Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
HAMILTON — There was a moment, however fleeting, that Hamilton Tiger-Cats fans might have thought out loud, ‘here we go again’.
The Ticats owned the stat sheet through the first three quarters of Monday’s Labour Day Classic, yet still found themselves down a touchdown to the Toronto Argonauts thanks to a pair of ill-timed turnovers, including a 100-yard fumble return touchdown just after the half.
The inability to finish had emerged as a key theme for the Black and Gold this season, but after scoring 21 unanswered points and earning a second straight win — this being the sweetest of victories over the loathed rival from just down the QEW — perhaps the narrative is changing.
“We overcame some adversity, which was something we haven’t been able to do,” said Ticats head coach June Jones. “We made plays in the fourth quarter. There have been some ups and downs the whole year, but the last two weeks we’re doing what you need to do, and that’s finishing games.”
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In front of a raucous home crowd of 24,221 at Tim Hortons Field, the Ticats racked up 539 net yards, crossing the 500-yard plateau for the second week in a row. Alex Green rushed for his seventh touchdown in five games this year, adding 115 yards on the ground, while Luke Tasker and Brandon Banks had 143 yards and 135 yards respectively, combining for three touchdowns.
As explosive as the Ticats were on offence, the defence was equally impressive. The defence contained running back James Wilder Jr., holding him to just 47 rushing yards on 11 carries, while Argos pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed just 48 per cent of his attempts on 14-of-29 passing.
Mike Daly‘s interception off Bethel-Thompson, with the Argos ahead one point, was a key turning point in the game.
“We’ve finished two games in a row, and that’s what we haven’t done since I’ve been here,” said Jones. “That feeling that happened last week is contagious. When we’ve had bad things happen, the fumble — that’s a 14-point swing — and we overcame it again, went right back down and did our job.”
The Ticats took a 21-14 lead into the half and were on the doorstep again when Green fumbled deep in Argo territory, resulting in Alden Darby‘s long touchdown the other way. The Argos added another scoring drive to take their first lead of the game, 28-21, but for the second week in a row the Ticats clawed back.
Two field goals from Lirim Hajrullahu pilled the Tabbies within a point, then Green and Banks capped off a pair of touchdown drives to cement a second straight victory.
Banks finished with nine catches, a game-high, for 135 yards and a pair of touchdowns, climbing to third among league leaders with 880 yards. The Ticats lost Jalen Saunders to an apparent leg injury in the second half, but Banks’ speed was too much for the Argos to handle.
It was this time last year when Banks made the transition to full-time receiver for the first time, getting his first real opportunity under June Jones. Now, a year later, he’s widely considered one of the most dominant receivers in the CFL, with the numbers to back it up.
“It goes back to last year,” said Jones, who took over for Kent Austin on Labour Day in 2017. “I watched practice for two or three weeks before I got the head job and I’m a speed guy, and he was our fastest player. I went back and looked at him playing for the [NFL’s Washington Redskins] and I said ‘I’ve got to get him on the field’.
“He plays everywhere now for us. Last year he was just playing wide receiver, but now he’s making plays in the slot, he’s doing everything. He’s a big-time gamer. I’ve always had history of those types of kids being productive in our offence. It’s a lot of read routes, speed-related routes, so those guys that can think on their feet while they’re running, they’re going to do the right thing and be open most of the time, and he does.”
Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli also played well in the win for the Ticats, orchestrating another impressive offensive performance with 385 passing yards and three touchdowns. He added 22 rushing yards on five carries, but was intercepted by Darby in the first half.
The veteran pivot, who, like Banks, became a full-time starter on Labour Day last year, currently ranks second in the CFL with 3,269 yards. He has 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on the season.
Sometimes Masoli frustrates with his mistakes, but Jones says with a quarterback like Masoli you take the bad with the good.
“I think that’s just part of his game,” said Jones. “We’re going to have to live with some of those mistakes. You try to coach him up to certain times, know the situation, but scrambling to the left he seems to make pretty good decisions all the time and that throw at the end was pretty amazing, to speedy.”
“We felt really good coming into this game,” Masoli added. “We had a great week of practice and it rolled into the game for us. We had only two bad plays, the pick and the fumble. Besides those two plays we had a pretty solid game for most of the night.”
With Ottawa losing on Friday night, and with the win over Toronto, the Ticats have built a four-point lead over the third-place Argos in the East Division standings, moving within two points of first-place Ottawa.
The Ticats are in Toronto on Sept. 8 for the annual Labour Day rematch at BMO Field, which is the only thing on Jones’ mind for now.
“I’m just playing them one at a time,” said Jones. “You can’t lose conference home games, it’s like a double whammy. Toronto beating us is like losing twice. Now we have to go on the road and steal one again next week.”
