Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
HAMILTON — 28-14 was the final score of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats first meeting with the Calgary Stampeders this season. The Tabbies found themselves on the losing end of that score, struggling to find the end zone despite having 400 yards on offence.
That was Week 1.
Fast forward to Week 14 as June Jones gets his team ready for the final instalment of the two team’s regular-season series and the pairing between the Stamps and Ticats is now being considered a potential preview of what fans could be expecting to see as the final game towards the end of November.
Calgary is coming off of a disappointing loss to Edmonton on the road last weekend while Hamilton is riding a three-game winning streak.
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It’s all been about the process since the arrival of June Jones as head coach in Hamilton. (The Canadian Press)
“Well, we know we’re going to get the best shot because they had a rough one last week so they’re going to play their rear ends off,” Ticats’ head coach June Jones told Ticats.ca on Wednesday.
Their Week 13 loss aside, Calgary is still considered the best team in the CFL and Jones isn’t prepared to take them lightly.
“If you want to be the best then you have to beat the best,” he said. “Our kids will rise to the occasion and it’ll be a tough game.”
It’s all been a process for the Ticats that dates back to when June Jones took over as head coach the week leading up to the Labour Day Classic in 2017. For those who recall, it was also the point in which the Ticats elected to turn to Jeremiah Masoli as their quarterback, moving on from Zach Collaros.
One Ticat who’s eager to hit the field on Saturday is Hamilton running back Alex Green. As a result of an injury earlier in the season, Green missed the season opener against Calgary. In 2017, the Portland-native had a two-touchdown performance against Calgary in Hamilton’s Week 17 loss.
“I think when you’re playing a good team like Calgary in just brings the best out of you,” Green told Ticats.ca.
Green, who has scored seven touchdowns in the five games he’s played in since returning from injury, isn’t prepared to disregard both the accomplishments and success the Stampeders have endured over the last few years, however.
“Obviously every week we plan to go out and be better than we were before, but this week is a big week,” he said. “It’s a big test for our team and a big test of the character of this team to go out there against the best team in the league.”
While Hamilton ranks seventh in the league in penalties, Calgary has shaped a lot of their success on playing disciplined football and ranking second in the league, only committing 72 penalties so far this season.
“They’re a well-coached team,” Green stated. “They’re very disciplined, they don’t make many mistakes, so for us to go out there and win we’ve got to limit our mistakes and execute our plays.”
Green will be one piece likely used in limiting the impact that the Calgary pass-rush have on the outcome of the game, but June Jones is well aware of the abilities both Micah Johnson and Ja’Gared Davis bring to the field of play.
“These two guys are guys who could play in the NFL,” Jones said of the two Stamps’ defensive linemen. “Ja’Gared, of course, played for me and was 185 pounds when I found him and turned him into a defensive end. I thought he was going to make in the NFL. I talked to Belichick about him and I really thought he was going to be a guy who would be down there for a long time. They’ve got a good player, a very good player.”
Meanwhile, Micah Johnson leads the Stamps in quarterback sacks, tallying six so far on the season.
“When he goes, he goes,” Jones said. “He’s tough. He’s strong. He’s a mismatch for a lot of guys. We’re going to have to play our best game to keep those guys off.”
Hamilton’s not one to warrant a defence better than that of their own, however, as Hamilton remains to be the top pass defence in the league, as well as closely comparable in numerous defensive categories that Calgary leads the league in.
“It’s a team defence. Everything about it is team-oriented,” Jones said of his defensive unit. “We run stunts and guys come free, but with the game, up here (in Canada) the ball’s gone a lot of the time — they don’t hold the ball. They understand the whole concept of the defence.”
Jones mentioned that he’s perfectly content with Jerry Glanville’s defence not hauling down opposing quarterbacks at the same rate as other teams in the league, stating the whole concept of the defence is designed to force mistakes in the offence.
“Hopefully it creates a mismatch somewhere and we get some pressure, and the ball comes out faster than taking deep-shots for touchdowns.”
When CFL Simulation returned for the 2018 season, a matchup between Calgary and Hamilton was the highest projected pairing for the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton. Whether or not either of these two teams put much thought into that ahead of their Saturday tilt at Tim Hortons Field is yet to be determined, and likely not even considered. But the meeting can certainly be used as a measuring stick for the Ticats as they look to see where they stand against the typically more competitive teams in the West.
“We’ve got a three-game winning streak,” Green said. “So we’ve got to go out there and prove what we got against the best.”
With the number of changes in the Hammer over the course of the last two seasons, it looks like the waves have mellowed out as the Ticats’ chemistry has grown apparent in their on-field performance over the past few weeks.
“We’re a confident bunch,” Green said. “We’ve been through a lot as a team, we’ve overcome somethings. Now we’re confident, we trust each other, we trust the coaches, we trust the process.”
With files from Ticats.ca
