Will
01-14-2012, 12:35 PM
THE JINX IS OVER!
Toronto stomps all over Ticats
By Rick Matsuomoto
Toronto Star
HAMILTON- The Hamilton Hex. The Steeltown Spell. Call it what you will.
Whether it was a mysterious jinx or simply media hijinks, it's over for the Toronto Argonauts.
All those newspaper stories and radio and television chatter about their inability to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were buried here yesterday under an avalanche of touchdowns as the Argos mauled the Ticats 50-16, before 25,128 onlookers at Ivor Wreck Stadium.
The Argos, who had lost 10 straight in Hamilton last winning on July 18, 1979, turned their run-and-shoot offence up to full power, scoring five touchdowns while the defence added a sixth.
Argos 50, Ticats 16
The result left Argos with an 8-2 record, eight points ahead of second-place Hamilton.
As a large number of flag-waving followers from Toronto cheered lustily, the Argos struck with awesome quickness.
They scored three touchdowns in a span of 3 1/2 minutes in the opening quarter and for all intents and purposes the game was over. The shell-shocked Ticats simply could not bounce back.
The devastating one-two knockout punches were delivered by slotback Emanuel Tolbert and quarterback Condredge Holloway.
Tolbert, who was acquired late last season from the Saskatchewan Roughriders and scored a dramatic 84-yard touchdown in the Grey Cup game against Edmonton Eskimos, had caught 41 passes going into yesterday's game for a respectable 517 yards. That was the second-best total in the Eastern Division.
Lightning Speed
Yet he toiled in the large shadow cast by Terry Greer, the Canadian Football League's leading pass catcher. The brilliant wide receiver had hauled in 68 passes for 1,323 yards.
Yesterday, Tolbert peeked out from under that shadow. He caught four passes for 180 yards and two dramatic touchdowns.
Holloway on a six-yard run, Cedric Minter and Greg Holmes on pass receptions and Carl Brazley on an interception return scored the other Argo touchdowns. Kicker Hank Ilesic converted all six touchdowns and added two field goals and a pair of singles.
Ticats got their touchdowns, both in the final quarter, from Keith Baker and Rufus Crawford.
Argos had marched 83 yards for a touchdown on their second possession of the game. Three plays later the ball was back in their hands; this time on their 44-yard line.
that's when Tolbert struck with lightning speed.
The Southern Methodist University product streaked past linebacker Greg Gar, making his first start for Ticats, to haul in Holloway's perfectly thrown pass for a 66-yard touchdown.
Ticats went nowhere after the kickoff. Two plays and a punt and Argos had the ball back. Then lightning struck again in the same spot.
using the same play, Holloway looked downfield and, as he expected, found Tolbert in the clear. This time he was a step behind linebacker Ben Zambiasi. The ball arrived in Tolbert's outstretched hands just as Zambiasi made a futile lunge at him and the Toronto slotback left all other defenders in his wake for an 80-yard touchdown.
The films of the 31-18 loss to Ticats earlier this year told Argos a linebacker would be assigned to cover Tolbert.
"We knew that would be the case and we took advantage of it," Tolbert said. "They put a linebacker one-on-one with me and I don't think a linebacker can run with me."
"After all that's been said about the Argos and Tiger-Cats, it feels good. I wasn't too excited about it (the rivalry with Hamilton) the last time we played them. But I knew we had to do it this week. It had gone too far."
Holloway explained that Ticats' double coverage on Greer took the rover out of the middle of the Hamilton defence. That left a linebacker attempting to match steps with Tolbert.
"We got a mismatch," said Holloway. "With Terry on the other side we took the rover out of the middle. They had a choice: Cover one side or the other."
Holloway said he had to "beg" head coach Bob O'Billovich to let him come right back with the same play.
"I figured it would go again," he said. "Obie finally said 'okay let's go ahead with it.'"
Ticats altered their defence in the second half, but it was too little too late. While the Argos suffered a mild letdown in the third quarter, the Ticats continued to struggle miserably.
Hamilton quarterback Tom Clements had one of his poorer afternoons on a CFL field as he constantly missed intended targets with his passes. He completed 16 of 31 passes for 165 yards and gave up a costly interception.
That came late in the third quarter when he wobbled a pass towards Crawford. Brazley alertly stepped in front of Crawford, make a leaping catch and raced 63 yards for the touchdown.
the point after: Argo receiver Terry Greer caught six passes for 100 yards. That's the eighth consecutive game in which he's caught passes for 100 yards or more, tying the record set 27 years ago by former Montreal and Hamilton great Hal Patterson. Argos' fine rookie offensive offensive tackle Kelvin Pruenster left the game with a suspected broken left leg.
