They dropped two points to Winnipeg that they felt they should have had, but that is not where the Ticats’ minds landed late Sunday night. There will be time for that, and corrective measures against the last-minute 14-13 loss when they get back to the film room and practice field.
“But all of our thoughts and concerns are with Bo right now,” said crestfallen left guard Brandon Revenberg, after Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, the team’s—and probably the CFL’s—most dominant player this season was taken off the field by ambulance with what appeared to be a serious injury to his left ankle area.
“That’s the big focus. As far as the game itself goes, yes, we’re going to watch it and there’s lots to clean up that we can get better at. But right now everyone’s thoughts are completely with Bo.”
Mitchell, who had followed up a game-opening interception from Destin Talbert to drive 46 yards in 112 seconds and a 7-0 Ticat lead, was injured in the fourth minute of the third quarter when Winnipeg defensive tackle Jake Ceresna rolled onto his left leg during a sack. He immediately grabbed the leg and the game was delayed for 18 minutes while he was taken off the field by ambulance.
The Bombers had lost their own Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback Zach Collaros, who was removed from the game with an upper body injury in the second quarter and did not return.
So two Canadian quarterbacks, Tre Ford for Hamilton and Taylor Elgersma for Winnipeg, stepped in as primary pivots although Jake Dolegala also took snaps for the Cats, as did short-yardage specialist Bryce Perkins for the Bombers.
Elgersma was a controlled 11-for-15 and one TD to pick up a win in his first official CFL action. Ford was only 3-for-7 and threw an interception on a route miscommunication with three minutes left in the game, which led to Sergio Castillo’s short, but winning, field goal with 21 seconds left.
The Ticats led 13-4 when Mitchell went down, clearly in agony.
“Heart dropped,” said star receiver Kenny Lawler, who caught Mitchell’s pass for the Ticats’ only touchdown of the night.
“Right away we began to feel for him and his family. The amount of work he puts in, day and night. To see him carted off you can’t do anything but feel for the guy.”
After the game, Ticats head coach Scott Milanovich had not yet received an update on the severity of Mitchell’s injury. Players from both teams, including the already-sidelined Collaros, circled him in a rally of support until the ambulance departed.
“If he is out for a while, I feel for Bo the person,” said Milanovich. “I told you guys in training camp he’s been on a tear. It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play and I think he is/was—depending on the situation—poised to have just a monster year. Hopefully he’ll be back but if he’s not, then we’re going to have to pick up the pieces.
“There was a little bit of sag (after the injury), I think that’s human. It’s hard to not feel for your brother and your teammate out there. But these guys have been through this, they’ve been through it all of their lives. It’s football … and so I think once play resumes guys just go back and try to do their job. I don’t think it’s something that lingers.”
There were a lot of references by the Ticats to pro-sports’ prevalent next-man-up mentality, although it’d be pretty difficult to be the sequel to the dream movie Mitchell was directing through the first three-and-a-half games. Nine touchdown passes, one interception, an other-wordly 84 per cent completion rate and just the eighth back-to-back “perfect” QB efficiency ratings in CFL history.
Milanovich said that as soon as Mitchell went down he informed both Ford and Dolegala that they were both going to see action the rest of the way.
“I just told them this is football and these things happen, we’re all competitors and we have confidence in our guys. If you’re a quarterback, I mean you never hope anybody gets hurt. But you want to go out there and play. And so if Bo is out, that’ll be an opportunity for one of those guys to go out and prove that they’re a starting quarterback in this league.”
The head coach said he would not be deciding until later this week on who would start, and if there’d be a two-man rotation, when the Ticats visit defending Grey Cup Saskatchewan next Sunday.
Ticat players were comforted by the fraternal bonding between both teams as Mitchell was attended to on the turf, never leaving the field and emotionally supporting each other. The same thing happened last month in Winnipeg when Jamal Peters—who returned to action Sunday night—suffered a frightening neck injury and was stretchered off, then taken to hospital by ambulance.
“I tell people all the time, ‘Thank God for the CFL,’” said Ticat field-side linebacker Reggie Stubblefield, who was around the ball all night, and made the sack on a clean hit that sidelined Collaros. “Just the way the league is run, top to bottom. Everybody has just a mutual respect for each other. When Zach goes down early in the game, we’re giving him respect and hoping that he’s okay.
