November 14, 2011

Pair of Ticats headline Players of the Week

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — Anthony Calvillo, Jamall Johnson, Marcus Thigpen and Jon Cornish were named the Gibson’s Finest CFL Players of the Week for the 2011 Division Semi-Finals.

The four players were chosen by a panel of judges including: former Canadian Football League players Matt Dunigan and Duane Forde now of TSN, and Pierre Vercheval of RDS.

Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo is the Offensive Player of the Week, after a career performance in a disheartening overtime loss to the Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Semi-Final.

Calvillo completed 30 passes for 513 yards, narrowly missing former Hamilton quarterback Tony Curcillo’s mark of 518 passing yards that was set on Nov. 17, 1956.

The veteran pivot also tossed three fourth-quarter touchdown passes to three different receivers to get the Als back in the game and force overtime.

Hamilton linebacker Jamall Johnson played a huge role in the Tiger-Cats’ upset win over Montreal, and received Defensive Player of the Week honours for his efforts.

In addition to registering six tackles and one sack, Johnson also recovered his own forced fumble and picked off Calvillo for a 74-yard return. His two big plays ultimately led to a combined 10 points for the Ticats.

Johnson’s teammate, Marcus Thigpen, joins him among the weekly honourees, as he is named Special Teams Player of the Week.

Thigpen returned seven kicks for 171 yards and three punts for 29 in a winning effort. The speedster also pitched in on offence with a massive 50-yard run to put the Ticats on the board in the first quarter.

New Westminster B.C. native Jon Cornish is the Canadian Player of the Week, following his standout performance in Calgary’s Western Semi-Final loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.

In his first career playoff start, Cornish rushed for 127 yards on 14 carries, one of which resulted in a five-yard touchdown in the opening quarter.