Recap: Hamilton 49, Edmonton 20
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ticats put up 49 points in convincing win over Eskimos
Posted: August 22,2015 12:00AM
Updated: August 22,2015 01:46AM
CFL.ca Staff
EDMONTON -- With the CFL’s top two defences squaring off on Friday Night Football, nobody expected a team to put up even close to 50 points, but that’s exactly what happened in this 49-20 Hamilton victory.
For the second week in a row, Zach Collaros and the Hamilton Tiger-Cat offence could not be stopped, racking up 101 points in the past two games, even without the likes of skill position players CJ Gable, Andy Fantuz and Bakari Grant.
Collaros completed 17 of 29 passes for 300 yards with three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and no turnovers. This moves the Ticats quarterback’s touchdown to interception ratio and an impressive 17/6 for the season.
His primary targets included Terrell Sinkfield Jr., who posted 118 yards and two touchdowns, as well as Luke Tasker, who hauled in 129 yards, posting back-to-back 100 yard games.
Going overlooked in the consecutive offensive explosions was Hamilton’s defence who were baking turnovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner in this contest. Linebacker Taylor Reed forced two fumbles while Kitchener-native Mike Daly had two interceptions. Ed Gainey and Courtney Stephen also racked up seven tackles apiece.
The lone bright spot for the Eskimos was the last man to ever catch a pass in Johnny Manziel’s college career at Texas A & M, Derel Walker, who caught a ridiculous 14 passes for 183 yards.
Matt Nichols needed to come out strong to start this game but on the first drive of the game the Eastern Washington product was picked off by the former McMaster safety, Daly. Moments later, Collaros connected with Sinkfield in the back of the end zone to give Hamilton an early 7-0 lead. Sinkfield was once again huge with the absence of Fantuz and Grant.
Nichols and company looked to strike right back and did so by hitting Walker down the sideline for a big gain. This downfield strike led to a successful Grant Shaw field goal.
Punting often gets overlooked in pro football, but a nice homecoming of sorts came with Ticats punter Hugh O’Neill, a former University of Alberta product, booming a punt in the first quarter that bounced out of play and pinned Edmonton on their own three-yard line midway through the first quarter.
Eskimos diminutive running back Shakir Bell, was
ineffective in this contest and had a costly fumble late in the first
quarter, giving Hamilton great field position. A botched trick play left
the Ticats with second and long, but Sinkfield dipped and danced his
way through traffic to pick up the first down after the catch. Two plays
later, the Ticats signal-caller rolled out and heaved a pass to the
back of the end zone that looked like it was a throw-away until
Sinkfield came out of nowhere to make a sprawling catch while taking a
hit. The extra-point gave Hamilton a 14-3 lead. Collaros and Sinkfield
have chemistry that dates back to their days with the Toronto Argonauts.
There’s one phrase in football that can’t be overstated enough: protect the football.
The Eskimos did not do a great job of this on Friday night as the former SMU linebacker, Reed, forced a fumble early in the second quarter. What happened on the very next play? Collaros hit Sinkfield deep over the middle that turned into a 63-yard catch and run to set up a Ray Holley touchdown walk-in. This made it a 21-3 lead, with all of Hamilton’s 21 points coming off turnovers.
However, the turnovers began to fall the other way as Otha Foster III recovered a fumble off the hands of Holley on a screen pass. Edmonton was unable to respond with a touchdown, settling for another Shaw field goal.
With minutes remaining in the first half, a 40-yard run by Hamilton running back Nic Grigsby set up a four-yard touchdown run by Brandon Banks, who probably scores touchdowns in his sleep. Banks now has at least one rushing, receiving and return touchdown this season.
Eskimos first-year quarterback James Franklin took over on the final drive of the second half, but was only able to muster up a rouge for his squad.
The score was 28-7 for Hamilton before turning it over to halftime.
The Eskimos got off to a promising start to begin the second half after a pass interference penalty put them in the red zone, Franklin hit Cory Watson in the back of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown grab. This made it a 28-14 game.
The former Cincinnati Bearcat signal-caller, Collaros, looked to follow up the Eskimo touchdown by throwing a deep pass over the middle to a leaping Luke Tasker to get the Ticats in striking distance. Collaros then used his legs to buy time for Terrance Tolliver to get open, before the six-foot-five receiver caught the pass and tiptoed along the side of the end zone for the easy score. This was a crucial drive to shift the momentum away from the Commonwealth Stadium crowd, who came alive after the Watson touchdown.
If that didn’t suck the energy out of the crowd, then the ensuing interception thrown by Franklin surely did. The interception was Daly’s second of the game and came off the bone-jarring hit on Franklin by Rico Murray.
The Ticats then began to run away with it as Collaros side-stepped past a defender before completing another long pass to Tasker, putting him over 100 receiving yards on the day for the second week in a row. Collaros then plunged himself into the end zone on a goal line sneak.
Edmonton was able to respond with a nine-yard touchdown strike to Mississauga-native Devon Bailey for his first CFL touchdown.
