Photo: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions
Harrison Frost has only made one start for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats but it appears he’s done enough to earn the starting job at quarterback for the foreseeable future.
“I saw some strides offensively last week. I thought Frosty (sic) played pretty well,” head coach Scott Milanovich told the media on Tuesday.
“He’ll tell you he had five plays that he’d really like to have back, and unfortunately, that’s kind of par for the course for a first start, but I’m focused on him improving on that.”
“I believe in him. I think our team believes in him, which is even more important, and I don’t think you’ve seen the best football team we have yet.”
Frost signed with Hamilton in mid-July following a stint in the UFL. The 27-year-old was no stranger to Steeltown, having spent the past two seasons as a backup behind Bo Levi Mitchell and Taylor Powell.
The six-foot-one, 194-pound passer completed 20-of-33 pass attempts for 239 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the team’s 27-24 loss to the B.C. Lions last week.
It was arguably the best performance the Tiger-Cats have had at quarterback since Mitchell went down with a likely season-ending ankle injury early last month.
Jake Dolegala got the first start in Mitchell’s place but struggled in a 38-7 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, completing 17-of-30 pass attempts for 122 yards and one interception.
Tre Ford got the next three starts under centre, completing 40-of-60 pass attempts for 440 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. The dual-threat passer also rushed for 185 yards over those three outings, posting a 1-2 record.
Hamilton has turned the ball over 15 times this season, which ranks near the middle of the pack league-wide. Protecting the football is key for Milanovich, and it appears he trusts Frost to do so moving forward.
“Turnovers is the biggest thing. We were a little bit better (against B.C.). We only had the one, we did win the turnover margin,” he said.
“That’s been the biggest deal. If we don’t turn it over and we get turnovers, we’ll have a good chance to beat anybody, I firmly believe that.”
If the season ended today, the Tiger-Cats would miss the playoffs at 3-6. Despite this, Milanovich remains optimistic that the team can turn things around despite the absence of their best player.
“If you look back at the games we’ve lost, we’ve been in every single one of them in the fourth quarter, and we’ve had leads in some of them,” said Milanovich.
“We haven’t played to what I would consider — even without Bo — our typical offensive style of football, so I’m optimistic that’ll improve. I think our defence has improved since the beginning of the year. Our special teams, I thought played really well in Vancouver the other day, so I am optimistic.”
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-6) will host the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-2) at Hamilton Stadium on Saturday, August 15 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Roughriders easily beat the Ottawa Redblacks last week, while the Tiger-Cats suffered a narrow loss to the B.C. Lions.
The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for 24 degrees and sun. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 620 CKRM in Regina or the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.
