There would also be images of a determined Joe Kapp lining up under center one year later in the '64 Grey Cup game, of Willie Fleming, the greatest Leo ever, scoring an early touchdown, and Peter Ohler turning a bothched field goal attempt into a touchdown pass to Peter Ohler. They would remember watching Bill Muncie racing to the end zone, scoring the first of his two touchdowns on the day, one on offence and one on defence. They would also see middle linebacker Tom Brown's face etched with the magnitute of the day, as the Head Hunters defended Hamilton's dangerous offence, led by NFL first round draft choice Bernie Faloney. The final gun would signal the end of the hard fought contest and Norm Fieldgage would hold our B.C. Lions first ever Grey Cup trophy high above his head.
The players who played the game in those days had a warrior mentality. The opposite team was the enemy and there was no fraternizing on the playing field with the opposition after a game. Decades later, for Joe Kapp, there was still no love lost for Angelo Mosca.
The modern game of CFL football is different now. Rivalries have much less intensity. But, for some reason, when our Leos play the Tiger Cats, it feels like a different matchup than when we play any other Eastern team. Perhaps its because the city of Hamilton embodies toughness and a blue collar work ethic. Or perhaps the legend of these two teams in the 60's still resonates.
In 1964 it was Dave Scrien vs. Ralph Sazio. In 2016 its Wally Buono vs. Kent Austin and both have the ability to get their teams to play high calibre football. Joe Kapp and Bernie Faloney were gunslingers in their day and Jonathan Jennings and Zack Collaras have the same mentality. John Chick and Ted Laurent anchor a Hamilton defensive line in the same way that John Barrow and Angelo Mosca did it back in the 60's. Solomin Eliminian and Adam Bighill lead a linebacking unit for B.C. with the same aggression as Norm Fieldgate and Tom Brown roamed sideline to sideline.
For this matchup we have two teams that can sack the quarterback. Both offences like to use all of their receivers in the passing attack. Both our Leos and Hamilton have punt returners who can fly and take one to the house.
Lets have a closer look at the warriors who will play in Saturday night's contest:
OFFENCE
Our Leos offence will be facing a Hamilton defense that can get pressure on the quarterback and create turnovers. Defensive coordinator Orlando Steinauer's Tiger Cats defense is led on the playing field by linebacker Simoni Lawrence. Up front the Tiger Cats have defensive end John Chick and defensive tackle Ted Luarent playing side by side and they can create a lot of problems for an offence.
Hamilton's Courtenay Stephen is a very talented, hard hitting National free safety who leads the CFL in forced fumbles.
The Tiger Cats defense leads the CFL in quarterback sacks (22 sacks) tied with our B.C. Lions. John Chick and Ted Laurent are tied for second in the CFL in quarterback sacks, 301 pound Hamilton defensive tackle Drake Nevis has 3 sacks, while Simoni Lawrence, blitzing from his linebacker spot, also has 3 sacks on the season. Its a very tough, talented Hamilton defensive line.
Our B.C. Lions will again be led by sophmomre quarterback Jonathan Jennings, who is coming off his third impressive passing performance in a row. Jennings has thrown for well over 300 yards in his last three games. Jennings continues to improve statistically. He had his best passing percentage game against Montreal, completing 27 of 32 passes. His season completion rate is now 64.5% and his quarterback efficiency has climbed to 97.1.
Bryan Burnham is becoming his favorite target, Shawn Gore continues his successful play at wide side receiver, and Manny Arsenault continues to make big receptions. Boldewijn, playing his third game, is a big target at slot back. Burnham is our leading receiver and has climbed to 9th in CFL receiving yards. Shawn Gore is 10th in CFL receiving yards and Arsenault is 12th.
Jeremiah Johnson will play his 4th game at tailback. Both he and Anthony Allen have 194 yards of rushing each. Johnson carried the football 15 times for 74 yards in our last victory and also caught two receptions for 40 yards. Chris Rainey was used more ofen in our offence, as both a tailback and receiver.
Our Leos have dropped to 3rd in the CFL in rushing yards. Running the football was important to most of our early season offensive success and needs to be an integral part of our offence.
Quarterback protection and the ability to open holes for the running game will be the key to our offence agaisnt the Tiger Cats. Our Leos rank 3rd in the CFL, in terms of protecting the quarterback from sacks. But this game will be the toughest challenge yet, this season, for our offensive line.
DEFENCE
The Tiger Cats have been missing their best player for a long tme now. Zack Collaras will get his first start of the 2016 season. He is a leader. He is poised, he has an accurate arm, and he inspires. Hamilton's offence will be much tougher to play with Collaras back in the lineup.Before Collaras got hurt last season he was the CFL's leading quarterback in terms of quarterback efficiency with an impressive 113.7 rating. He was completing 70.2% of his passes.
Collaros hasn't played since tearing the ACL in his right knee in a game against the Edmonton Eskimos on Sept. 19, 2015. At the time, the Ticats were 8-3 and Collaros was the top candidate for the Canadian Football League's outstanding player award, leading the league in passing yards (3,376) and touchdowns (25).
Collaras also has some impressive receivers to throw to. Luke Tasker has 403 yards in passing receptions and Andy Fantuz is close behind with 403 yds. Chad Owens gives Hamilton three receivers in the CFL Top 20. Brandon Banks can also be brought into the game to give Hamilton another weapon.
Hamilton is a pass oriented offence. The Tabbies are last in rushing the football in the CFL but C.J. Gable is an effective running back who can't be ignored in their attack. He averages 4.6 yards per carry.
Our Leos have given up the least amount of points in the CFL. Our Leos defensive line will be led by Alex Bazzie who leads the league leading in quarterack sacks. Mic'hael Brooks will be back in the lineup at tackle and he is very difficult to block one one on one. The play of Westerman has also been coming on in recent outings. With an injury depleted defensive line, we still sacked Kevin Glenn 6 times in our last contest.
Getting pressure on Collarus will be important. Hamilton has given up 17 sacks so far, third most in the league. Collarus is a quick read quarterback but pressure will still be important to defending Hamilton's diversified passing attack.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Both our Leos and Hamilton have return men who can take it to the house. Brandon Banks is a very dangerous punt and kick returner who has an 86 yd. touchdown return. Rainey has returned two punts for touchdowns this season, including a 95 yd. return. Give either open space and they can turn on the jets.
Hamilton's Brett Maher is punting the hell out of the football with a 49.9 average per punt. Leone is averaging 47.1 yds. per punt.
WRAP
Our Leos are 4-2 and back at home after 3 games on the road, during which time we established that we are a tough road team this season. We lost our last home game to Toroto and need to establish our identity as a tough home team to play against. Hamilton is 3-3 with their starting quarterback Zack Collarus back in the lineup and they will be excited to have him back at the controls. He changes the complexion of this game. Both squads need a victory to be in the hunt for first place in their respective divisions.
Go Leos!!
