Tiger-Cats Not Backing Away From Self-Reflection After Frustrating Loss

It was so clear and obvious that everyone could taste it, and it was sweet as nectar. Kenny Lawler had evaded coverage over the middle, cleanly enough that they could track him step by step and knew that Bo Levi Mitchell could too.

So, as the ball sped toward Lawler’s big soft hands, the sold-out crowd rose as one braying in disbelief at their good fortune of witnessing what appeared to be another Labour Day Miracle. Lawler’s second touchdown of the day—and fifth in two games against the Argos this season—had given Hamilton a one-point lead with 18 seconds remaining. And they thought that, surely, surely, the Ticats had done the improbable and won the biggest game of the year.

“I thought we did too,” Lawler conceded afterwards. “But that’s CFL football, that’s what makes it a great sport. I just wish we could have about 18 seconds back.”

Because here’s what happened in the next 18 seconds. A fairy tale turned into a nightmare, which is not uncommon for Labour Day but it’s more often the visiting Toronto side which endures the bad dreams.

First, the Ticats went for the two-point convert to make it a three-point lead, but the Argos sacked Mitchell. Then the Ticat kickoff was returned 34 yards by emerging Argo star Jake Herslow, who eluded Hamilton tacklers all the way to the Argo 44-yard line. With 12 seconds left, Argo quarterback Nick Arbuckle threaded a needle to receiver Dejon Brissett at the Hamilton 35-yard line. He leapt for a great catch between Ticats defensive backs Stavros Katsantonis and Dashaun Amos and nearly ran out the clock on his own team as he tried for a touchdown. But he stepped out of bounds, at the Ticat four-yard line, and replays showed there was still one second left on the game clock.

Lirim Hajrullahu doesn’t miss from there.

So, 35-33 for the Argos who moved to 4-8, and four points back of the 6-5 Ticats who do have a game in hand. The Cats remain in first, two points ahead of the 5-6 Alouettes but have now lost three straight since winning six in a row. They travel to Montréal for a critical game on Saturday off a short week of practice.

The Argos, and Arbuckle in particular, deserve a lot of credit for this win. They came into the game against a well-rested Ticat squad and won their third Labour Day Classic in four years, after it appeared that they were the ones who’d squandered a graspable victory.

They had turned the Ticats over on downs with 90 seconds left, but the Ticat defence forced a two-and-out, their only stop of a ragged fourth quarter.

Mitchell got the ball at his own 47 with 47 seconds left, immediately hit a diving Lawler for a 50-yard strike and then two plays later hit him again for the go-ahead score.

But Arbuckle and his receivers weren’t deterred and went to work into a foreboding wind, as they’d already done twice before in the fourth quarter. Their three drives in the final frame covered 189 yards, and yielded 17 points.

While the Brissett catch was the most glaring and memorable moment, Ticat head coach Scott Milanovich cautioned afterward that it shouldn’t be the focus, although for most fans it will likely be:

“What I told (the players) after the game was any finger pointing in the locker room is B.S. because everybody’s responsible for this loss, and we’re going to have to take a look at it.”

Milanovich noted, and he was right, that his offence wasn’t good in the first half, facing too many long second-downs, special teams didn’t cover kickoffs well and the defence gave up too many points in the final quarter, even before the winning drive.

And he could have added that there were too many missed tackles, and that his entire team looked flat over the opening quarter.

It deserves some serious collective reflection how a team that was so up for Labour Day, had practiced so fervently and confidently all week, that had enjoyed a bye week and had several key players back in the lineup who had missed the last game in Saskatchewan and whose city cares more about the event than the visitors’ city does, could be the ones who looked less ready for the game.

This is a great opportunity to see what we’re made of; facing adversity.

“I think we showed signs of maturity, but there’s a lot of signs of immaturity, right?” Mitchell said, in response, and not shying away from discussing it. “Every player’s got to look at themselves individually and how they can get better and not blame a call. You’ve got to go out there and say whatever the call is, I can make the play, I can do my job. A lot of guys love to look at a play and be ‘If we didn’t call this or if I didn’t do this or he didn’t do that, or this guy can’t make that throw.’ I did that in the first quarter. I kept getting on Woody (centre Coulter Woodmansey) about snaps, and where they were, …and Scott got on me at the half about that. He said ‘Grab the snap wherever it is, plant your feet and make your throw.’ So that needs to be the mindset …. use it as a positive criticism and go out there and tackle it to get better.”

