Photo courtesy: CFL.ca
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished off their preseason with a 20-14 victory over the Toronto Argonauts in Guelph on Friday night.
There is no heavy rain to talk about this week. However, the wind played a factor for the offences and special teams. A backup quarterback battle was front and centre, while the Ticats struggled to find their ground game.
What can we take away from the final preseason game?
ROSTER
Roster cut-down day in the CFL comes on Saturday, May 30, the day after the preseason finale. The Ticats will get back to Hamilton, and the coaching staff will make their final deliberations on who is going to be on the final team. Players who do not make the active roster will be signed to the practice roster or released.
We did not see many projected starters for either team in this contest, with those spots largely accounted for. This game was primarily to get final looks at players who are on the bubble. These decisions are not made solely on this game. It is another opportunity for evaluation after seeing players on the field in practice for the last three weeks, in the first preseason game, and witnessing how they operate off the field. Are these players that they want in their room every day over the course of the next five months?
As for expectations on roster moves, I will not be playing the guessing game. I wrote last week that Mario Alford has still got it, and less than 48 hours later, he was released by the team. The return of Isaiah Wooden Sr. was unexpected and led to that decision. There are always surprises when it comes to roster selections, and I expect to talk about it more as the season goes along.
PIVOTS
Jake Dolegala and Tre Ford each got a half of football in Guelph. Both quarterbacks went out for the coin toss to begin the game as the team captains. Dolegala played the first and third quarter, with the wind at his back to start. Ford would throw into the wind in the second quarter and had the wind at his back in the fourth quarter. Hamilton wanted to solidify their backup quarterback role and gave both players ample opportunity for one last in-game showing.
Last week, I asked whether the performance from Ford was indicative of his play or due to the elements, which were beyond anyone’s control. On Friday, it was the Tre Ford show at Alumni Stadium. I talked about how Ford needed to play on time in the pocket and prove he does not need to rely on the broken, explosive plays to be a successful quarterback in the CFL. Well, the arm was on full display in this game and was complemented by the 28-year-old’s ability to scramble for more with his feet.
Ford led the game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter with a beautiful strike to Jerjuan Newton, who made three catches for 87 yards and three touchdowns. Ford set up the drive with a 15-yard run, showing his speed to escape Toronto edge rusher Jeremiah Ojo. Later, he would complete a 50-yard ball to Jaelen Gill off of play action. Ford dazzles when his running game is effective. On the completion to Gill, it was a roll to his strong side (right) with a check down in the flat available. Breaking the pocket for Ford puts him in the best spot as he can keep it, flip it to the easy route, or show his arm strength. He had several deep balls into the wind that were impressive.
However, it was the game-tying touchdown late in the first half that is what we have become accustomed to when Ford is behind centre. On rollout to his right, caught between two defenders and the sideline, Ford reversed field and made his way back to the hashmarks on the right side of the field. Into the wind, he uncorked a ball to the back left corner of the endzone, across his body and field, to find Newton alone for a major. A classic Tre Ford play that shows how he can be lethal to any defence with the ball in his hands.
Dolegala looked like how he did in the first preseason clash with the Argos, despite the lack of rain. His best throw was his touchdown to Newton in the first quarter on third down. Hamilton elected to go for it on third-and-six from the Argos’ 51-yard line. Dolegala fired across the middle, and had he thrown it a half-second later, safety Anthony Wilson likely intercepts the pass. Instead, Newton made the catch, and Wilson took out halfback Ed Woods on the back hip to allow him to run free into the endzone. It was confident and on time for Dolegala.
Unfortunately, he never found consistency in the game. It felt like he would complete a pass and then throw an incompletion, or vice-versa. The inability to sustain momentum from one play to the next, with no rushing attack with him under centre, did not allow for drives to develop into points on the board. Dolegala would finish 10-for-18 with 189 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
The interception does not lie on his shoulders individually. He was rushed on the throw as defensive tackle Jalen Bell was untouched off the line of scrimmage, attacking the Ticats quarterback. Then, for a second week in a row, he had a ball go off the arms of his intended receiver and into the hands of an Argonauts defender. This week, it was Owen Goss who benefited and returned it to the house for Toronto’s first major of the game.
This battle settles the backup quarterback position for the Ticats heading into their Week 1 contest with the Montreal Alouettes. Bo Levi Mitchell will be the starting pivot, so who gets the nod as the backup? Ford and Dolegala both have made their case. Dolegala had consistent good and bad across both games, while Ford struggled last week and impressed this one.
(LACK OF) GROUND ATTACK
As a team, the Tiger-Cats ran the ball for 99 yards on 17 carries. In the first matchup, I mentioned there needed to be a better push up front from the offensive line. This theme carried into Week 2, with no consistent rushing threat. Ford led the Ticats in rushing yards with five carries going for 38 yards.
Before Ford’s highlight reel play late in the second quarter, the drive was set up by Nahree Biggins running twice for 15 yards, getting the Tiger-Cats to the Toronto 25-yard line. To that point in the contest, Hamilton had run the ball three times for a total of three yards. All three yards gained on the ground were on Ford’s lone carry of the first half. Avery Morrow had a carry that lost four yards and another that gained four in the opening half. Morrow would add four carries in the second half for 21 yards.
