News

It may have added up to nothing more than a boost for their self-esteem.

But the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will certainly take that and anything else that springs from their dominant 24-6 victory over the flu-ridden Saskatchewan Roughriders this afternoon.

As a result of Edmonton’s win over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night, the Ticats went into the game knowing that whatever the result, they wouldn’t be able to clinch their first playoff berth since 2004.

By the time they travel to Winnipeg for the regular season finale next Sunday afternoon that situation may well have changed. At the very least, no matter what happens between now and then, they’ll be playing the Bombers with second place in the CFL East and a home playoff game on the line – just as they would have been had they lost to the Riders.

Still, the manner of their victory over a team that could still finish first in the west ought to engender confidence in a team that has enjoyed a bit of a roller coaster season.

On a raw afternoon with the wind howling out of the west, the Ticats (8-9) controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They sacked Riders’ quarterbacks Darian Durant and Steven Jyles six times, didn’t surrender a sack themselves for the third consecutive game, and ran and passed effectively even heading into the breeze.

Hamilton rolled to an 11-0 lead with the wind in the first quarter, aided by three Saskatchewan turnovers in the first fifteen minutes. They increased that to 18-0 on a 23 yard D’Andra Cobb touchdown run early in the second quarter, and really coasted home from there.

Cobb finished the fame with 159 yards on 25 carries and surpassed the 1000 yard mark in his rookie season.Quarterback Kevin Glenn completed 22 of 35 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. His favourite target was slotback Dave Stalla, who caught nine passes for 126 yards.

Meanwhile, the Ticats almost completely shut down the Saskatchewan running game, and held Durant to only 66 yards passing on eight completions in 20 attempts. Luca Congi kicked one field goal, but missed two other long attempts with the wind at his back. The remainder of the Saskatchewan scoring came on a punt single by the team’s new import kicker Louie Sakoda and a safety conceded by Hamilton punter Nick Setta.

“The defence was dominant,” Ticats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said. “I had a feeling they could play that type of football game. They’ve been poised for a big game like that. I thought the front seven did a great job and the secondary as well in coverage. We played good situational defence.”

The Riders only foray deep into Hamilton territory came with Jyles at the controls in the dying minutes of the fourth quarterback, with the game already out of reach.

“We weren’t able to generate anything with any consistency on offence and we left our defence on the field too long,” said Riders head coach Ken Miller. “We’re not going to make an excuse of any kind (due to flu bug). We got our fannies beat by a team that was well prepared and executed well.”

Up to six Saskatchewan players missed practice earlier in the week after suffering from flu-like symptoms ahead of Saturday's game.

Both teams will now sit back and watch tonight’s game between the Calgary Stampeders and British Columbia Lions. If Calgary wins, Hamilton could only potentially be eliminated from the playoffs if Edmonton and B.C. play to a tie in their final game next weekend.

The Riders (9-7-1) can still finish anywhere from first to third, though they’ll control their own destiny when they play the Stampeders next Saturday night.

With a report from Canadian Press