Receiver Kiondré Smith was brilliant in this game and is emerging as one of the team’s leaders with his hard-nosed and direct approach to each play and to the game within the game. He caught seven passes for 171 yards, the highest total of his career, and was particularly effective in high-leverage situations.

“Every individual has to go reflect because no one’s perfect,” Smith said. “Everyone makes their mistakes, and then we’ve got to do our job to stay together and not turn on each other. You’ve got to understand, it’s not a lack of effort. It’s just the lack of execution and those things can be fixed. I have the utmost belief in our team and in our defence. So every time we go ahead, I believe we’re not going to give the lead up ever again. I’m going to continue to believe that. And they’re going to continue to prove me right.”

Amos, who couldn’t possibly have covered Brissett much more tightly, credited his former teammate with making a great play, but added, “we have to be better though. At the end of the day it all comes down to execution. The offence did a great job of giving us the opportunity to win the game and we have to just finish it out.

“Right now we’re on a three-game losing streak. This is a great opportunity to see what we’re made of; facing adversity.”

While it took a while to get going, because the defences were bending but breaking only to the point of allowing field goals, this game did turn into the anticipated air show.

Arbuckle started with 10 straight completions into the wind, and went 33-for-40 for 352 yards and three touchdown strikes; one to Makai Polk, just back from the NFL, and two to Herslow who has six in the last four games. Running back Spencer Brown had 90 yards on the ground and another 64 in the air.

Mitchell went 27-for-37 after a slow start, for 405 yards and three TDs, and threw just his sixth interception of the season. He led two emphatic touchdown drives in the fourth quarter that should have been enough for a win.

The Ticats also caught some breaks in a Hajrullahu field goal bouncing off the left upright, and some points-costing second-down penalties by the Argos. Hamilton special teams scored a touchdown when Tyler Ternowski blocked a punt cleanly and rookie linebacker Devin Veresuk recovered for his second major of the year. They also had a razzle-dazzle pitch and pass play which reads like a genealogical study: Mitchell-to-Greg Bell-to-Tim White-back-to-Mitchell-then-back-to-Bell for a good gain that set up a Shemar Bridges’ TD reception a couple of plays later.

But there were too many short gains on first down, and not enough early finish nor ball control. In the first quarter, into the wind, the Argos had the ball for 11 minutes, to just four for the Ticats. As Milanovich implied, the final couple of plays weren’t anywhere near the whole story in this game.

The Ticats now face the Alouettes, who have lost four in a row themselves, but are coming off a bye week, then host Winnipeg on Friday Sept. 12. Three games in 12 days.

How will Monday’s frustrating loss—their third at home, against two wins—affect the Ticats’ headspace as they head into yet another critical game as the CFL East standings tighten?

“If we’re winners,” Milanovich answered, “it’ll be motivating.”

CATS CLAUSES: Kenny Lawler caught all nine balls thrown his way for 123 yards and two TDs … Bo Levi Mitchell’s third TD pass was the 250th of his career, making him just the 12th CFLer ever to reach that mark. Tim White had three catches, RB Greg Bell five for 39 yards and only seven rushes for 24 yards … DB Reggie Stubblefield led the Ticats with seven defensive tackles … the Ticats had some key sacks: by Julian Howsare, Devin Veresuk, Mario Kendricks and Kyler Fisher, who had six tackles after making 12 in his first CFL start at WILL linebacker in the loss to Saskatchewan two weeks ago, the sixth highest single-game total in Ticat history … Jamal Peters had two pass knockdowns but the Ticats did not make an interception … Hamilton’s net offence was 421 yards, Toronto’s was 404 … The attendance of 25,619 was the highest ever for a Ticats football game at Hamilton Stadium. The only larger crowd was the 2023 Grey Cup, which featured expanded seating capacity … Speedy Banks and Jesse Lumsden were both accorded standing ovations when they were introduced to the crowd … Argo RB Spencer Brown matched Lawler’s game-high 9 receptions … Kevin Mital caught 7 Arbuckle passes for 40 yards … Makai Polk had six catches for 64 yards and a TD … Dejon Brissett had 86 receiving yards, 62 on the second-last play … Argo CB Benjie Franklin led all defenders with 9 tackles and former Ticat Branden Dozier had the Argos’ only sack … Janarion Grant had four punt returns for 90 yards, including a 39-yarder and two kickoff returns for another 45 yards, 32 on one of them.