Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats dominated from start to finish on Friday night, recording a 41-27 home win over the B.C. Lions that moved them to 2-1 through three weeks of the CFL season.
Hamilton has played six halves of football in 2026, and in five of them, they have been the better team. In Week 1, the second half was taken as a learning opportunity about the importance of keeping your foot on the gas. In the first half of Week 3, Hamilton only gave up nine points — all from field goals. When the second half began, the Ticats forced the Lions to punt on their first drive. The offence marched the ball 88 yards in six minutes and 38 seconds for an 11-play touchdown drive.
Hamilton took advantage of the Lions’ miscues to take control of the game early and never looked back. With the bye week looming, what do the Ticats look at following a win against B.C.?
BOMBS AWAY
What more can be said about Bo Levi Mitchell and his performance to begin the season? He has been a man on a mission with only one hiccup through three weeks. Friday night, on the second play of the game, Mitchell fired a ball to Kiondre Smith on a corner route for a 56-yard touchdown.
Mitchell would go on to throw four more touchdowns and finish the game 15-for-18 for 285 yards. He threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone, completing 90 percent of his passes. Hamilton scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives of the game. The four drives that resulted in touchdowns combined covered just 11 plays and 200 yards.
Bo Levi completed passes to six different receivers in the game. Keric Wheatfall had no catches and was targeted only once in the contest. Kenny Lawler continues to prove he is worth every penny of his contract. He does everything at the receiver position. He beat the defender with speed and tracked the ball brilliantly on his 49-yard touchdown. He also makes tough catches in traffic and maintains possession to the ground.
With Lawler, Smith, and Gittens Jr. as the leaders of the receiver’s room, the Ticats have dynamic options. When Mitchell can take his time, the air attack for Hamilton can effectively take over games, as they did on Friday night.
What adds to that is the play of the offensive line, which controlled the line of scrimmage all night long. Mitchell was kept clean, and his first incompletion of the game was the only play where he was rushed. That came with 4:52 remaining in the first half; to that point, he was eight-for-eight on the night.
Everyone involved in the passing game was on top of their assignments and affecting the game in a positive way in Week 3. A good sign for Hamilton, who have had a strong start to 2026.
STORM WEATHERED
As the Tiger-Cats continued to rack up the numbers offensively, the defence played a lot of minutes early. Nathan Rourke started the game strong for the Lions. It looked like it was going to be a shootout for the first few drives. The biggest difference was that Hamilton put touchdowns on the board. Until late in the game, the Lions could only find field goals.
In the opening quarter, the Lions had held possession for 10 of the first 15 minutes. The Tiger-Cats’ defence stopped the Lions from putting up touchdowns, allowing the offence to expand the lead.
Hamilton allowed over 400 yards to Winnipeg’s passing offence last week. I talked about the strength of their defensive backs playing downhill. When the defensive secondary keeps the ball in front of them, they are athletic enough to make tackles in the open field, something they did over the course of Friday’s game against B.C.
Through the course of the first half, you were ready for the dam to break for the Lions’ offence. The first sign that it might never come in the game was Stavros Katsantonis’ interception in B.C. territory late in the opening half. On the next play, Bo Levi Mitchell threw a 49-yard touchdown to Kenny Lawler. I had been critical of Katsantonis over the first two games of the season. It was miscues and a lack of communication that led to big plays for the opponents. Tonight, he was all over the field, finishing with three tackles and a pass breakup along with his interception.
The pass breakup was more impressive than the interception. Rourke’s turnover was not a good throw, and Katsantonis made him pay by finishing the play. The pass breakup was a ball thrown on target, and Katsantonis covered a lot of field to knock it away at the Hamilton 30-yard line. That was on a first down with 84 seconds left in the first half. On the following play, Hamilton forced an incompletion. B.C. would be forced to punt, allowing the Ticats to take a 27-9 lead into the half.
ONLY WHEN YOU NEED IT
The rushing game for Hamilton has been a front and centre of the conversation throughout the beginning of 2026. 63 yards on 20 attempts does not jump off the page as efficient. However, the Ticats used it to their advantage when needed on Friday.
In Week 2, Hamilton ran the ball six straight times before throwing a pass in Winnipeg. In Week 3, the Ticats did not hand the ball to a running back until their eighth play of the game. It was with a 14-6 lead and on the second last play of the opening quarter. Jake Dolegala did have two rushing attempts before that, both from the B.C. goal line. The second one got the Ticats in the end zone for their second score on the night.
