CP Images
Otha Foster and Aaron Grymes scored a pick-six each, while Zach Collaros left the game with a knee injury as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats fell 25-18 to the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field.
With the wind at their backs on a blustery afternoon in The Hammer, the Ti-Cats needed to get ahead of the eight ball in the first quarter. Back-to-back defensive stops gave them an early edge in field position, then the offence struck with a big play from the burner Terrell Sinkfield.
No. 14 used his speed to catch a 33-yard pass from Collaros to move the Ti-Cats within scoring range. Edmonton’s stout defence held on first down, but on second down the Ti-Cat pivot stood tall in the face of pressure and delivered on the corner route to an open Terrence Toliver.
Collaros landed a 10-yard touchdown pass to give Hamilton a 7-0 lead at Tim Hortons Field.
The struggle for field position continued but in the second quarter with the Ti-Cats on the move, a potential turning point both in the game and Hamilton’s season arrived.
Collaros was scrambling on a first down play up near midfield, but after being caught behind by Esks’ lineman Mathieu Boulay he suffered an apparent knee injury.
The CFL’s leader in passing yards, touchdowns and quarterback rating had his knee examined on the sideline then left the field under his own power, later returning to the sideline with his leg wrapped in ice and not in uniform.
Backup quarterback Matthews moved the Ti-Cats down the field with the help of a first-down burst to the outside by Brandon Banks, but the drive stalled and a Justin Medlock three-pointer extended Hamilton’s lead to 10-0.
Even without Collaros in the game at quarterback, the Ti-Cats weren’t about to make it easy for the Esks. Edmonton put up five points in first half coming off a safety and a Sean Whyte field goal.
The Ti-Cats responded with a drive from Matthews and Medlock’s second field goal of the game, giving Hamilton a 13-5 halftime lead.
A defensive duel continued into the third as the CFL’s top-ranked defences kept teeing off. A return by Banks into Esks territory sparked the Ti-Cats, but Deon Lacey’s second sack of the afternoon ended the threat.
After the Ti-Cat defence continued to set the tone with a stop and a safety to make it 15-5, the Eskimos’ defence responded. Linebacker Otha Foster jumped on an errant pass from Matthews and followed a convoy of blockers to score the Eskimos’ first touchdown of the game from 45 yards out.
Matthews felt the pressure on the backside and forced the pass over the middle, and the veteran Foster was all over it to provide an enormous spark for the visiting Esks. Edmonton cut the deficit to 15-11 with 7:15 to go in the third quarter.
A third field goal from Medlock made it 18-11, but just as Matthews settled in and got the Ticats’ offence moving consistently, it was the defence again making a big play. This time with Hamilton inside the 10, Matthews’ pass in the end zone was intercepted by Marcell Young to end the threat and keep the Esks within a touchdown.
Reilly went for the home run ball on the very next possession but he was picked off himself by Emanuel Davis, marking the Esks only turnover of the game.
The Green and Gold defence was a step ahead this afternoon.
Up a touchdown, Matthews scrambled on second down and after feeling the pressure fired to the wide side of the field, only to be intercepted by Grymes. Grymes ran all the way for the Esks’ second pick-six of the game, knotting things up at 18 a piece.
The defences continued to battle after that while the Ti-Cats turned to Harris looking to get a spark — but the Esks’ defence remained relentless. In the game’s final minutes, Jefferson chased down Harris and forced what would turn out to be the game-winning fumble.
Reilly picked up a first down with his legs to move the Esks into field position, then Adarius Bowman moved the sticks as the Eskimos continued to chip away at Hamilton’s defence in the safest way possible.
Lawrence got the ball outside the tackles and followed his blockers into the left side to score the game-winning touchdown.
With the win the Esks split the season series and keep pace with the Calgary Stampeders at the top of the West, now sitting just a game back of first place. The Ti-Cats, meanwhile, fail to add to their lead at the top of the division and may have to move forward without star pivot Collaros. It was only their second loss at Tim Hortons Field but also the second in the last three tries.
The Ti-Cats get a bye week to recoup as the rest of the East looks to make ground. The Eskimos aim to stay hot with a home date against the BC Lions next Saturday.
