A key? One turnover in four Ticat wins
SCOUTING REPORT
The storyline for Hamilton: The Ticats need to win against Calgary to maintain control of their playoff destiny. A loss by Hamilton followed by an Ottawa win in Saskatchewan later Friday would eliminate the Ticats from post-season contention.
A loss by both teams would mean the Ticats would have to win their remaining three games to claim second in the East while a Hamilton win and Ottawa loss would close the gap to just three points.
Got all that? In short, a loss could be catastrophic.
Key injuries and roster changes: New kicker Kenny Allen comes on the roster to replace the injured Sergio Castillo, who is done for the season with a torn ACL.
Other than that, head coach June Jones has elected to stay with the same lineup that won last week in Winnipeg. Five funky Hamilton stats: 1. Jones has a 4-2 record and .667 winning percentage since taking over on Labour Day. No mid-season replacement has ever posted better than a .400 winning percentage in Ticat history.
2. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has not thrown an interception in his last three games and has now gone 110 straight passes without one, the longest active streak in the CFL.
Masoli’s is 2:1 touchdown to interception ratio in 2017 is an improvement on his career mark of 1.20:1.
3. Masoli posted a career-high 82 per cent completion rate in last week’s win over Winnipeg and completed his last nine passes of the game. It was the second time in his career he has beaten a club that was over .500 coming in.
4. Running back Alex Green has started two games and produced 237 rushing yards for an average of 118.5 yards per game and includes seven runs of 10-plus yards and 4 of 20-plus. His average is up to 7.2 yards per carry in 33 attempts.
5. In their four wins this season, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have committed exactly one turnover. They have also lost the time of possession battle in three of the victories.
The storyline for Calgary: The Stampeders have already secured a home playoff date but a win over Hamilton and a Winnipeg loss Saturday against B.C. would lock up first place in the division and a date in the Western Final on Nov. 19. The Stamps are 12-1-1 and have won 10 straight but their loss came to Montreal in Week 4 and the tie was against Ottawa in Week 1.
Key injuries and roster changes: Canadian running back Jerome Messam as well as receivers Kamar Jorden and DaVaris Daniels return to the lineup while dynamic returner Roy Finch is sidelined with an ankle injury. The Stamps have some big names on the injured list — linebacker Deron Mayo, defensive end Cordarro Law, offensive lineman Pierre Lavertu — and it doesn’t seem to matter, they just keep rolling. Five funky Stampeder stats: 1. Calgary’s record coming off a bye is remarkable and they are 15-0 since 2005. Calgary is also 9-0 in those post-bye games on the road and has outscored opponents by an average margin of 14.5 points.
2. Head coach Dave Dickenson is off to 27-3-2 (.875) start to his career and easily the best mark in any coach’s first two seasons in CFL’s modern era since 1950.
2. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell’s career winning percentage is now .862 (55-8-2). Hamilton is one of three clubs he has yet to lose to, going 8-0 with average margin of victory of 12.9 points — though five of the eight games have been decided by six.
3. Calgary has now recorded two wins this year by 48 or more points including a 60-1 triumph over Hamilton in the first meeting. That makes them one of four teams in CFL history to have two wins by 48 points or more in the same season.
4. Kicker Rene Paredes comes into this game with a current streak of 18 consecutive field goals made, including four-of-four from 40 yards and out. He has now made 39 of his last 41 FG attempts.
5. Paredes is now the CFL’s most accurate kicker of all-time with career mark of 86.8 per cent.
TSN play-by-play: Rod Black and Duane Forde Referee: Andre Proulx Weather: Partly cloudy, 18 degrees, winds out of the southwest at 20 km/h