Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
The Tiger-Cats offence did their best to keep up with Ricky Ray and the Argonauts, but when the final whistle blew, Hamilton found themselves on the wrong end of a 39–34 Toronto victory.
The game was a shootout from the very beginning, with the Argos and Ticats trading touchdowns early. Ricky Ray marched his team down the field on the Argonauts first possession before completing an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jason Barnes, but on the ensuing kickoff, Ticats rookie Lindsey Lamar showed he’s still got some magic left from the preseason.
After scoring long punt return touchdowns in both preseason games, Lamar took the Argonauts first kickoff of the game 104 yards to the house for the score, and became only the second CFL player in history to score a kickoff return touchdown on his first touch.
However, always one to put the team first, Lamar took no solace in his individual stat line, and instead focused on what the team needs to do better in the future.
“We need to execute better, plain and simple,” he said after the loss. “The team overlooks my performance. I’m a competitor, I like to win. We need to get better.”
C.J. Gable, the Tiger-Cats other rookie tailback, also made an impact in his debut, scoring two receiving touchdowns in the second quarter to help lead the team to an early lead.
Tiger-Cats quarterback Henry Burris finished the game with 361 yards through the air and three touchdowns, with 155 of those yards going to fellow veteran Andy Fantuz, and 120 yards to rookie Greg Ellingson. After the game however, Burris took much of the blame for the offences late struggles, lamenting the missed opportunities that the Ticats had in the second half.
“We left a lot of plays on the field out there,” he said. “I hold myself accountable. I missed some throws, we missed some plays that should have been made. We left too many points on the field in the second half.”
The Ticats will look to rebound from the loss next Sunday, when the team hosts the first regular season game at Alumni Stadium in Guelph.
