LIVESTREAM CFL: Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Aug. 3, 01:30 CET (1:30 am, 7:30 pm Aug. 2 EDT)
HAMILTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats return home eyeing a third straight victory when they welcome the first-place Montreal Alouettes to Tim Hortons Field on Friday night.
Hamilton defeated Edmonton in Week 8 on the back of five touchdown passes from Bo Levi Mitchell, while Montreal rebounded from their first loss of the season by scoring a 20-16 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
There aren’t many quarterbacks playing with more confidence than Mitchell who now leads the league with 17 touchdown passes and sits second with 2,257 yards.
He’s been helped along by the strong play of his receivers as they give him second, third and sometimes fourth options.
Shemar Bridges and Tim White provide the star power, but Luther Hakunavanhu and Kiondré Smith have stepped up of late and will need to again against the Canadian Football League’s top team.
Watch live. Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Aug. 3, 01:30 CET (1:30 am, 7:30 pm Aug. 2 EDT)
Head coach Scott Milanovich has been happy to see plenty of weapons emerge for Mitchell to work with.
“Ideally, you have enough good receivers to where you don’t have to hide anybody,” Milanovich told reporters. “Luther’s been a great shot in the arm the last couple weeks, made some big plays. Picking Steven up right before training camp ended was huge. Kiondré, Tim and Shemar have been playing, for the most part, well all year. It just makes us a little bit more dynamic. It makes it easier to hide things and not necessarily have tendencies of where we’re going with the football.”
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As strong as the pass game has been, they’re about to face the league’s best secondary for the first time. After holding the Roughriders to 222 yards through the air, head coach Jason Maas’ defensive backs are limiting their opponents to 223.1 yards per game.
Dionte Ruffin is a big reason for the Als success as he has a pair of interceptions, but it’s a balanced unit that also includes veterans Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Wesley Sutton.
Fortunately for Hamilton, it looks like running back James Butler is finding his groove and is capable of taking pressure of Mitchell and his receivers. Butler was handed the ball 21 times and produced 98 yards in their 44-point effort against the Elks. It was his first 90-plus yard rushing game since Week 1.
Watch live. Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Aug. 3, 01:30 CET (1:30 am, 7:30 pm Aug. 2 EDT)
Butler is sure to see more handoffs against a defence that’s giving up 110.4 yards a game on the ground. But the Als struggles against the run shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of talent in their defensive front.
Tyrice Beverette is third in the league with 43 defensive tackles and Darnell Sankey is a presence that can’t be ignored when the Ticats are drawing up their play calls.
On the line of scrimmage, Mustafa Johnson and Derek Wiggan have the responsibility of getting to Mitchell to disrupt the pass and plugging holes to stop Butler.
Going into their second straight game without starting quarterback Cody Fajardo, Davis Alexander gets his first career start after coming on in relief of Caleb Evans against the Riders.
Keeping things simple and finding his top receivers will be key to Alexander’s success.
Tyson Philpot sits second in receiving yards and can reach 700 on Friday night. Other than Philpot, Reggie White Jr. and running back Walter Fletcher can ease Alexander’s transition.
The Ticats secondary is hoping to build on one of their most successful performances this season as they held Edmonton to 206 yards through the air. Jamal Peters, who had an interception in that game, and Richard Leonard are going to be leaned on to limit Philpot’s production.
The Hamilton defence has been much more successful against the run over the course of their first seven games, holding opposing rushers to an average of 89.6 yards.
Defensive lineman Kobe Jones found his way through the line for a sack a week ago and is joined by Brandon Barlow, Casey Sayles and DeWayne Hendrix in stopping Fletcher. Additional support comes at linebacker by way of Jonathan Moxey who’s played well since his signing.
As Fletcher can be a threat in both the pass and run game, it’s going to take the entire defence to slow him down.
While the start to the season wasn’t what he expected, head coach Scott Milanovich feels like his team is starting to put it together.
“Certainly trending in the right direction, getting healthy,” Milanovich told reporters about what he’s seen from his team. “Guys are starting to come together and do it the way we envisioned it early in the season. We’re seeing the fruits of that, three phase football for the first time against Edmonton and hopefully we can just keep doing that.”
A third straight win inches Hamilton closer to the pack in the East Division.
Montreal can put four points between themselves and the Ottawa REDBLACKS with a victory.
Watch live. Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Aug. 3, 01:30 CET (1:30 am, 7:30 pm Aug. 2 EDT)
