The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats did not play like a team eliminated from playoff contention in their 43-16 road win against the Montreal Alouettes in Week 18. On the contrary, the Ticats appeared hungry to finish their disappointing season on a strong note.
Led by Brandon Banks and Jeremiah Masoli, Hamilton scored 40-straight points against the Als in a game where momentum was consistently on the Ticats’ side. With a solid performance in all three phases of the game, it seems that the Black and Gold still have some fight left in them heading into the final weeks of the regular season.
“This is tough to be motivated to play these type of games, and the kids did show up,” head coach June Jones said after the win.
Jones was happy with his team’s strong effort, and said that they really needed a performance like this despite missing the playoffs.
“I was hoping we could get a win like this to get some confidence, you know, to start getting that real belief that you can beat anybody,” Jones said. “I saw it today a little bit, and I think speedy kind of showed and Jeremiah stepped up and made a couple big throws when we needed him, so that was really good.”
Masoli played a big role in the win, and the Ticats’ offence has taken some major steps forward since he replaced Zach Callaros at quarterback earlier in the season. Masoli completed nearly 70 per cent of his passes against Montreal for 320 yards and two touchdowns, and Jones said the plan is to have Masoli start the final two games as well.
“He did some things better today,” Jones said. “I think he’ll look at the film and think that he could’ve played better still, but I’m proud of him. He’s been real diligent working hard and doing all the things that he needs to do to improve his game.”
But Hamilton’s offence started out slow against the Als, and it was not until Banks’ 65-yard punt return touchdown in the second quarter that the rest of the team came to life. Banks was truly dominant for the Ticats in the win, racking up 240 all-purpose yards and two long touchdown scores.
“That was a big play,” Jones said. “We had sputtered and just got field goals to that point, and that kind of got everybody jacked up.”
“It got us going,” Banks said of his return touchdown. “The offence started out real slow, I think it just got us going and gave a momentum boost.”
The Ticats will look to keep their momentum going when they head to Ottawa next Friday to take on the REDBLACKS. Sitting just one game behind the Toronto Argonauts for first place in the East Division, Jones knows that Ottawa will be a tough opponent. The Ticats defeated Ottawa on the road by four points back in Week 12.
“They’re playing for something still so it’s going to be a real challenge,” Jones said. “They are a lot better football team than a month ago when we went up there, so our kids know already they’ll have to be focused.”
If Sunday’s performance was any indication, the Ticats will once again be ready to give a solid team effort and further distance themselves from the disappointing 0-8 start that largely derailed their season.
