Tiger-Cats Look to Build on Encouraging Signs Following Loss to Stampeders

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats know they need to be better, particularly at home.

The Cats were again outdone in the fourth quarter—outscored 20-1 by the visiting Calgary Stampeders—as they let some hard-built third-quarter momentum dissolve into a 44-20 loss Saturday afternoon.

In the last five games, since Bo Levi Mitchell suffered a lower-body injury, the Ticats have been outscored in the fourth quarter by a cumulative 70-1.

When the offence was unable to find a rhythm under quarterback Tre Ford, who was starting his third straight game, Harrison Frost began warming up and entered the game late in the first half as head coach Scott Milanovich looked to find an offensive spark. Ford had tried to leap over a defender and fumbled as Hamilton was nearing the Stampeder red zone down only 7-3 in the first quarter, which led quickly to a Calgary field goal.

Re-signed by his former team only two weeks ago, after time with St. Louis of the UFL, Frost hadn’t had any practice with the No. 1 unit. He fumbled late in the opening half and ex-Cat Kyle Wilson took it in for a TD.

That capped a costly 90 seconds late in the half when the Stamps scored 14 points. Still, thanks to some tough defence, the Cats were within reach at 24-9. And Frost and the offence had a strong third quarter to close within five points.

But the game got away from them in the final quarter.

The Ticats fell to 3-5, still tied with Toronto for second place in the East but the Argos have a game in hand. And the 7-1 Alouettes are now well in the distance.

It dropped Cats’ home record to 2-3, with one of the wins technically an Argonaut home game.

The Ticats have yet to establish the kind of home-field advantage Hamilton fans have come to expect. In most of their best seasons, perhaps last year excluded, the Ticats have always been forcefully threatening in the east-end stadium precinct.

“We have to get back to that; being dominant with fans behind you,” Cats’ all-CFL left guard Brandon Revenberg said quietly after the game.

“That’s a big thing: you’ve got the crowd behind your back at home. I wish I had a good answer for you.

“It’s frustrating. As a team we have to start closing out games; we keep it close then we’re in the fourth and it strays away from us. The one thing I keep saying though is we’ve just got to keep chopping wood. I know we have a great team but the results aren’t showing it right now.”

The line, which early in the season led the league in protecting the quarterback, allowed four sacks of Ford and Frost.

“We’re still trying to figure out who our quarterback can be,” said head coach Scott Milanovich. “So that’s always a concerning thing. We’ll have to evaluate the film and go forward. I was pleased that we ran the ball better. That was a big challenge to our offensive line; that we needed to be better with our double teams and firing off the ball and being physical.”

“I thought we played reasonably well early in the game, but we weren’t able to finish drives for a number of reasons. Turned it over once and instead of playing with the lead, we were playing from behind.”

In the first three quarters, the Ticats hung with the Stampeders, who are gaining a tail wind, by playing well on defence, limiting the power running of Dedrick Mills, hurrying Vernon Adams Jr., while forcing field goals rather than touchdowns.

The notable exceptions were a three-play response by Adams that covered 70 yards, culminating in a 55-yard touchdown pass to Dejon Brissett, who was wide open on the seam after a miscommunication in the middle of the secondary, and an interception by Jamal Peters that was nullified by a contested roughing the passer call and resulted in a Tyreik McAllister TD on the very next play.

Behind Frost, the Ticats closed it to 24-19 at the end of the third quarter and seemed to have swung the momentum their way but, two straight two-and-outs by the offence put a tired defence back on the field…which by then was tilting downhill the wrong way.

A long Calgary scoring drive followed, and an errant pass from Frost on the next series resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown by Calgary’s Derrick Moncrief to make it 44-20.

Milanovich agreed that the fourth-quarter two-and-outs also played a big role in the reversal of impetus.

“We can’t be taking penalties on special teams, taking penalties on defence,” he added. “Can’t be turning the ball over offensively. And, when the momentum starts going the other way, it can be tough to stop.

“It’s frustrating. And I’m sure to some degree it’s demoralizing for the defence. They’ve got to find a way to finish. There were a number of players—Wynton was one—I heard being vocal about how we finish games.”

Linebacker Wynton McManis agreed that the Cats are not dominating games at home the way they need to.

“But I feel like we’re not dominating the season the way we need to. Like I said after the game, we played a really good three quarters and then something starts seeping in and I don’t quite know what it is—don’t think anybody knows what it is—but I think it just comes down to execution and want-to.”

“Winning at home is always big and you want to do that. We really want to be a team that when people come into any game they feel they can’t win against us, home or away.”

“Disappointing today but back to the drawing board and back to work and try to figure out what it is, but I guarantee we won’t stop.”

The Ticats actually had far more first downs than the Stampeders, but only crossed the goal line once (Kenny Lawler) and they outrushed Calgary 172-86 and had 20 yards more of total offence.

But Adams didn’t throw any picks (other than the one overturned by a penalty), completed 72 per cent of his passes, found Brissett when it really counted in the fourth, and was perceptively veteran-like on second downs, which he converted at a 45 per cent rate.

Frost said he felt at home running the offence after his two previous seasons here with Milanovich but concurred that the short possessions in the early fourth quarter were costly.

“Two-and-outs just killed us,” he said. “I’ve got to find a way to get some completions there, go to the next read. You’ve got to make plays when they’re there and I didn’t make them.”

The Ticats head to the west coast for a Saturday night date with the BC Lions, now back home at BC Place after the World Cup.

Calgary, now 4-4 and feeling back in the hunt, will play Thursday in Toronto as the Argos return home after the World Cup, and will remain in Oakville while practicing this week at McMaster.

CATS CLAUSES: Cats kicker Marc Liegghio was 4-for-4 on field goals, including a 50-yarder … Tre Ford went 4-for-10 for 58 yards while Harrison Frost was 9-for-20 with 1 interception and 1 TD … Larry Rountree III carried 12 times for 63 yards … Kiondré Smith caught 5 passes for 66 yards … Kenny Lawler had 3 receptions for 45 yards and the Cats’ only TD…  Kurleigh Gittens Jr. caught 2 for 36 … Keric Wheatfall caught 2 passes for 59 yards … DT  Miles Fox had the only Ticat sack …  SAM LB Reggie Stubblefield was aggressive all game and had 4 defensive tackles as did fellow LB Braxton Hill who returned from injury while middle LB Wynton McManis led with 8 … Stubblefield said of the losing streak, “Going through this makes you stronger as a team so you have to have the right mindset to get through it and learn from it. I think we just have to have situational awareness and have a better IQ of doing our jobs better.” … Calgary QB Vernon Adams Jr. went 18-for-25 for 252 yards and 1 TD … Dedrick Mills was held to 44 yards rushing on 10 carries but had 30 yards in receptions … Dejon Brissett was outstanding with 6 catches, 3 on second down, for 109 yards and a TD … Hamilton native TE/QB Quincy Vaughn had a short-yardage touchdown  for the Stamps … Marquel Lee (2), Folarin Orimolade and Jaylon Hutchings had the Calgary sacks.