Box score and other columns to come.
Toronto stomps all over Ticats
By Rick Matsuomoto
Toronto Star
HAMILTON- The Hamilton Hex. The Steeltown Spell. Call it what you will.
Whether it was a mysterious jinx or simply media hijinks, it's over for the Toronto Argonauts.
All those newspaper stories and radio and television chatter about their inability to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were buried here yesterday under an avalanche of touchdowns as the Argos mauled the Ticats 50-16, before 25,128 onlookers at Ivor Wreck Stadium.
The Argos, who had lost 10 straight in Hamilton last winning on July 18, 1979, turned their run-and-shoot offence up to full power, scoring five touchdowns while the defence added a sixth.
Argos 50, Ticats 16
The result left Argos with an 8-2 record, eight points ahead of second-place Hamilton.
As a large number of flag-waving followers from Toronto cheered lustily, the Argos struck with awesome quickness.
They scored three touchdowns in a span of 3 1/2 minutes in the opening quarter and for all intents and purposes the game was over. The shell-shocked Ticats simply could not bounce back.
The devastating one-two knockout punches were delivered by slotback Emanuel Tolbert and quarterback Condredge Holloway.
Tolbert, who was acquired late last season from the Saskatchewan Roughriders and scored a dramatic 84-yard touchdown in the Grey Cup game against Edmonton Eskimos, had caught 41 passes going into yesterday's game for a respectable 517 yards. That was the second-best total in the Eastern Division.
Lightning Speed
Yet he toiled in the large shadow cast by Terry Greer, the Canadian Football League's leading pass catcher. The brilliant wide receiver had hauled in 68 passes for 1,323 yards.
Yesterday, Tolbert peeked out from under that shadow. He caught four passes for 180 yards and two dramatic touchdowns.
Holloway on a six-yard run, Cedric Minter and Greg Holmes on pass receptions and Carl Brazley on an interception return scored the other Argo touchdowns. Kicker Hank Ilesic converted all six touchdowns and added two field goals and a pair of singles.
Ticats got their touchdowns, both in the final quarter, from Keith Baker and Rufus Crawford.
Argos had marched 83 yards for a touchdown on their second possession of the game. Three plays later the ball was back in their hands; this time on their 44-yard line.
that's when Tolbert struck with lightning speed.
The Southern Methodist University product streaked past linebacker Greg Gar, making his first start for Ticats, to haul in Holloway's perfectly thrown pass for a 66-yard touchdown.
Ticats went nowhere after the kickoff. Two plays and a punt and Argos had the ball back. Then lightning struck again in the same spot.
using the same play, Holloway looked downfield and, as he expected, found Tolbert in the clear. This time he was a step behind linebacker Ben Zambiasi. The ball arrived in Tolbert's outstretched hands just as Zambiasi made a futile lunge at him and the Toronto slotback left all other defenders in his wake for an 80-yard touchdown.
The films of the 31-18 loss to Ticats earlier this year told Argos a linebacker would be assigned to cover Tolbert.
"We knew that would be the case and we took advantage of it," Tolbert said. "They put a linebacker one-on-one with me and I don't think a linebacker can run with me."
"After all that's been said about the Argos and Tiger-Cats, it feels good. I wasn't too excited about it (the rivalry with Hamilton) the last time we played them. But I knew we had to do it this week. It had gone too far."
Holloway explained that Ticats' double coverage on Greer took the rover out of the middle of the Hamilton defence. That left a linebacker attempting to match steps with Tolbert.
"We got a mismatch," said Holloway. "With Terry on the other side we took the rover out of the middle. They had a choice: Cover one side or the other."
Holloway said he had to "beg" head coach Bob O'Billovich to let him come right back with the same play.
"I figured it would go again," he said. "Obie finally said 'okay let's go ahead with it.'"
Ticats altered their defence in the second half, but it was too little too late. While the Argos suffered a mild letdown in the third quarter, the Ticats continued to struggle miserably.
Hamilton quarterback Tom Clements had one of his poorer afternoons on a CFL field as he constantly missed intended targets with his passes. He completed 16 of 31 passes for 165 yards and gave up a costly interception.
That came late in the third quarter when he wobbled a pass towards Crawford. Brazley alertly stepped in front of Crawford, make a leaping catch and raced 63 yards for the touchdown.
the point after: Argo receiver Terry Greer caught six passes for 100 yards. That's the eighth consecutive game in which he's caught passes for 100 yards or more, tying the record set 27 years ago by former Montreal and Hamilton great Hal Patterson. Argos' fine rookie offensive offensive tackle Kelvin Pruenster left the game with a suspected broken left leg.
Box score and other columns to come.