OTTAWA – The Ottawa REDBLACKS play their final playoff tune up when they welcome the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to TD Place on Friday Night Football.
Ottawa is trying to snap a five game losing streak, having last won in Week 14 against Toronto.
Hamilton, on the other hand, is set to miss the post-season but are attempting to end the season as winners of six of their final seven games.
The contest also serves as the rubber match of the season series after the REDBLACKS won in Week 4 and the Ticats came away victorious in Week 15.
Quarterback Dru Brown threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-31 loss to Toronto in Week 20 and another strong performance would give the entire offence confidence heading into the most important time of the year. In his two games against Hamilton, Brown threw for 429 yards in Week 4’s win but was held to 164 in a 37-21 loss on Sept. 14.
He’ll be without leading receiver Justin Hardy who continues to nurse an ankle injury. Jaelon Acklin, Kalil Pimpleton and Dominique Rhymes should all see targets with Hardy sidelined as head coach Bob Dyce walks the line of preparation and keeping his team healthy.
The Ticats secondary serves as a formidable opponent. Richard Leonard, Jonathan Moxey and Destin Talbert have the unit playing their best defence of the season. They held Matthew Shiltz and Jake Maier to 154 yards in a 42-20 win in Week 20. Moxey and Talbert also picked off Brown passes in their last meeting.
Moxey is expecting his side to come ready to play against a team looking to get on the Dyce will turn the rushing responsibilities over to Bralon Addison with Khalan Laborn listed as out. Addison, who doubles as a receiver, has 113 yards on 19 carries this season.
More pressure at the line of scrimmage is needed if Hamilton wants better results than the 118.2 yards they’re currently allowing per game. Defensive linemen Brandon Barlow, Casey Sayles and Nick Usher get one more chance to be a shutdown trio. In support of the veterans up front, linebacker DQ Thomas is playing in his third game and coming off a five defensive tackle performance.
Can a player on a non-playoff team win Most Outstanding Player? Ticats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is certainly making the conversation interesting. With 450 yards and five touchdowns against the Stamps, Mitchell now has 5,025 yards and 31 touchdowns, both of which are league bests.
Tim White and Steven Dunbar Jr. have been Mitchell’s primary targets, especially with Shemar Bridges being out. White surpassed 1,000 yards for the third-straight season with 128 in their latest win and is one touchdown shy of setting a new career high with nine.
Brandin Dandridge, Monshadrik Hunter and Damon Webb’s main priority is closing space on White and Dunbar Jr. It’s a secondary corps that’s allowing 280.9 yards per game.
Up front for the REDBLACKS, they’ll have to deal with Greg Bell as he tries to further cement himself as the answer at running back in Scott Milanovich’s offence. Bell had his best performance a week ago with 139 yards on 15 carries and has 151 in two games against Ottawa.
Linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox is penciled in to play his second straight game, which should aid the run defence. Santos-Knox, along with a fully healthy Frankie Griffin, make finding space in the middle of the field difficult behind a physical defensive line anchored by Lorenzo Mauldin IV and Michael Wakefield.
Milanovich isn’t approaching the game as the end of the season but rather another step towards building for the future.
A win sends Ottawa into Toronto for the Eastern Semi-Final on a positive.
A victory for Hamilton would make them one of the hottest teams to end the regular season.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Canadian viewers can tune in on TSN while U.S. audiences can watch on CBS Sports and International fans can catch the game on CFL+.
