June 5, 2019

Ticats, Argos meet to open final week of pre-season

HAMILTON — The first battle of the QEW of 2019 is set to get underway on Thursday night as the Toronto Argonauts pay a visit to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats.

Both teams walked away with a win last week; Toronto defeated the Montreal Alouettes 45-20 while Hamilton edged the Ottawa REDBLACKS 25-21. Each will be hoping to improve to 2-0 in the opening game of the last week of pre-season action.

Although they’re meeting their biggest rivals, don’t expect that to be the focus for the Tiger-Cats.

“Obviously we know it’s Toronto, we know there’s a long history and it’s a rivalry but people are trying to feed their family, they’re trying to make a football club,” head coach Orlondo Steinauer told Ticats TV when asked if there’s any added pressure playing Toronto.

“I don’t think that (the rivalry) is going to have any added incentive. It’s really the team that’s on the other side of the field that we’re playing.”

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Hamilton will suit up many of their projected starters on Thursday, but for how long remains to be seen. Starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will get his first look at action this week, after sitting out of the contest in Ottawa, and will split reps with last week’s breakout pivot Hayden Moore and Dane Evans. Receivers Brandon Banks and Luke Tasker, along with Bralon Addison, Jaelon Acklin and Mike Jones, are also listed on the depth chart as starters for the black and gold.

“It’s still in the works,” said Steinauer, when asked how much playing time Masoli will see. “(Offensive coordinator) Tommy (Condell), we’ll get together with the offence and the staff. Tommy’s going to decided how much Jeremiah is going to play. We have something in the back of our minds. He’s definitely going to play.

“The starters are going to play. I think it’s important that they get out there and feel game speed and contact again. We’ll see. I don’t have the exact number of quarters he’s going to play, it’s more a feel out thing.”

Delvin Breaux, Cariel Brooks, Tunde Adeleke, Richard Leonard and Jumal Rolle are all listed to start in the defensive backfield while Simoni Lawrence, Justin Tuggle and Rico Murray are listed first in the linebacking corps. Star off-season acquisition Ja’Gared Davis will get his first look in the trenches, as he is slated to get the start at defensive end.

“(I’m) still getting my feet under me because it’s pre-season (but) that’s what this is for,” said Adeleke when asked how he is adjusting to his new squad. “I’m feeling good and as a team, we’re feeling good, feeling confident.”

It’s much of the same for the Argonauts, as the team will play the majority of their own projected starters. Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson is listed first on the depth chart but it’s expected that all pivots, including James Franklin, Michael O’Connor, Brandon Bridge and Dakota Prukop, will get reps under centre.

Thursday’s contest is the final shot for Bridge, O’Connor and Prukop to showcase their skills as they eye a backup spot.

“For us it’s about winning the game with whoever’s in the game,” said head coach Corey Chamblin after the team’s walkthrough on Wednesday when asked about his expectations for Bridge, O’Connor and Prukop. “That’s how we’re really going to see how they end at half, how they end the game and can they take it over and put points on the board when we need it?”

Receivers Derel Walker, S.J. Green, Armanti Edward, Llevi Noel and Jimmy Ralph along with running back James Wilder Jr. are all listed to begin the contest for the double blue.

“They’ll definitely play tomorrow and they’ll play until we feel like they’ve had a good feel of the offence,” Chamblin explained when asked about how long his starting receivers will stay in the game. “And we’ve got through a selected number of plays or play types that they could be able to showcase their skills in that play type.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Fogg, Alden Darby, Jermaine Gabriel, Abdul Kanneh and Trumaine Washington will start in the secondary while Ian Wild, Micah Awe and Qudarius Ford will start at linebacker. Shawn Lemon, Tobi Antigha, Cleyon Laing and Cory ‘Poop’ Johnson will see action in the trenches.

All eyes will continue to be on the kickers in Toronto, as five different kickers are slated to split duties on Thursday. Ronnie Pfeffer, Donald De La Haye, Tyler Crapigna, Drew Brown and Zack Medeiros will see action for the Argos.

“There are some guys that didn’t kick field goals in the first one (pre-season game) and they’re going to do it now,” Chamblin said of his kickers. “Some guys that didn’t punt that will punt now. We have a rotation there and we’ll definitely see all the kickers.”

Kickoff between the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats is at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be heard on TSN1150 or followed along on the CFL.ca Game Tracker.

– With files from Ticats.ca and Argonauts.ca