The Esk are coming off of a dominant 40-24 win over the Montreal Alouettes in Week 10 that saw quarterback Mike Reilly throw for 424 yards with three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one interception. Running back Shaq Cooper racked up 102 yards on the ground in his first CFL start while Bryant Mitchell had a game-high 128 yards and one touchdown on seven catches.
“We would like to have come out and play better than we did in the second half, but that’s how it goes,” Reilly told Esks.com after the game. “It’s four quarters of football. There will be a lot to learn from it but it was a good football game.”
Reilly currently leads the league in a number of categories, including passing yards (3,046), passing touchdowns (19), and rushing touchdowns (8). Reilly’s receivers have clearly benefitted from his strong arm. Duke Williams and Derel Walker rank first and second in receiving yards respectively.
Even more proof of Reilly’s commitment to his team? The 33-year-old welcomed his second child, Cadence Reilly, on Monday. He was at practice just a few hours after her birth.
“It’s a short week,” said Reilly. “Me and Emily talked about it a long time ago because we get our player calendar before the season starts. We knew it was going to be a wild day. But we knew with the scheduled C-Section that it was probably going to happen in the morning….I pulled in at 3:07 and then we started at 3:15 so I had enough time.”
C.J. Gable will resume his running back duties as he faces off against his former team. Gable missed last week’s game due to an undisclosed injury. The 30-year-old was traded to the Esks last October as the Ticats decided to put their faith in Alex Green.
While this matchup will see two of the top pivots up against each other, it will also see two of the best rushers go head-to-head.
“C.J.’s a good runner and he’s underrated as a pass receiver,” Ticats head coach June Jones told Ticats.ca. “He’s a blocker. He knows how to stone you. Whenever you play against a team that you used to play for, you take it to a little higher level. I think C.J. will do that again.”
The Ticats are eager to get back on the field after a bye week. Previous to that, the Black and Gold fell to the Winnipeg Blue Bomber 29-23.
Jeremiah Masoli threw for 251 yards with one touchdown pass while also rushing for another 80 yards.Brandon Banks had a game high 106 yards on six catches with one major while running back Alex Green ran for 63 yards and a touchdown.
The Ticats are just 3-9 after coming off a bye week since 2011.
Hamilton has struggled at home as of late and are 1-2 at Tim Hortons Field this season. However, Jeremiah Masoli does not appear to be concerned about the team’s home record.
“It’s something we preach for sure,” said Masoli. “At the end of the day it’s just us winning our battles every play, doing your job, and finishing and executing. There’s no secret to success whether you’re home or away. You just have to be able to execute and play clean and I think that’s the biggest thing for us at home.”
The Ticats are hoping to pick up where they left off against the Esks in Week 2 where they won 38-21 at Commonwealth Stadium. Masoli and company outdueled the Esks’ offence in a convincing 38-21 victory over the Green and Gold.
However, Esks head coach Jason Maas says that he expecting a much different performance from the squad this time around.
“I think both teams are different,” said Maas. “I think we’ve kind of found an identity on all three phases. It was early in the season. It wasn’t our best effort by no means. I give them a lot of credit for playing as well as they did, but I think our guys are ready to play a better football game.”
By The Numbers:
2 – Combined catches last week for Ticats top receiving duo of Jalen Saunders and Luke Tasker. Saunders left the game in the first quarter and did not return.
6 – League-leading receiving touchdowns for both Duke Williams and Derel Walker.
15 – Amount of times that the Ticats have stopped opponents in the red zone out of 23 chances, #1 in the CFL at just 35%.
39 – Career games that Mike Reilly has thrown for 300 or more yards, tied for #10 all time with Sam Etcheverry.
The Esks and Ticats offences are heading into this battle full steam ahead.
The Ticats come in with the #2 ranking for net offence at 403.5 yards per game in 2018. They have gone over the 500-yard mark twice already, something they did just once across all of the 2016-2017 seasons. The last time that Hamilton averaged over 400 yards per game was back in 2004 at 405 per game.
Meanwhile, the Eskimos boast the top passer in the league and top two receivers in Reilly, Williams, and Walker.
Expect this one to be a high scoring affair.
The Ticats will also be honouring Joe Montford at the game. The feared defensive lineman spent most of his career in Hamilton, donning the Black and Gold for eight seasons. The five-time CFL all-start spent his last two seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos, making it fitting that the Green and Gold are the visitors in town.
– With files from Esks.com/Ticats.ca.
