence against a potent Alouette team as they prepared for a pivotal game against their divison rivals.
The sleeping giant came back to life in the best possible way during Friday’s emphatic win at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
With Henry Burris masterfully pulling the strings, the Ticats amassed 326 yards through the air and chalked up five passing touchdowns.
Scoring came early and often for the home side, who used a lethal start to pace themselves to victory.
The Ticats offence produced a nearly perfect first half display on Friday, notching 31 points, 20 first downs and four passing touchdowns in the first two periods.
Andy Fantuz was the primary target as Burris engineered an offensive explosion. The slotback racked up 73 yards in the opening half on five receptions, and hauled in two touchdowns for his trouble.
Chris Williams and Dave Stala added majors of their own as the Ticats produced points on five of their six drives in the half.
Burris argued that his team’s effectiveness stemmed from their ability to keep the Alouettes guessing and execute both through the air and along the ground.
“Things were flowing for us tonight,” said the quarterback.
“The offensive line did a great job of blocking for the running game. We were able to mix that in and keep them off balance. Our receivers made plays.”
Hamilton’s proficiency on the attack did much more than produce points. While the Ticats marched the ball with impunity, Anthony Calvillo was forced to pace the sidelines.
The hosts enjoyed a 2:1 advantage in time of possession, and effectively kept the ball out of the hands of Montreal’s notoriously dangerous offence.
“We just took what they gave us,” said Burris of his offence’s time-consuming attack.
“We took our shots when they were there, but we also had our ground-and-pound when we needed that as well. We need to be an effective offence regardless of whether a team is giving us big chunks or not.”
The score at the interval was 31-14, and much work remained to be done for the Ticats.
Proceedings slowed in the third quarter, as the Alouettes pressure began to find Burris. Montreal capitalized, and reduced the deficit to 10 through a Chris Jennings touchdown.
But as the game rolled into the fourth and final frame, Hamilton’s offensive juggernaut came alive once again.
Burris found Bakari Grant for consecutive, drive-extending receptions before Dave Stala reeled in the quarterback’s fifth touchdown pass of the night to move the score line to 38-21 in the Ticats favour.
Luca Congi added a field goal, before the Alouettes pulled one touchdown back through slotback S.J. Green.
But the 13-point deficit at 41-28 would prove insurmountable, and the Ticats came away with a win that instantly vaults them back into playoff contention.
The undisputed star of the occasion was Burris, who has now amassed 686 yards and nine touchdowns on 55 of 62 passing against Montreal at Ivor Wynne Stadium this year.
Ticat Head Coach George Cortez was unsurprised that Burris played well on Friday night, but could not help but be impressed by the particulars of his performance.
“I expected us to play well,” said the coach. “We’ve played [Montreal] twice and played fairly well against them both times.
“Did I expect to be 28-32? No one ever does. That would be pretty good in the back yard against the air.”
Cortez suggested that Friday’s result was an indication that his players craved redemption for their showing of a week ago.
But he cautioned that the Ticats must use the positive momentum generated by the win as they move forward.
“I think what we showed today is that [the players] have a lot of pride in themselves and they wanted to show that what happened last Friday night wasn’t a true indication,” said the coach.
“Now, we need to carry that over to the next Friday night.”
Their celebrations will be short-lived – with much ground left to cover before a playoff place is secured – but the Ticats resurgent effort on Friday deserves at least momentary appreciation.
