With a chance to pad their lead in the race for a playoff spot in the CFL’s East Division, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats look to sweep their home-and-home series against the Toronto Argonauts Saturday afternoon.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. After the game, at 5 p.m., you can listen to The 5th Quarter post-game show on Global News Radio 900 CHML, online at 900chml.com and via the Radioplayer Canada app. You can also watch the show on CHML’s Facebook page.
“Their pride is hurt because we beat them, so they’ll play real well,” said Ticats head coach June Jones about the rematch against Toronto. “This will probably be the best game they play so we’re gonna to have to do everything right again to beat ’em.”
Entering Week 13 of the regular season, Hamilton holds a four-point advantage over the Argos and the idle Montreal Alouettes for second place in the division and are looking to win their third consecutive game.
The Cats beat Toronto 42-28 in Monday’s Labour Day Classic and swept the Canadian Football League’s Performers of the Week awards with quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and receivers Brandon Banks and Luke Tasker being recognized for their play.
“This will probably be the best game they play.” Ticats head coach June Jones on the rematch against the Argos
Banks was the top performer of the week after making nine receptions for a season-high 135 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Argonauts. Masoli threw for 385 yards and three TDs while Tasker hauled in eight passes for 143 yards and a score.
But the Tiger-Cats will not have receiver Jalen Saunders for Saturday’s rematch, or for the remainder of the season after he suffered a torn ACL on Labour Day.
Toronto has won its last two home games against Hamilton and its last two home games (versus Ottawa and B.C.) by one point each time. Only four teams (Ottawa, 2002; Montreal, 1997; Calgary 1973) have repeated that feat, and only one club (Montreal, 1997) has won three straight home games by a point.
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Get out the broom! Since 2000, Hamilton and Toronto have played 10 previous home-and-home series. Toronto has recorded four series sweeps, Hamilton has two sweeps, and the two teams have split their four other back-to-back sets. Hamilton has swept two of the last three home-and-home series in 2013 and 2015. They split the series in 2016.
Bank on Brandon. Ticats receiver Brandon Banks leads the CFL with seven games of 100-plus receiving yards and is on pace for as many as 13 games of 100 receiving yards or more, which would set a new CFL single-season record. Jamel Richardson holds the record (12) set in 2011. Four other players have done it 11 times in a season. The Tiger-Cats record is eight, held by Tony Champion in 1989.
Clean unis for the QBs. The Ticats and Argos rank at the bottom of the CFL leaderboard when it comes to quarterback sacks. Toronto is last with just 12 sacks through 10 games. Hamilton isn’t much better, with 15 QB takedowns in 10 contests. Edmonton leads the league with 27, followed by Saskatchewan (26) and Ottawa (24).
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