There’s no sugarcoating the fact that this has been a disappointing season for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Even after a 34-16 win last week at winless Ottawa, Hamilton (5-11) will finish with a losing record and miss the CFL playoffs in a year it started with Grey Cup aspirations.
But the Ticats are hoping to at least finish the season on a winning note, beginning with Friday night’s contest against the visiting Edmonton Elks.
“It’s how we want to finish the season, right? Get some wins on the board,” said guard Brandon Revenberg after the victory in Ottawa. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Not much has been beautiful about Hamilton’s season, particularly after star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell went down with what became a season-ending broken ankle on July 5. Backup quarterbacks Tre Ford and Harrison Frost haven’t been able to provide a consistent spark to the offense.
Frost did enjoy one of his best games last week, completing 28 of 35 passes for 342 yards and two second-half touchdowns to Kenny Lawler. The result snapped a five-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Edmonton (11-4) was idle last week after its 37-35 overtime victory over Hamilton on Sept. 26. That loss, combined with Calgary’s win earlier that day, eliminated the Tiger-Cats from playoff contention. Elks kicker Vincent Blanchard set a CFL single-game record with nine field goals.
The Elks can clinch the West Division title and home-field advantage for the Western Final with a win and a B.C. home loss to Ottawa. The latter appears unlikely, since the Redblacks are the first CFL team to start a season 0-15. Edmonton will secure at least one home playoff game with a win over Hamilton or a Saskatchewan loss Monday.
“We want to win the West and the way you do that, for us, is to keep winning games,” said quarterback Cody Fajardo. “We haven’t played great out east, and we know that, so this is a way to right some of those wrongs and change that mentality.”
The Elks last won the West Division regular-season title in 2015.
–Field Level Media
