Having already clinched a spot in the Canadian Football League playoffs, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will rest a few players Saturday when they visit the Ottawa Redblacks in their final game of the regular season.
Hamilton (7-10) is riding a three-game winning streak heading into the contest after they clipped Ottawa 30-27 last week thanks for a walk-off field goal by rookie kicker Seth Small.
CHML’s coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 4 p.m. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. A half-hour after the final whistle, catch The 5th Quarter postgame show on CHML radio, CHML’s Facebook page and online at 900chml.com.
Quarterback Matthew Shiltz will start for the Tiger-Cats in place of Dane Evans, who suffered a thumb injury in last week’s victory over the Redblacks at Tim Hortons Field.
Evans has practiced all week, but with the Ticats already having clinched a playoff spot the team is giving Evans a rest and providing Shiltz some added playing time.
Other Tiger-Cats players who will be resting for the playoffs include receiver Tim White, linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, punter Michael Domagala, and defensive linemen Malik Carney, Micah Johnson and Julian Howsare.
After missing last week’s game with a quadriceps injury, running back Wes Hills will draw back into the lineup for the Ticats.
Ottawa (4-13) will start Caleb Evans at quarterback while Tyrie Adams will be the backup after he was promoted from the team’s practice roster.
Caleb Evans scored two rushing touchdowns last week, his 14th and 15th of the season, breaking the CFL record that was previous held by Doug Flutie and James Franklin.
Star receiver Jaelon Acklin will miss his third game in a row for the Redblacks after he suffered a head and neck injury in a game against Montreal on Oct. 10.
The Redblacks have lost all eight of their home games this season and have dropped 11 consecutive home contests dating back to last year – the fourth-longest home losing skid in league history.
Now matter what happens in Saturday’s game at TD Place Stadium the Ticats will play in Montreal in the East Division Semifinal on Nov. 6.
The winner will move on to play the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Final on Nov. 13.
3 quick stats
- Hamilton’s most outstanding rookie and special teams player, Seth Small, can break the CFL’s single-season field goal percentage record if he does not miss any attempts in Ottawa. Small has converted 36 of his 40 field goals attempts for a 90 per cent success rate. Justin Medlock connected on 89.4 per cent of his kicks while playing for the Ticats in 2015.
- Dating back to June 2019, the Redblacks have only won once in their last 22 home games. Entering the last week of the season, both Ottawa and Edmonton are winless at home. The CFL has never had two teams go winless at home in the same season.
- The Ticats overcame an 11-point deficit in their 30-27 win over Ottawa last week. It was Hamilton’s largest comeback win in their last 39 games dating back to Sept. 2, 2019, when they rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Toronto 38-27.
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