“So, to see the Bombers do that, I mean, thank you. I’m thankful for those guys and it’s all around the CFL. I mean, we know what we do, going out there on the football field, laying our bodies on the line. You never want to see anybody hurt, no matter the circumstance.”
Milanovich praised his defence for playing well but felt the offence could have scored more points early, when they reaped only field goals off two very long Mitchell second-quarter drives.
The offence also took three critical penalties, two on the possession during which Mitchell was hurt, after incurring just one in the first three games of the season. There were also two more penalties on special teams. The Hamilton return game was also not enough of a factor while Trey Vaval had an important 46-yard punt return for the Bombers.
And the offence couldn’t stay on the field long enough in the second half to provide the defence adequate rest. So after containing Brady Oliveira well through three quarters, the Cat defence was sliced by him for a series of impressive carries in the late 49-yard drive which set up Castillo’s 23-yard field goal with 21 seconds left.
“You’ve got to tackle Brady right?” Stubblefield asked rhetorically. “It’s always a hard task for any team. Just a great back in general. But once it’s the fourth (quarter) and they knew they needed to just get in field goal range, we just have to do a better job of making sure we bring him down.
“So you just have to go back to work and figure things out and just stick to the things that give us winning football; create turnovers, be better on special teams, capitalize on plays on offence and then just finish the job on defence and tackling better. So, we just regroup and refocus.”
Although there were several other miscues that contributed to the loss, Ford stepped up to confront his role in the interception by Major Williams with just over three minutes to go. The pick had been preceded by a couple of Larry Rountree runs for a total of 29 tough yards, moving the Ticats close to field goal range. He said that he and Dolegala do not compare or contrast themselves to Mitchell’s spectacular play this season.
“I’m more frustrated with a couple of mistakes that I made today,” Ford said. “Just on plays like the interception. That stuff you have to eliminate. We move the chains, it’s first down and we’re in field goal range. Kicking the field goal probably puts us in a pretty good situation to win the game. So I just want to eliminate those mental mistakes and get everybody on the same page.”
More time running the offence for both quarterbacks in practice this week should help that process.
And, Lawler emphasized, pro athletes always look ahead to what’s next, dealing with the game in front of them, not the one behind.
“In any team that’s always the mentality,” he said. “You never want to see the quarterback go down like that. But you ask any player on any team and it’s going to be next-man-up mentality. But we have to focus on the next play and how we’ll have success and execute.
“You can’t really replace a guy like Bo. He’s a one-of-a-kind. He’s the GOAT, so you just have to uplift him and his family.”
Both teams are now 2-2. The Bombers will have a short week, continuing their tour against the East Friday night in Winnipeg against Toronto at Princess Auto Stadium, then visiting Ottawa on Sunday, July 19.
CATS CLAUSES
Bo Levi Mitchell went 18-for-29 for 228 yards and 1 TD in just over a half of play … Tre Ford was 3-for-7 for 12 yards and an interception … Jake Dolegala was 0-for-2 … Larry Rountree III had nine carries for 45 yards, 29 of them on back-to-back runs late in the game … nine Ticats were targeted for passes, and eight of them made catches, led by Kiondré Smith who was outstanding, snaring seven for 90 yards … Kenny Lawler had 5 catches for 64 yards and an athletic TD that was originally ruled an incompletion. He also appeared to have another touchdown but replays showed the ball touched the ground, “I kind of knew,” he said. “I tried to sell it a bit.”…Keric Wheatfall and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. both had a pair of catches … Owen Hubert was terrific on special teams with three tackles … Marc Liegghio was 2-for-2 on field goals … Mitch McCarthy boomed several excellent punts including a coffin-corner and a 59-yarder … Isaiah Wooden had a 20-yard punt return … Daniel Bell had two special teams tackles … Reggie Stubblefield (6) and MLB Wynton McManis (5), playing his first regular-season game, led the Ticats in defensive tackles … Destin Talbert had the only Cat interception … Stubblefield and Julian Howsare registered sacks … The alumnus of distinction for the game was Val St. Germain who was drafted by the Cats and played offensive line from 1994-98 and spent 14 seasons in the CFL. Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros was 5-for-7 for 41 yards and one interception before he was injured … replacement Taylor Elgersma was 11-for-15 for 86 yards and a TD pass to Ontaria Wilson, on the first play after Major Williams’ interception … Williams had three knockdowns … Brady Oliveira rushed 17 times for 84 yards … ex-Cat Tim White had five catches and Nic Demski four … attendance was 20,189.