As the game progressed, it felt like the Ticats had pulled away from B.C. and were managing the clock. Hamilton had started so effectively through the air to begin the game that they racked up yardage, with little time expended. On Hamilton’s first possession of the second half, the Ticats offence logged an 11-play drive that lasted 6:38 of game time. Five of those 11 plays were runs to Larry Rountree III. He just followed the open lanes from the offensive line to pick up yards.
What we learned last week from the Ticats was that they can control the game from the ground. Tonight was back to the passing attack opening up opportunities for the running game. When Hamilton called on the big boys up front to control the game at the line of scrimmage, they answered the bell and really put their foot on the gas.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Through the first two weeks of the season, Marc Liegghio was only mentioned for the fact that he made his field goals and extra point attempts. Liegghio missed for the first time in 2026 on the Ticats fourth drive of the game from 46 yards out. The concern was what followed, missing the extra point on the fourth touchdown of the opening half.
When the field goal was missed, it was Hamilton holding a 21-9 lead. Had the Lions been able to drive the field and get a touchdown, that miss could have changed the pace of the game. Hamilton did a great job responding to miscues and opportunities as a team. Kicker misses a field goal; the defence got a stop. Defence forces a turnover; offence scores a touchdown on the following play.
Liegghio making both his extra points in the second half takes the concern away from the misses. While it was just four points left off the board, it could have changed the outcome of a close game.
Carl Meyer also needs to be given his flowers. The punter for the B.C. Lions made three tackles in the game, one negated due to a penalty. When a team has a kicker who can make tackles in coverage on punt and kickoff, it changes things for the opponent. You must make sure he is covered, and there is a body on him, allowing your returner more time and space to break free. Isaiah Wooden Sr. was close to breaking two touchdown returns, but Meyer was great to get him to the ground.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
As we have laid out, early in the game, the Ticats’ offence was humming, scoring touchdowns on each of their first two drives of the game. On their first two possession of the game, B.C. was limited to field goals. As I watch games, no matter the level, I always place myself in the shoes of the decision makers. B.C. was faced with a third-and-goal from the Hamilton six-yard line down by 11 points. I said to myself, “I would go for this.”
As the game progressed, it was evident that the inability to convert in the red zone began eating at the Lions. With Hamilton scoring touchdowns and B.C. moving the ball effectively, they needed to go shot-for-shot to have a chance. It is difficult early in a game to potentially leave points on the board. The evidence that had been laid out on the first two Hamilton drives required a change in mindset for the Lions.
Even if B.C. had not converted on the gamble, it would have been 104 yards to go for Hamilton to find a third straight touchdown on offence. Instead, the Ticats started at their own 40-yard line, and one play later, due to a penalty, they were on the B.C. 23-yard line. The Ticats would finish the drive with a Max Mang touchdown, once again capitalizing on the opportunities presented to them.
The Ticats challenge I found interesting was on the Lions’ first touchdown of the game. Scott Milanovich challenged for offensive pass interference on Nick Cenacle, who caught his first touchdown in the CFL. There was an arm extension, but rather than forcing Hamilton’s defender away from the ball, the extension was used as leverage. Personally, I have no issue with the non-call. This can be used moving forward as a baseline for similar plays. Milanovich disagreed with the call, but it can be used in communication with the league as the standard from now on.
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
With the big soccer tournament taking over parts of North America, international play was on display for the Ticats on Friday night. Hamilton scored six touchdowns: two from Americans Kenny Lawler and Jake Dolegala, two by Canadians Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and Kiondre Smith and two from German Max Mang.
Mang hauled in his first career touchdown in Week 2 in Winnipeg and added two more in Week 3 against the Lions. We have discussed how impressive the passing game is for the Ticats, and Mang adds to it. With so many threats on the outside, Mang has become a safe over-the-middle option for Mitchell on short to intermediate routes and especially near the goal line.
At six-foot-six and 263 pounds, Mang is also effective as a blocker in the rushing attack. He is aggressive with his first step, getting his head across the defender to put himself between the ball and the opponent. Surrounded by talent, Mang stands out as a true tight end who can both catch and block.
UP NEXT
Hamilton has a Week 4 bye and will not play again until they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 5 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. After a blown game to open the season, the Ticats have strung together back-to-back wins and are looking dangerous in the early stages of the new season.
