Contenders need to win without their A‑Game and the Ticats just did

As somebody in the Tiger‑Cat locker room said quietly—about the only thing quiet in that raucous room—after the game, “we’ve won one on defence, won one on offence and won one ugly.”

It was door No. 3 Saturday night so now the Tiger‑Cats—technically, that would be the first‑place Tiger‑Cats—head into Ottawa next weekend with a chance to go undefeated in a critical quartet of games against divisional opponents after Saturday’s sweltering comeback 23‑20 win over the Redblacks at Hamilton Stadium.

It wasn’t pretty and wasn’t overly entertaining but you can dust off the old ‘not‑how‑but how‑many’ cliché to understand how it feels to the team that captured the two points rather than allowing them to slip away.

So now the 3‑2 Cats are tied with the Montreal Alouettes for the conference lead but sits atop the table for the first time in four years because they defeated the Als in a head‑to‑head two weeks ago, the first of three straight wins after an 0‑2 start.

You can’t really say the Ticats own the East, but for the moment they hold the mortgage.

Next Sunday night in Ottawa they’ll have to come out of the gates with much more vigour and purpose than they did on Saturday against an injury‑depleted but determined Redblacks squad which never trailed until Bo Levi Mitchell found Kenny Lawler just inside the end zone from three yards away with two minutes left in the game.

It was Lawler’s second TD of the game, giving him seven for the year, the most he’s ever had in a single season of his dazzling CFL career, and the campaign hasn’t even reached the one‑third pole.

The kinds of games like this one—where you leave your wallet in your other pants—are the ones it’s imperative to win if you’ve got championship aspirations, which the Ticats certainly do.

The Cats’ defence allowed a cunning Dru Brown and the Ottawa offence to march too easily down the field for a touchdown on their opening possession but after that stiffened like industrial starch, with two interceptions by cornerback Jamal Peters, and pass knockdowns by other members of the secondary, some key tackles at critical moments, and sacks from Casey Sayles and the increasingly impressive Mario Kendricks, who has one in four of the Cats’ first five games.

The Cats also got the benefit of an Ottawa penalty nullifying a 105‑yard punt return touchdown by the glittering Kalil Pimpleton in the fourth quarter; an athletic recovery of Pimpleton’s punt fumble by rookie safety Mack Bannatyne, also in the fourth quarter, and some key two‑and‑outs from the defence, some booming punts from Nik Constantinou and three more field goals by Marc Liegghio.

And still they were hard‑pressed to win this one against the Redblacks, who fell to 1‑and‑5 and likely felt they deserved a better fate on this evening. The Ticat offence started slowly again, accounting for just four points in the first half, the fourth time they’ve been held to single digits in the opening 30 minutes this year. There were several pass drops, and when they turned the ball over on downs after three not‑even‑close tries inside the Ottawa five‑yard‑line with five minutes left and down four points, it not only frustrated the Cats, it released some of the boo birds in the pews.

It was also highly reminiscent of the way last season ended, when the Ticats couldn’t score on five short‑yardage attempts against the same Redblacks.

But the defence held once more, Mitchell hit Lawler for a 20‑yard pass, then got a reprieve when a second‑down incompletion transformed into a first‑down on a roughing‑the‑passer call. 

And Mitchell himself ran for a first down to the Ottawa five. This time, they didn’t turn the ball over…other than turning it over to Lawler who was all alone for the winner.

Milanovich said his offence was “terrible” in the first half and both he and Mitchell emphasized that scoring affairs like last week’s 51 points in Toronto are rare.

“So, to be able to get in that position right to go win a game and then have the defence make a stop (after the Ticats’ score) it just epitomizes what you want out of a football team,” Mitchell said. “You go out and have a great game all‑round the week before, and then find a way to win a game where you don’t have your best stuff.

“Being able to come together at the end, is creating the atmosphere we want to have here.”

Milanovich wasn’t happy with his team’s stutter‑start but said, “It’s more important how you finish. That goes for games, and for seasons. That’s the whole work. So I’m proud of our guys. We had moments where we played really well in three phases. We had moments where we didn’t play well in all three phases, but that is a better football team in that other locker room than I think everybody understands.”

Full marks to Ottawa whose front seven changed up some of their looks, squared off escape routes, took advantage of some misreads and off‑target throws by Mitchell, and on offence converted their first four second‑and‑longs as they got a huge game out of Geno Lewis and strong performances in a supporting role out of fellow receivers Justin Hardy, and Keelan White.

But turnovers can, and usually do, decide games and the Ticats forced four of them to just one by the Redblacks.

