Article by Josh Thomas
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have finally won a football game in June.
Bo Levi Mitchell became the fastest quarterback to 100 wins in CFL history, Devin Veresuk was electric in his first career start, and the Tiger-Cats’ defence played its best game of the season en route to a 33-17 win over the Montreal Alouettes.
Here are my thoughts on Hamilton’s first win of the season, and their first win in June since 2019.
Fastest hand in the West… and the East too
Mitchell continues to add to his already solidified Hall of Fame legacy as a member of the Tiger-Cats, regardless of what anyone has to say about his age.
Being the fastest to 100 wins in the league is fitting for the man who knew nothing but victory over his first few seasons in the league. At 22 years old, Mitchell took the CFL by storm, posting the best record to start a career in league history at 12-1. He is a two-time Grey Cup champion and a two-time CFL M.O.P. He is also the only quarterback ever to start and win multiple Grey Cups for the Stampeders.
Though the defence stole the show, Mitchell was excellent on Friday against Montreal. He completed 25-of-31 passes for 247 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. A fitting stat line for the only active quarterback with wins in the triple digits.
Eat ‘em Raw
Hamilton’s defence was in full flight for the first time all season, and it allowed Mitchell and the offence to settle in.
The Alouettes could have easily been the third team in as many games to jump out to a quick lead on the Tiger-Cats thanks to a turnover on downs on Hamilton’s opening drive. But not only did they get a stop on the following drive, they went toe-to-toe with a stout Montreal defence as both offences tried to find their footing. The teams traded rouges in the first quarter and Hamilton held Montreal to a field goal in the second. They took their first lead of the season into the locker room, having scored only eight points.
Hamilton created three turnovers, scored touchdowns on two of them, and allowed McLeod Bethel-Thompson to complete only 24 of his 41 pass attempts. Bethel-Thompson’s 19 yards on the ground (complete with a Saquon-esque hurdle, respect) was the most for any Alouette on the night.
Jamal Peters had an interception, Julian Howsare had a fumble recovery in the endzone, and Devin Veresuk had an interception returned for a touchdown.
Much has been said about the Hamilton defence. If they can play like this on a regular basis, the East will be in trouble.
Veresuk makes immediate impact
When I said Veresuk would be a starter before the year was out, I did not envision him stealing the reins from veteran linebacker Kyle Wilson by Week 4.
It’s now very clear how Veresuk forced the Cats’ hand when it came to releasing Wilson. There is simply no way you can keep him on the bench.
Sure, the football gods were on his side as a deflected ball sat pretty in his first career CFL start with few Alouettes threatening his path to paydirt. But make no mistake, the play Veresuk made was about more than being in the right place at the right time.
His active feet while diagnosing run or pass, making the decision in a fraction of a second, opening his hips and getting depth to drop into coverage is what put him in prime position to capitalize on the mistake.
Veresuk is everything you could ask for in a run-stopping linebacker, except he’s also one of the fastest guys on the field. I trust him to cover many of the RBs in this league one-on-one. His speed is going to make him elite.
He is the type of linebacker you can build a defence around, and he made an immediate impact in his first career start. The pick-six on Friday is going to be the first of many.
Spreading the ball
Up until this past week, Hamilton has had trouble finding any receiver not named Kenny Lawler with consistency. There were encouraging signs the offence could be closer to firing on all cylinders against Montreal.
Six different Tiger-Cats had multiple receptions, and Mitchell completed passes to a total of eight different receivers. Tim White had nine receptions for 78 yards and a TD to lead the team, and Johnny Augustine was active as a receiving back, picking up 63 yards on three receptions.
Kenny Lawler had a quieter night but still picked up his first major of the season. This is how the Hamilton offence was expected to operate when they picked up Lawler. They have weapons across the board, it’s encouraging to see them used.
Here’s Johnny
Greg Bell is a good running back and I think he will have a home in the CFL for a long time, but Johnny Augustine might be the guy for the Hamilton offence.
