Tiger-Cats Honour Ted Goveia With Emotional Win Over Blue Bombers

Right from Friday’s opening drive, the Ticats loudly announced that they weren’t going to let one of the most soul-stirring evenings in franchise history head in any direction but the one they had mapped out.

Which was a win on Team Ted Night, the game dedicated to and celebrating Ted Goveia, the Ticats General Manager who died Friday morning, 12 hours before the team he had assembled captured their eighth victory of the season—one more than last year and five games still to go—with a comprehensive wire-to-wire 32-21 triumph over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“It was an extremely tough circumstance,” said Ticats wide receiver Tim White who caught five passes, including a touchdown toss, from Bo Levi Mitchell, who continues to weave opponents’ turnovers into scoreboard gold.

“That was a very emotional game for us and I feel like everybody kept their composure and played excellent in all three phases. And we just look to continue to get better from this point on for Ted, and for ourselves.”

On the third play from scrimmage, Ticats shut-down cornerback Jamal Peters waltzed in front of a receiver in the flat, intercepted Chris Streveler’s ill-advised pass and carried the ball 39 yards to the Winnipeg seven-yard line. Thirteen seconds later Mitchell hit running back Greg Bell—who unleashed a second consecutive monster outing—with a touchdown pass.

When Streveler was picked again late in the second quarter, by Dashaun Amos, it took Mitchell only slightly longer—three plays and 71 seconds—to pass for another seven-yard major, this time to White, delivering the Ticats into the intermission up 20-10 and well on their way to maintaining their four-point hold in the CFL East Division title race.

The Ticats have now cashed in a league-high 98 points off turnovers, an average of more than a touchdown per game, and with a 2-1 margin Friday night continued to drive the CFL pace car in turnover ratio. Head coach Scott Milanovich calls that, besides wins, the most important stat in the game, and he’s right.

Peters’ early interception tapped directly into the emotional Cat powder keg which was looking for a wick and a match. While his interception of Streveler—who was replacing injured Zach Collaros—looked almost psychic in its anticipation, it was quite the opposite: the fruition of calculated preparation.

“It’s film study,” said Peters of his fifth interception, one off the CFL lead. “I was telling myself while I was watching film that I knew I had the opportunity to jump a route and make a play. I told (defensive coordinator Brent) Monson early in the week I’m going to pick it. As soon as I saw it, I knew. I was kind of shocked when I saw it and he threw the ball but the kind of player I am…I had to make the play and try to score.”

That ignited the Hamilton Stadium crowd of 22,913 and catapulted the Cats toward their second straight win after a three-game losing streak and evened their home record at 3-3.

It also kept the Ticats four points up on the Als, who recovered their equilibrium on Saturday with a 48-31 statement win on the road against western powerhouse Saskatchewan, and six points ahead of the Argos, who came off a bye week and kicked a second straight final-play field goal to beat the resurgent Edmonton Elks 31-30.

The importance of a Ticat home victory cannot be understated. The Cats want to finish first and earn a bye into the East final, and entering the final third of the season had four of their last six games at home. They’ve carved the first notch in their belt and will look to make it another Saturday night when the revitalized Elks come to town.

This will be the first time in four years that Hamilton will host consecutive home games without a bye week separating them.

“That’s big,” Peters says of the back-to-back home opportunities. “The only thing we emphasize, though, is to be 1-0 every week.

“I know the type of team Edmonton is. They like to establish the run; they’ve got a great running back in Justin Rankin. And they owe us after we beat them in Edmonton.

“And they’ve got Cody Fajardo; they’re going to play hard and we have to get on them right away like we did (against Winnipeg). We just have to finish. To continue to come to the facility and get prepared and put on a show every time. And by the time we know it, we’ll be in the playoffs.

“The main thing is, a lot of people were hurting (in the Bomber game) and we still had the ability to go out there and put on a show for our fans.”

Friday night, Goveia’s fiancé Jennifer Martin and his extended family were special guests at the game which paid tribute to his achievements as a builder at every level of football in Canada, literally coast to coast. The two annual player scholarships to universities he coached—McMaster and Mount Allison—which Goveia had created in partnership with the schools not long before he died, were bolstered by the proceeds from the sale of hundreds of Team Ted t-shirts.

