The Canadian Press
TORONTO — It’s Week 12 of the 2016 CFL season and this week features three rematches from last week’s Mark’s Labour Day Weekend.
It all starts on Friday night when the Montreal Alouettes head to BC to take on the Lions. The Als will have their star receiver Duron Carter back in the lineup after missing last week serving his one-game suspension. Carter, and the rest of the offence, will have a different quarterback to work with, as Montreal has confirmed Rakeem Cato to start in place of Kevin Glenn this week. The Lions are coming off a successful road trip in Southern Ontario, with two wins in hand, and look to bring that momentum with them back home.
Next is a Saturday CFL doubleheader beginning in Winnipeg. The annual Banjo Bowl gets underway when the Blue Bombers meet with the Roughriders for the second time in as many weeks. The Bombers, led by kicker Justin Medlock, extended their winning streak to five last week, winning their first Labour Day game against the Riders in 11 years. Saskatchewan is still looking for their second win of the season after a disappointing end to the contest last week.
The action then moves to Edmonton where the Esks clash with the Stampeders for a Labour Day rematch. The Stamps have won seven games in row, with their last loss coming in Week 1. Bo Levi Mitchell and co. look to be unstoppable but if any team can snap Calgary’s winning streak, it’s Edmonton. The Esks are still rolling with an impressive offence, including quarterback Mike Reilly and receivers Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker. If the Esks’ defence can pull together to stop the Stamps offence they’ll have a good chance at snapping their provincial rival’s winning ways.
Finally, the Tiger-Cats head up the highway to Toronto for a Labour Day Classic rematch against the Argonauts. On Monday, Hamilton came from behind from in dramatic fashion to beat the Argos 49-36. With Zach Collaros working well with his receivers, and the Ticat defence nearing the top of the league, the Argos will have their hands full when they host the Tabbies on Sunday afternoon. Toronto has lost four contests in a row, but with Ricky Ray having an impressive outing last week (throwing for 386 yards and three touchdowns) and receiver Diontae Spencer heating up, the Argos have the pieces to win their second game at BMO Field.
BUY WEEK 12 TICKETS
» Friday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Montreal at BC
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Calgary at Edmonton
» Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Toronto
THIS WEEK IN THE CFL
Thousand yard club: Edmonton’s Adarius Bowman became the first receiver to eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier following his seven-reception game for 52 yards versus the Calgary Stampeders. This season he has averaged 100.8 receiving yards per game and has scored five touchdowns. Three more receivers are knocking on the door of the 1,000-yard mark: Ottawa’s Chris Williams (991), Saskatchewan’s Naaman Roosevelt (874) and Bowman’s teammate Derel Walker (960). Running backs Andrew Harris (655) and Jerome Messam (652) are neck and neck for the CFL rushing crown and both are on pace for 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Tackling history: Montreal’s Bear Woods leads the CFL in tackles after the 10-game mark with 74 and is on pace for 133. That would be the second-most tackles in a single season, behind only Solomon Elimimian’s 143 in his 2014 record-breaking season. Montreal’s Chip Cox has 44 tackles this season and 801 in his career. He is now only one behind Eddie Davis (802) for fifth all-time. Following his 14 tackles (a CFL season-high and a BC Lions record) at Toronto last Wednesday Solomon Elimimian now has 70 tackles this season and is on pace for well over 100+ tackles. Teammate Adam Bighill has 67 tackles and is also on pace for 100+ tackles this season. No team has ever had two players reach 100+ tackles in the same season.
LABOUR DAY WEEKEND REMATCHES
EDM vs. CGY: Edmonton and Calgary will meet for the 28th consecutive time following Labour Day week (1989-2016). In the previous 27 occasions, Calgary has swept the back-to-back eight times, Edmonton has swept it five times and they have split the two game set 14 times, including last year’s series.
SSK vs. WPG: Since 2004 Saskatchewan and Winnipeg have played in back-to-back games following Labour Day Weekend. With Winnipeg’s 28-25 victory last week, they will be looking for their first and only sweep since 2004. During the Labour Day Weekend and following week matchups, Saskatchewan has swept the two-game set six times with five splits in the 12 years.
HAM vs. TOR: Since the formation of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1950, Hamilton leads the all-time series versus the Argonauts 131-92-2. Sunday’s will be the 227th meeting between the two clubs. Hamilton has a rare advantage when they play Toronto on the road. They hold a record of 62-58-2. Hamilton has won the last four meetings with Toronto and have won 15 of the last 21 matchups since October 2009.
» THE WEEKLY SAY: A QUESTION FOR EACH TEAM IN WEEK 12
WEEK 12 GAME NOTES
Comeback kids: Hamilton’s 20-point comeback against Toronto last week gave the Tiger-Cats two games in the same season where they overcame a 20-point deficit to win the game. Only one other team has come back twice from a 20-point deficit in the same season: the 1962 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On August 18, 1962 they trailed the Argonauts 20-0 and rallied to win the game 29-23. On November 4, 1962 they were down 24-3 to Ottawa and came back to win 40-34.
Road warriors: Road teams have won 27 times in 45 games – a .611 winning percentage, the highest in CFL history. The next best year was 1961 where road teams finished 38-27-3 (.581).
Points on points on points: Monday’s Hamilton-Toronto game totaled 85 points. That tied the most points scored in a game this season with the Week 6 game where Calgary defeated BC 44-41.
Turn it over: Turnovers were a key in Week 11. The five winning teams had only six total turnovers while the five losing teams had 14.
The bigger, the better: “Big” Plays were just as important. Winning teams from Week 11 produced 16 of them while losing teams had just ten. Those “big” plays included two 85-yard punt returns, one by Roy Finch and Kendial Lawrence.
Sack attack: Over the last two weeks, there have been 39 offensive possessions in which a team has allowed a sack. Only one of those 39 possessions resulted in a TD. Only Ottawa on September 1 survived a sack and scored a touchdown. By contrast, CFL clubs scored a touchdown in 19% of the 201 drives that allowed no sacks.
Still no trouble in Paredes: Following his three field goals on Monday, Rene Paredes has extended his streak of 31 consecutive tries covering eight games. He now owns the first- and the second-longest streaks in CFL history. Paredes is also on pace for most made field goals in a season with 63.
Milestones: This week Chad Owens will be making his 100th career start and John Chick will make his 99th career start.
