Adam Gagnon
Kent Austin is always thinking about new, creative offensive schemes.
His latest creation was unleashed on an unsuspecting Alouettes defence in Hamilton’s thrilling 27-24 comeback win in Week 18. The Ticats victory ensured the team will host the Eastern Semi-Final playoff game at Guelph’s Alumni Stadium.
Through the first 16 games of the Ticats season we saw two quarterbacks behind centre, Henry Burris and Dan LeFevour. Burris has run the traditional CFL pro style offence, throwing the ball all over the field.
While LeFevour has come in for short yardage and goal line situations along with a special package of plays tailored to his skill set.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah Masoli held the clipboard and watched from the sideline as the third string pivot.
Against the Alouettes, Masoli was given a chance to snap up his chinstrap and make his CFL debut. Masoli, literally and figuratively, ran with the opportunity. The rookie quarterback directed exclusively a wildcat offence.
The package of plays was only installed during the practice week leading up to Hamilton’s game date with Montreal in Guelph.
“Nothing – Coach didn’t tell me anything before hand,” Masoli explained. “He just broke it out in the first QB meeting of the week.”
Masoli got a lot of practice work in the new wildcat package, so he wasn’t surprised to get lots of snaps in it on game day.
“I don’t think he had to tell me I was going to play just because of the number of reps that it was getting in practice,” Masoli said.
“Anytime you get a number of reps you know that they’re probably going to call those plays in the game because we were practicing them so much.”
Listed at five-foot-10, 221 pounds, Masoli is built a lot like a running back and he showed the skills carrying the football to go along with his sturdy frame. He rushed 10 times for 61 yards to lead the Ticats in rushing on the day.
Masoli’s success on the ground helped open up space for another Hamilton rookie.
Brandon Banks recorded his first two CFL touchdowns in epic fashion. With Hamilton down 23-10 in the fourth quarter, Banks ripped off a 45-yard scoring run out of the wildcat package.
“Masoli carried the ball a lot and that sucked the defence towards him. After we had been pounding it with Masoli at quarterback and my number was called, all I had to do was outrun one guy,” Banks said.
“He’s a pure mismatch when it comes to overall speed,” Masoli said about Banks. “We’re trying to get the ball to him in space and let him run away from guys.”
No. 87 took the handoff from Masoli and sped past the entire Alouette defence to the end zone, getting the Ticats within six. After a Luca Congi three-pointer Hamilton was down by 3 and Banks was about to strike again.
Sean Whyte lined up for a 32-yard field goal that came up well short. Banks caught the miss on the run, made a couple cuts and sped down the sideline 107 yards for the go-ahead major. True to his nickname, ‘Speedy B’ burned the Alouettes with his speed and propelled the Ticats to an electrifying four-point victory. Banks’ nickname comes from the license plate on his car.
“The day he showed up here he parked his Mercedes in the parking lot and his license plate said ‘Speedy B’,” special teams coordinator Jeff Reinbold said. “I think that fits him extremely well.”
Reinbold believes that unlike other import players who come to the CFL and take a while to get used to the nuances of the Canadian game, Banks has adapted to the brand North of the border as quickly as he turned the game in the Ticats favor.
“A lot of guys that come up here with NFL success as returners – the game, the rules, the situations, the angles, the field, it’s all so different for them. It takes them a long time to be able to come to grips with all that stuff. He’s managed to do it very quickly,” Reinbold said.
“There are a lot of different rules up here, but it’s an advantage to me with my skill set to have all this space being fast and elusive,” Banks said.
276 all-purpose yards in the win over Montreal would seem to serve as sufficient evidence that Banks has found a comfort zone on the Canadian field. And it seems as though ‘Speedy B’ could put the Ticats on the fast track to a Grey Cup championship.
