HAMILTON – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Edmonton Elks will meet for the second time in the last four weeks on Saturday night at Tim Hortons Field.
Hamilton scored a 44-28 victory back in Week 8 at Commonwealth Stadium but they’ll see an Edmonton team playing with confidence after back-to-back wins.
It’s Taylor Powell’s pocket, at least for now, as Ticats’ head coach Scott Milanovich looks for a spark at quarterback. Powell relieved Bo Levi Mitchell in the team’s 33-23 loss to Montreal last week and Powell threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
He’ll have big shoes to fill, as Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards and touchdowns coming into this week’s action and will certainly be eager to get back on the field as the internal competition heats up.
Downfield, Milanovich’s top receivers have performed as advertised, led by Shemar Bridges. The first-year pass catcher sits fifth in the league with 629 yards, 179 of which have come over the past two games against Montreal. With Steven Dunbar Jr., Tim White and Kiondre Smith also ranking in the top 15 in receiving yards, Powell will have plenty of options when he goes through his reads.
He’ll do so against an Elks’ secondary allowing 296.1 yards per contest. It’s a unit playing well after effectively shutting down BC’s Justin McInnis and Alexander Hollins a week ago. Darrius Bratton and Kai Gray both have a pair of interceptions and will set their sights on shutting down Bridges and company.
The changes in the Ticats’ offence continue at running back as Greg Bell gets the nod in place of James Butler. Bell made the start back in Hamilton’s Week 4 loss to Ottawa, rushing for 52 yards on 13 carries and catching seven passes for 40 yards.
He’ll see a physical Elks’ defensive line that features Noah Curtis and Shawn Oakman. As talented as those two are, the linebacker corps of Nick Anderson, Derrick Moncrief and Nyles Morgan can make things even tougher on Bell as he tries to find holes on the ground.
While the Ticats decided to make a change at quarterback, the Elks have been forced into one with Tre Ford suffering an injury against the Lions last week.
Without Ford, it’ll be McLeod Bethel-Thompson back under centre against Hamilton.
It’s never just on the quarterback to find success in the pass game and interim head coach Jarious Jackson needs another big performance out of receiver Tevin Jones, who’s produced two straight 123-yard games. With a heavy focus likely to fall on him, it should open up opportunities for Gavin Cobb and Dillon Mitchell.
As he gets added responsibility in Jackson’s offensive game plan, Jones is trying to take advantage of every opportunity.
Defensive back Jamal Peters, who was Bethel-Thompson’s one-time teammate in Toronto, picked him off in their last meeting and is joined by Kenneth George, Richard Leonard and Stavros Katsantonis in the secondary. Katsantonis returns after missing the previous four games with an injury.
In the Elks’ run game, Javon Leake has looked like a player who can take over a game. Leake has averaged eight yards over his last 33 carries.
Hamilton’s run defence is giving up just south of 100 yards each time out and will certainly be put to the test early and often.
Defensive lineman Casey Sayles and linebacker Kyle Wilson have played well this year and helped hold Leake to 55 yards back on July 28.
Milanovich knows his team needs to execute better if they want to have success and get back into the win column.
Hamilton looks to snap its two-game slide with a victory.
Edmonton wants to make it three straight wins as the team attempts to get itself back into the hunt in the West Division.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Fans can watch on TSN and RDS in Canada, while American viewers can tune in on CBS Sports Network. International audiences can watch on CFL+.