Hamilton then added insult to injury as linebacker Eric Norwood returned a fumble all the way to house for a 106-yard touchdown. It was Norwood’s second touchdown in consecutive weeks and Hamilton’s eighth defensive touchdown this season.
The now East Division leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 6-2, will head back home to Tim Hortons field, where they have been so dominant, to take on the Jim Popp-led Montreal Alouettes on Thurday night. Edmonton, now 5-3, will try and bounce back at Commonwealth Stadium against the Toronto Argonauts on Friday Night Football.
EDMONTON -- With the CFL’s top two defences squaring off on Friday Night Football, nobody expected a team to put up even close to 50 points, but that’s exactly what happened in this 49-20 Hamilton victory.
For the second week in a row, Zach Collaros and the Hamilton Tiger-Cat offence could not be stopped, racking up 101 points in the past two games, even without the likes of skill position players CJ Gable, Andy Fantuz and Bakari Grant.
Collaros completed 17 of 29 passes for 300 yards with three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and no turnovers. This moves the Ticats quarterback’s touchdown to interception ratio and an impressive 17/6 for the season.
His primary targets included Terrell Sinkfield Jr., who posted 118 yards and two touchdowns, as well as Luke Tasker, who hauled in 129 yards, posting back-to-back 100 yard games.
Going overlooked in the consecutive offensive explosions was Hamilton’s defence who were baking turnovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner in this contest. Linebacker Taylor Reed forced two fumbles while Kitchener-native Mike Daly had two interceptions. Ed Gainey and Courtney Stephen also racked up seven tackles apiece.
The lone bright spot for the Eskimos was the last man to ever catch a pass in Johnny Manziel’s college career at Texas A & M, Derel Walker, who caught a ridiculous 14 passes for 183 yards.
Matt Nichols needed to come out strong to start this game but on the first drive of the game the Eastern Washington product was picked off by the former McMaster safety, Daly. Moments later, Collaros connected with Sinkfield in the back of the end zone to give Hamilton an early 7-0 lead. Sinkfield was once again huge with the absence of Fantuz and Grant.
Nichols and company looked to strike right back and did so by hitting Walker down the sideline for a big gain. This downfield strike led to a successful Grant Shaw field goal.
Punting often gets overlooked in pro football, but a nice homecoming of sorts came with Ticats punter Hugh O’Neill, a former University of Alberta product, booming a punt in the first quarter that bounced out of play and pinned Edmonton on their own three-yard line midway through the first quarter.
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There’s one phrase in football that can’t be overstated enough: protect the football.
The Eskimos did not do a great job of this on Friday night as the former SMU linebacker, Reed, forced a fumble early in the second quarter. What happened on the very next play? Collaros hit Sinkfield deep over the middle that turned into a 63-yard catch and run to set up a Ray Holley touchdown walk-in. This made it a 21-3 lead, with all of Hamilton’s 21 points coming off turnovers.
However, the turnovers began to fall the other way as Otha Foster III recovered a fumble off the hands of Holley on a screen pass. Edmonton was unable to respond with a touchdown, settling for another Shaw field goal.
With minutes remaining in the first half, a 40-yard run by Hamilton running back Nic Grigsby set up a four-yard touchdown run by Brandon Banks, who probably scores touchdowns in his sleep. Banks now has at least one rushing, receiving and return touchdown this season.
Eskimos first-year quarterback James Franklin took over on the final drive of the second half, but was only able to muster up a rouge for his squad.
The score was 28-7 for Hamilton before turning it over to halftime.
The Eskimos got off to a promising start to begin the second half after a pass interference penalty put them in the red zone, Franklin hit Cory Watson in the back of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown grab. This made it a 28-14 game.
The former Cincinnati Bearcat signal-caller, Collaros, looked to follow up the Eskimo touchdown by throwing a deep pass over the middle to a leaping Luke Tasker to get the Ticats in striking distance. Collaros then used his legs to buy time for Terrance Tolliver to get open, before the six-foot-five receiver caught the pass and tiptoed along the side of the end zone for the easy score. This was a crucial drive to shift the momentum away from the Commonwealth Stadium crowd, who came alive after the Watson touchdown.
If that didn’t suck the energy out of the crowd, then the ensuing interception thrown by Franklin surely did. The interception was Daly’s second of the game and came off the bone-jarring hit on Franklin by Rico Murray.
The Ticats then began to run away with it as Collaros side-stepped past a defender before completing another long pass to Tasker, putting him over 100 receiving yards on the day for the second week in a row. Collaros then plunged himself into the end zone on a goal line sneak.
Edmonton was able to respond with a nine-yard touchdown strike to Mississauga-native Devon Bailey for his first CFL touchdown.
Hamilton then added insult to injury as linebacker Eric Norwood returned a fumble all the way to house for a 106-yard touchdown. It was Norwood’s second touchdown in consecutive weeks and Hamilton’s eighth defensive touchdown this season.
The now East Division leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 6-2, will head back home to Tim Hortons field, where they have been so dominant, to take on the Jim Popp-led Montreal Alouettes on Thurday night. Edmonton, now 5-3, will try and bounce back at Commonwealth Stadium against the Toronto Argonauts on Friday Night Football.
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