Tim White told the TSN crew pre-game that the Cats were going to run the ball. Though Augustine ended the night with 15 carries, White was not truthful in his prediction. Hamilton was never run heavy, and I don’t ever expect them to be.
More balanced than we’ve seen in years past? Sure. Never run heavy, though.
Johnny Augustine can give you everything Greg Bell can give you on the ground, but he’s a more dangerous receiving back.
The screen game and finding Augustine for check downs bailed the Cats offence out on a few occasions Friday. It was Augustine who set up Lawler’s first TD in black and gold. His ability to be a receiving weapon adds another layer to the Hamilton offence and helps to open running lanes when they do want to pound the rock.
The job should be Augustine’s to lose.
Improvement on the D-line
Life in the CFL is so much simpler when you can get pressure on the quarterback. Hamilton’s defensive line played their best game of the season and it made life extremely difficult for McLeod Bethel-Thompson and the Als.
Hamilton set the tone by stopping the run, allowing the D-line to pin their ears back and get after Bethel Thompson. They had two sacks on the night and plenty of QB pressures. They continued to stop the run throughout the game and essentially made Montreal one dimensional. The secondary feasted as a result.
Football is often won in the trenches and the Ticats’ D-line played a big part in helping Hamilton get the monkey off their backs.
Finding a way to win
Up 15 points with 8:32 to go, Hamilton felt 100 percent in control of a 25-10 ball game. Call me cynical, but this is right around the time the little voice in my head said, “We’re in danger” in its best Ralph Wiggum impression.
I cannot tell you how many times over the last six years the Tiger-Cats have found ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in close games down the stretch. Dozens of well-played football games were ruined in the last five minutes. This is not an exaggeration.
A 15-point lead with eight minutes to go is not a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination, in any football league. It wasn’t just the score, though; it was the way the Cats had shut the Als down all night. It felt like everything was going Hamilton’s way. Those are the ones they have found a way to lose.
Montreal marched the ball all the way downfield and made it an eight-point game on the ensuing drive, before stopping Hamilton in short yardage. Oh boy. Here we go again…
Thankfully, there was no collapse. This time around, Hamilton held their resolve until the final whistle. When they needed to kick the ball away late, there was no special teams gaffe, squib kick, or poor punt to turn the game on its head. Instead, the Cats calmly, professionally, booted the ball all the way to the one-yard line and trusted their defence. Shout out to Nik Constantinou for the punt too, that was a bomb.
The decision did not take long to pay dividends
Who gave that guy popcorn?
As far as botched snaps go, the one to all but seal Hamilton’s first win of the season was one of the funnier plays in recent memory. I’m not sure what happened, but the football almost ended up in the front row and was a good 10 yards off the target and five yards too high.
You could hear 25,000 Hamiltonians collectively exhale when Julian Howsare recovered the ball in the endzone.
Argos Hate Week
Immediately as the final whistle went, the first thought to hit my head was, “Hamilton has to keep momentum over the next three weeks.” I might even call the first matchup of the year against the Argos a must-win.
The victory over Montreal puts Hamilton right back in the mix in the CFL East Division. Hamilton plays Toronto in Week 5 before a home-and-home against the Ottawa Redblacks.
Toronto is without their starting quarterback until Week 7, and still searching for their first win pending the result of their contest against Ottawa on Sunday. They are ripe for the picking and good teams show their opponents no mercy. Hamilton has to create separation while the Argonauts are getting healthy.
Ottawa is looking like they are ready to battle for the top spot in the division all year. Going into the home-and-home with momentum and, at worst, two games back of first place is a much different feeling than being 1-3 and three games back before you’ve even played everyone in the division.
In each of the last three seasons, the Cats were all but out of the race by Week 6. Picking up wins in the division early in the year might end up being the difference between making the playoffs, having a home playoff game, or earning a bye.
At the very least, getting one or two wins in the next three games doesn’t put you out of the race before two of the other three teams in the division are at full strength.
Football may be the biggest “what have you done for me lately” sport of them all. As soon as the clock hit zero, rivalry week began.