While Biggins had the too-many-men penalty blunder in the first preseason game for Hamilton, the rest of his showings have been positive when called upon. In the first preseason game, he had a catch-and-run following the penalty that was negated by another infraction. On Friday, it was his first two carries of the game, finishing the night with four carries for 20 yards.
There was only one carry for newly signed Trent Battle in this contest, going for five yards. It came late in the fourth quarter on a first down. Tre Ford would keep it on an option play on second down to allow Hamilton to kneel out the clock and pick up a six-point win. Battle was signed to the roster on Monday following the release of Shane Watts.
DEFENCE
For much of the game, it was similar to what we saw last week from the Ticats’ defence. There was some bend, but only once did they break and allow a touchdown from the Argonauts. They were able to get themselves out of self-inflicted bad situations, with the Argos struggling to get in rhythm offensively.
Through the first quarter, it felt like the Ticats were playing with fire, but they did not let it burn them. A missed tackle in the backfield sprung Argos’ running back Sam Hicks for a first down to start a drive. Later, Quavian White did not get called for pass interference when he should have. He would get called for illegal contact on the next play. Then, an offside penalty and back-to-back throws by Tucker Horn that went off the hands of Hamilton defenders. Ultimately, Toronto had to punt the ball away to Hamilton into the wind. The Ticats got away without allowing a score on a drive where mistakes piled up.
The lone drive where Toronto’s offence was able to find the end zone was compounded by Ticat mistakes. Brian Ugwu, who has impressed me on the defensive line through the two preseason games, had a sack that dropped Tucker Horn for a loss of eight yards. The next play, he got home again right as Horn let the ball go. Ugwu was called for roughing the passer. I disagree with the call; however, the officials kept it consistent from last week. Wynton McManis was flagged for the same penalty for a hit on Chad Kelly in the first quarter.
Instead of an incompletion, as the ball hit the turf, it was a first-and-10 for the Argonauts. On the following play, the Ticats jumped offside to allow a first-and-five at their own 42-yard line. After stopping the Argos offence and forcing a 49-yard Lirim Hajrullahu field goal, the Ticats escaped by only giving Toronto three points. However, there was a flag on the play.
The penalty stemmed from the Ticats lining up over Argonauts long snapper Adam Guillemette. An illegal formation penalty extended Toronto’s drive. On the next play from inside the Hamilton 40-yard line, Sam Hicks scampered for his third touchdown of the preseason. De’Jon Benton broke free into the Argos backfield, as he had earlier in the contest, and took a bad angle to the running back. Benton tried to get in front of Hicks and make the tackle head-on. He should have attacked at an angle and forced Hicks to the boundary, where there was help coming. With Benton vacating his gap, Hicks made a jump cut and broke through arm tackles from the Hamilton defence to break free to the end zone.
The biggest impression was the depth of the Ticats’ defensive line. They got to the quarterback five times and accumulated 48 lost yards on those sacks. Owen Hubert recorded a sack and an interception in the game. His interception was his own pass deflection that he hauled in. It was Hamilton’s only forced turnover of the game. The McMaster product also finished with three total tackles.
As a whole, the Ticats allowed just 207 total yards in the contest while holding the Argonauts to 108 passing yards. Stopping mistakes from building off each other will put them in good positions during the regular season.
PENALTIES
No coach is ever going to see a completely clean preseason from their group. The wins and losses in these games do not mean anything once the regular season begins. After 11 penalties for 144 yards in the first preseason action at home against the Argos, it was 13 penalties for 107 yards in the second game for the Ticats.
Was it better in Week 2? Yes. Will 10+ penalties for over 100 yards help you win football games from June through November? Absolutely not.
RULES
The new rules surrounding the rouge are already on display during the preseason. Last week, we saw a kickoff in Hamilton go through the end zone untouched from the Argonauts. This week, it was a Ticats punt that rolled through the Toronto end zone untouched, and no single point was awarded. It may cause a few double-takes as you get comfortable with the new rouge.
Toronto’s punter Nathan Walker had a smart, heads-up play in the first quarter. Into a heavy wind, the ball went high into the air, which fell short of the Hamilton returner. The ball spun towards the Argonauts’ sideline, and with no Toronto players inside the five-yard restricted zone, Walker ran full speed and batted the ball out of bounds. Possession went to Toronto as the punter is onside, and the Argonauts were the last team to touch the ball. It was great awareness of the rules from Walker.
The next time Toronto kicked into the wind, two Tiger-Cats put hands on Walker making his way down the field. Teams that execute the rules to their advantage the best can create extra possessions. Toronto was ready for it; Hamilton has a learning opportunity from the play.
UP NEXT
After a 1-1 preseason, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats open the CFL schedule with a home clash against the Montreal Alouettes. It is a rematch of the 2025 Eastern Final, which saw the Ticats fall 19-16 at Hamilton Stadium. Kickoff is Thursday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