Peters, who also had a great knockdown and could have had a third interception, said going against Lawler every day in practice helps in battles against other fierce possession receivers.

“Kenny makes me 10 times better and I know I make him better,” Peters said. “He definitely prepared me for Geno coming into this game.”

To a man, the Ticats felt they’d survived and finally prevailed in a real slog‑fest against the underrated Redblacks, who were very physical along the defensive line and linebacking tiers. But the Ticats adjusted, dug in for better second‑half blocking for Mitchell, and continued to get some aggressive defensive play most of the way home.

“I can just speak for me, but I didn’t have a great first half,” Lawler said. “I had some missed assignments, I dropped a ball. It’s a testament to the team, that the defence kept us in, making plays left and right, not giving up points, keeping us in there letting us know that they have us.

“The offence came in at halftime and talked about it and said, ‘We have to have our defence’s back. This is unacceptable; we know we’re way better than this.’ And you saw what happened.”

The defence took points off the board when Kendricks, who receives less public acknowledgement than other members of the defensive line, sacked the elusive Brown for an 11‑yard loss on second down from the Hamilton eight‑yard line in the third quarter and the game tied at 10‑10. The visitors had to settle for a field goal, which Liegghio got back on the next Cat possession.

The 24‑year‑old Kendricks moved into second place among CFL sack leaders with four, just one behind the Argos’ Andrew Chatfield.

“It feels great,” he says of the sacks. “I give a lot of credit to coach (Casey) Creehan. He’s definitely improved our pass‑rushing game. He’s taught us how to get to the quarterback more with angles. We’re playing as one.

“I feel like I’m having a good year but I just have to stay consistent: especially in the run game. I’m getting sacks but there are a lot of things I have to work on. I think I gave up one of the touchdowns in the red zone.”

There can be no doubt that the Ticats will have to play better in Ottawa, where the Redblacks will have the benefit of home‑field advantage. But they’re on a three‑game winning streak and came out of a game they could easily have lost with some valuable lessons—assuming they learned them—that didn’t cost them two points, and elevated them into a share of first place.

“Any time you have a winning record and you sit close to, if not at, the top in the East, it means a lot,” Mitchell said. “We have a goal in mind, and our goal wasn’t just to be in first place. We’re five weeks in and our goal is to raise a Cup over our head. And we know that we’re nowhere near that right now. We have a lot of work to do. We’re not going to allow ourselves to get too high or too low at any moment.

“But we’re excited. It makes you understand as a player, as a team as a whole, that when you don’t have your best stuff, it doesn’t mean you’re going to lose a game.”

CATS CLAUSES: Ticats Bo Levi Mitchell went 23‑for‑41 for 266 yards and two TDs, and once again did not throw an interception. He remains 27 passing yards short of 10th place on the all‑time CFL list … RBs Johnny Augustine and Treshaun Ward both rushed for 29 yards … WR Kenny Lawler had six receptions, and those two big TDs … Tim White’s four receptions for 60 yards included a daring toss from Mitchell for a late first‑down at 2nd‑and‑7 that then allowed the Cats to run out the clock … Kiondré Smith had three catches for 34 yards as 10 different Ticats caught passes from Mitchell … K Marc Liegghio missed a convert for the second straight week but his three field goals ran his consecutive‑make total to 27 in a row including 12‑for‑12 this term … Nik Constantinou averaged 52 yards per punt and a single, but did angle one short one early that went out of bounds for a penalty … Reggie Stubblefield playing his first game as a Cat led the team with seven tackles including a couple of critical hard hits … Jonathan Moxey made some critical knockdowns, including an athletic knockdown that denied the Redblacks on their last drive of the game. Fellow DB Dashaun Amos also had some athletic pass defences … it was a brilliant display by the opposing returners as Hamilton’s Isaiah Wooden almost broke a couple and had 160 combined yards from punt, missed field goals and kickoff returns while Ottawa’s Kalil Pimpleton had 171 yards in returns, despite his 105‑yard punt return touchdown being nullified by a penalty … Ottawa, which led the league in penalties, didn’t incur one until that call and had only three in the game. Hamilton had seven penalties for 71 yards, all in the first half … Ottawa QB Dru Brown was 24‑for‑38 for 283 yards and one TD and the two Peters interceptions … Geno Lewis caught seven passes for 128 yards, Justin Hardy six for 68 and Keelan White three for 33 and a TD … Redblacks RB William Stanback had 40 rushing yards, 28 on one play … attendance was 22,913.