THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON — In the end, six turnovers proved one too many for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Ticats had every opportunity to overcome a 15-point deficit and get away with a victory on Thursday night against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — and it wasn’t until Adrian Hubbard’s sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery on Jeremiah Masoli in the last 15 seconds that the home team’s fate was sealed.
The Bombers forced six turnovers, including a 50-yard interception return touchdown by Maurice Leggett, to earn a hard-fought 28-24 win over the Ticats at Tim Hortons Field to pick up their first win of 2016.
“We’ve got to clean it up,” Masoli told Ticats.ca following the game. “Period. Point blank. Too many turnovers, penalties. We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot. Can’t win football games like that.”
His team down four and the offence marching in the game’s final minute, Masoli saw a wide open Luke Tasker on the corner route for what would’ve been a sure game-winning touchdown. He was sacked by Hubbard though and in the end, the Ticats’ sixth turnover of the night sealed a long-awaited win for the Bombers.
“Yeah, we had ‘em,” said Masoli. “Their D-line did a good job all night. You’ve gotta give their defence credit – they did a good job. We had somebody open, potentially for a score and we could’ve gotten away with one.”
For the Ticats the 1-2 start leaves a bitter taste and an empty feeling, particularly two weeks removed from a dominating season-opening win over the rival Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field. It looked for a while like even without Zach Collaros, who continues to recover from the knee injury that ended his 2015 season last September, the Ticats were on track to put their July woes behind them.
Two straight losses at Tim Hortons Field against West Division opponents give the Ticats a 9-27 record in the first three games of every season since 2005. Since then they’ve been above .500 through the first three games only once.
“The guys in there are just as upset as anybody about being 1-2,” Head Coach Kent Austin said post-game. “We were 1-6 in our first year and 2-5 in our second year. We are determined not to let that happen.”
Drew Willy threw for 279 yards and a touchdown pass on 32-of-42 passing, while Andrew Harris chipped in with 13 carries for 63 yards for the Bombers to go with 38 yards on five catches through the air.
Chad Owens had a game-high 92 receiving yards and a touchdown on five catches, while Andy Fantuz was no less impressive with seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
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The Bombers’ defence came up big to notch win No. 1 after forcing six turnovers (The Canadian Press)
While the Ticats were the more consistent team offensively, every time they looked to have momentum they were hit with a turnover.
“They yanked the ball out from us a couple of times; we fumbled a quarterback sneak which is highly unusual,” said Austin. “Six turnovers, we still had a chance to win the football game.
“Even as tough as it was to battle back in the football game, which we did, I thought we played really well in the second half.”
The Ticats head to Montreal in Week 4 for a matchup with Kevin Glenn and the Als, a team that will be well-rested coming off its bye week. After that they’ll head out west for a matchup in Edmonton against the defending Grey Cup Champions.
With a bye week after that, Hamilton’s next game comes Aug. 3 against the Bombers. It’s unknown whether Collaros could be on the field by that time for the Ticats, but for now they appear to be Masoli’s team.
Masoli, who threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-39 passing but also fumbled three times and was intercepted twice, was given a vote of confidence by Austin after the game but also a stern warning.
“Other than the turnovers he played pretty well,” said Austin. “But the turnovers were huge and that’s got to stop.”
At least, that is, if the Ticats want to buck this early-season losing streak and get back to winning on the road.
“We’ll see,” the fourth-year Ticats bench boss added. “We’ll see what we’re made of. We’ve got a tough game on the road and we’ll see but we’re determined to not start that way this year.”