They replicated the ones the Ticats have worn all season, and which the Bombers, CFL administrators, and CFL officials also sported Friday night.

Scott Milanovich, Goveia’s close friend, said it was the toughest day of his long football career, “bar none” and that most of the proceedings were a blur for him. He addressed the team before the game and described it as sombre: “But credit to these guys. Credit to Teddy. Their fight, their resolve.”

It was the same for most of his team, handled in different ways by different players’ personal coping skills, and underscored by Bo Levi Mitchell’s post-game analysis.

“It just feels amazing to do that for Ted’s family,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot of us who aren’t here without him. It’s probably a majority of us. This is the team he put together, finally got the opportunity, got the short end of the stick and didn’t get to be here with us to watch us finish up that win. That’s our job, to go out and do it for and his family: finish this thing the right way. Every single game, go out there and play like it’s your last.”

While the Bombers, without Collaros, ran just as often as anticipated and piled up 198 yards on the ground, the Ticat defence made big plays when needed, including a couple of sacks, got the ball to Mitchell on turnovers and helped Hamilton enjoy a large advantage in time of possession.

And the offensive line held firm against the punishing Bomber defence, generally giving Mitchell plenty of read-the-seams protection time but most importantly, clearing holes for Bell to both dance and power his way to a second consecutive 100-yard rushing game, the first time he’s doubled up in his pro career. After 156 rushing and 190 overall yards last week in Montreal, he carried the ball a whopping 22 times against Winnipeg—often when it was absolutely obvious he was getting it—for 137 yards and a touchdown, and had 31 reception yards with another touchdown.

“I feel like I’ve evolved a lot,” Bell said. “Especially in pass protection. Everything else is going to take care of itself. I’m just following the offensive line.”

That line was in sync throughout the 60 minutes and was the central link in the complementary football the Ticats put up against a team they’ll meet again in Manitoba in two weeks, Hamilton’s only remaining long road trip of the season.

“It just felt good to go out there and control the game from the start to the finish, especially with what was going on emotionally,” said sophomore left tackle Brendan Bordner. “To come out how we did and for our emotions to be in it enough and to get that win, it was great to see.

“We have a balanced offence to keep the defence honest. It starts up front with us to get that going and make holes for Greg and let him get to work.”

The Elks, whose 5-8 record is the mirror image of the Cats’ 8-5 mark, will come into Hamilton Saturday already in playoff mode, as they try to shake off that last-play loss in Toronto which slightly mutes their recent, and significant, improvement over the past few weeks.

The Cats, meanwhile, need to continue winning at home. As Milanovich and White both pointed out, they’ve performed fairly at home and all three home losses—to Saskatchewan, B.C. and Toronto—essentially came down to the wire. So, a second home game following an emotional victory could be the accelerant they need to add to their late-season fire.

“Why not?” White asked rhetorically. “We just love to play ball anywhere but any opportunity we have to be here, we’re definitely going to take advantage of it.

“We love playing at home and I feel like our fans enjoy seeing us here. I think we’re extremely confident in our own stadium.”

CATS CLAUSES: Bo Levi Mitchell went 21-for-28 and 230 yards in a well-controlled performance, throwing for 2 TDs … Winnipeg ran up 420 yards in net offence and Hamilton 393 … Kenny Lawler had 7 important catches for 97 yards … with four field goals, Marc Liegghio now has made 15 in a row and his 94.4 percent success rate leads the league … the Ticats sacks were recorded by DE Phillip Ossai and MLB Devin Veresuk, who incurred an injury later in the game and was attended to on the field before being removed. He was later cleared by the doctors and released by the hospital later that night … LB Kyler Fisher had a pass knockdown, and added 11 more tackles to give him 38 in the four games since he took over as starter at WILL … LB Braxton Hill led Cat special teams with 3 tackles … Phillip Brooks was strong on kickoff returns … RB Brady Oliveira had an outstanding game for Winnipeg with 116 yards on 15 carries, and another 35 on four pass receptions … QB Chris Streveler rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, and was 18-for-29 for 241 yards through the air, including a 42-yard TD pass-and-run to an unnoticed Keric Wheatfall, catching the Ticat defence napping as they were substituting in new personnel for the play… Ontaria Wilson led the Bombers with five receptions for 74 yards … DB Redha Kramdi had 8 tackles to pace Winnipeg.