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east final

Hamilton Tiger-Cats' quarterback Kevin Glenn (5) watches from the sidelines in the second half of the East Final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' in CFL football action in Winnipeg, Sunday, November 20, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Trevor HaganTrevor Hagan/The Canadian Press

A dejected Kevin Glenn nursed an injured knee Sunday and mourned the Tiger-Cats' 19-3 loss in the CFL East final that could have taken Hamilton to the Grey Cup in Vancouver.

He thinks the aching knee likely isn't that bad but that the 19-3 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hurts a lot more.

Glenn couldn't move his offence all day against a wall of Blue Bombers that compounded an already tough day for any quarterback – cold and with a stiff wind.

"[Winnipeg]put us in some tough situations you know, second and long," Glenn said. "When they do that, we're playing right into their hands and that's what we knew we couldn't do. Second and long and they sit and drop everybody back and wait for you to just dump the ball ... cause there's nothing open up field and they rally up to make the tackle.

"We knew that we couldn't do it and we did it. We didn't take advantage of opportunities and they did."

Glenn, who played with the Blue Bombers and insists he's used to the cold, was replaced in the second half by Quinton Porter.

Porter was sacked twice and intercepted once. With a kickoff temperature of -22C including wind chill, passing and catching were a challenge.

Coach Marcel Bellefeuille gave Winnipeg credit.

"They just played really well ... nothing new, what they've been doing all year," Bellefeuille said.

At the same time, he said the Ticats can look back on what they did accomplish this season, including knocking off the Montreal Alouettes – last year's Grey Cup champions – in the East semi-final.

"I do feel like we turned a corner," Bellefeuille said. "We handled the adversity today very well. We found a lot more answers than questions this year."

Bellefeuille said they decided to stick with the run to take the pressure off the pass rush. There weren't a lot of sacks but there was a lot of pressure.

Neither Hamilton's ground game or its air attack proved to be that successful, who last won a Grey Cup in 1999.

Avon Cobourne was Hamilton's leading rusher Sunday but still managed only 28 yards.

Hamilton's net offence was 176 yards, compared with Winnipeg's 449.

The Canadian Press

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