Steve Milton: Labour Day always matters ... especially to Ticats this year
Game 12
Toronto Argonauts (5-5)
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-8)
Monday, Sept. 5, 1 p.m.
Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton
The storyline
If there can be too much of a good thing, this would be it, even though it's the Labour Day Classic, always a Hamilton community-affirming event. Counting a pre-season game and last year's East final, this will be the 10th time the Argos and Ticats have faced each other in 53 weeks. The Argos have won six of those nine previous games, including two of the three this year and the Ticats are coming off two straight defeats, including a debilitating loss in Toronto last Friday. The Argos come in without any significant injury losses from last week, while the Ticats will be without Matt Shiltz, who would have started at QB, and Dane Evans is limited by a still-recovering sore shoulder. The Ticats traded for Edmonton Elks centre/guard David Beard in return for Hamilton native Jesse Gibbon, indicating that centre Alex Fontana, one of their many injured starters, won't be back any time soon. With No. 3 quarterback Jamie Newman getting his first CFL start, the Ticats will likely shorten their playbook, use Newman's size and legs to diversify the running game and try to get the ball into the hands of playmakers Tim White, Don Jackson and Steven Dunbar. And, it goes without saying, the offence has to make some late first downs and the defence has to prevent them, as the Ticats have been predictable and brutally awful in fourth quarters this year.
Key Hamilton roster notes
Jamie Newman will likely start at QB but Dane Evans will be in uniform and may also play. Jalen Morton will be the other QB ... OL David Beard, obtained from Edmonton for Hamilton native Jesse Gibbon Friday, won't play. RG Coulter Woodmansey will stay at C until Beard gets up to speed ... RT Chris Van Zeyl is still a game-day decision.
Key Toronto roster notes
The Argos still have more than a dozen players on the six-game injured list, including RB Andrew Harris and WR Eric Rogers.
They said it
They've definitely been a second-half team. I don't think it's adjustment issues we're running into, it's execution issues. One or two plays at the wrong times. It's focus and being locked down to do what we have to do." - Ticats DT Dylan Wynn on the Argos, who outscored Hamilton 27-4 in the second half last week.
I got the first pick knowing you might not get another one. I caught the second one and I was thinking: I might be done for the night.' And then a teammate on the sideline said: P, you're going to get another pick and just go for three.'" - Argos cornerback Jalen Peters speaking to the Toronto Sun's Frank Zicarelli about his three interceptions vs. the Ticats last Friday.
We thought this was a chance to possibly upgrade our football team not just immediately but also in the future. We drafted Jesse, he contributed and he was always a professional. I really can't say enough great things about him, but sometimes you have to make decisions." - Orlondo Steinauer on the Friday trade which sent Hamilton native Jesse Gibbon to Edmonton for centre David Beard and a conditional draft choice.
Yes, he has been inconsistent, but I liked how he battled. He found a way to get it done when it wasn't looking very good in the first half." - Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie to Zicarelli about QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
The Numbers Game
2 Number of times (2004, '15) in the 21st century that neither of the Labour Day Classic teams has been under .500 at the time.
3 Number of successful second-down conversions by the Ticat offence in 12 second-half opportunities against Toronto last week.
5 Successful second-down conversions by the Argos in 9 attempts in the second half against Hamilton last week.
5 Total number of plays it took the Argos to score 14 points after intercepting Dane Evans twice near the end of Friday's third quarter and early in the fourth.
16 Touches from scrimmage for Ticat RB Don Jackson last week, 10 rushes and six pass receptions.
17 Of the last 19 Argo-Ticat Labour Day games have been won by the team which won the fourth quarter. The Ticats have won one fourth quarter all season.
25 Number of points by which the Ticats must win on Monday to gain the season series' tiebreaker.
36 Times since the old Wildcats and Tigers united as the Tiger-Cats in 1950 they've beaten the Argos on Labour Day. They've lost 13 and tied one.
69 Defensive tackles by Toronto's Wynton McManis to lead the CFL.
119 Points allowed by the Ticats in the fourth quarter this year, they've scored just 50.
342 Passing attempts this season by McLeod Bethel-Thompson, most in the league. His 232 completions rank second.
TV: TSN, ESPN+
Audio: Listen.ticats.ca and the Ticats all-access app, Plus simulcast on 900 CHML, 1460 in Guelph, 570 in Kitchener and 'Sauga 960.
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com