Our Leos invade Hamilton for a key game this Friday, in hopes of clinching first place in the West. Our Leos rich history is often reflected in those key battles between these two clubs, as we lost to the Tiger Cats in the Grey Cup in 1963 (and the famous incident when Angelo Mosca landed on Willie Fleming out of bounds) and in 1964, when our 2-3 Leos (11-2-3) defeated those same Tiger Cats (10-3-1) with perhaps the most famous Leo team of all.
Joe Kapp, Willie Fleming, Sony Homer, Pat Claridge, Ron Morris, Lonnie Dennis, Steve Cotter, Dick Fouts, Mike Cacic, Tom Brown, Norm Fieldgate, Neil Beaumont, and Bill Munsey are just some of the names that resonate from that great Leos team while ‘The Headhunters’ remain one of those nicknames that have withstood the test of time.
However, the great Hamilton franchise, with names like Bernie Faloney, Tommy Grant, Hal Patterson, Chet Miksza, Elison Kelly, John Barrow, Don Sutherin, Garney Henley has fallen on miserable times for a long time now….. and the once great franchise is trying to pull itself out of the quagmire of incompetence that has plagued it for too long.
Hamilton is trying to rebuild the way it has to be done. They now have a contingent of experienced people in football operations who have also experienced success as Michael Desjardins, Craig Smith, Dan Rambo, and Charlie Taafe work hard to return the once storied franchise to respectability.
On the football field you build down the middle. Hamilton was able to sign a great running back in Jesse Lumsden, have a tremendously talented middle linebacker in Zeke Moreno but needed a talented quarterback to lead their offence. Hamilton was able to secure free agent Casey Printers to a long term contract this mid-season instead of what promised to be a potential bidding war in the off-season..... with every team in the CFL contacting Printers to express interest for 2008 and beyond.
However, while Hamilton has their quarterback, running back, and middle linebacker for the future the supporting cast still needs to be seriously upgraded before Hamilton can become a contender. Printers, Lumsden, and Moreno will need to be surrounded by a lot more talent in the future to experience success.
In the meantime our B.C. Lions names are becoming as familiar to fans as that great team of 1964 as Jackson, Pierce, Dickenson, Smith, Murphy, Simon, Clermont, Brent Johnson, Glatt, Floyd, Phillips, Banks, Marsh, Miles, and Smart invade Hamilton on Friday night with the goal of clinching first place in the West.
Here are some of the keys to a win over the Tiger Cats on Friday night.
DEFENSE
With Jesse Lumsden out, a weak offensive line, and a lack of depth at the receiver position Hamilton’s only real weapon in this game is the arm and leg of Casey Printers. Whatever is said about Casey Printers there is no denying his talent. Winning a CFL MOP Award, at the most challenging position to play at the professional level, in your first season of starting, is very rare.
Printers set a new CFL record for quarterback efficiency in that 2004 season… and still holds the CFL record for the highest percentage pass completions in a single game for those who look at stats for efficiency and passing percentage. He is probably the most accurate quarterback in throwing while running at full speed that the CFL may have ever seen. He likes to challenge defenses vertically and has excellent escapability from the pocket.
However, Hamilton is 2-14, has scored the least points offensively than any team in the league. With Lumsden out the Hamilton ground game, which was leading the league in average rush per game, has been considerably weakened. Hamilton’s leading receiver, Brock Ralph, is only ranked 18th amongst CFL receivers. Printers only other real receiving weapon is Armstead, who does not instill fear in opposition defenses.
Brent Johnson, on Sports Connected this week said he liked Printers as a person but wouldn’t want to go through another quarterback controversy like 2005 again in his career. It was also obvious in Brent Johnson’s eyes that he was psyched to play this game and I’m expecting a breakout game for Johnson. This is a game in which our defensive line gets both an opportunity and a challenge that excites them. The opportunity is Hamilton’s weak offensive line. The challenge is ‘getting after’ a quarterback like Printers, who has received a lot of media coverage, was recruited by the NFL and has just signed a huge contract to play in Hamilton.
The key to this game is simple. Get Printers off his game!! That will come from pressure, sacks, and not letting him escape outside or inside the tackles. Look for our Leos to blitz more than usual and bring more heat. We won’t play as much three man line as usual and allow Printers time to throw bombs. He’s an accurate deep passer and he only needs to complete a few of those long passes to make things interesting. Printers will also be primed for this game and our Leos know that making things difficult for him will be the key to stopping Hamilton offensively.
Printers is also stuck in a West Coast offence that is better suited for the NFL game than the CFL. The West Coast relies on a short passing game, with timing, in attempting to hit receivers at full speed on a cut so they can run with the ball after the catch. Tight ends are often deployed in the West Coast. It’s not an offence that is designed for the wide CFL field and it’s definitely not an offence that takes advantages of Printers strengths. He really doesn’t have a lot of weapons but if you give a quarterback like Printers too much time he’ll find a way to create some weapons.
Pressure will be the key to this game defensively.
OFFENCE
Jarious will start this game but I’m expecting to see Dave Dickenson get his first reps in a long time. There are a number of reasons for believing so. The first is that it’s a good game for Dickenson to knock some rust off, playing away from home, where expectations will be less. Wally will also want to throw a bone, if he can, by having Dickenson wrap up a victory against his old nemesis.
Hamilton does not get consistent pressure on the quarterback and their defense is last in the league in sacking the quarterback. McKay-Lauscher is third in the league in sacking the quarterback, ahead of our own Bent Johnson while also being tied with Johnson for the league lead in forced fumbles. However, outside of McKayLauscher Hamilton does not have a defensive lineman that can create pressure. That also shows on their back end as they also have given up the most passing yards, an average of over 300 yards per game while ex-Leo Tony Tiller leads the Tabbies with only two interceptions.
However, Hamilton has excellent linebackers. Led by Zeke Mareno and former Leo JoJuan Armour and they are more difficult to run against than most realize. Look for us to go to the air more again this game while also mixing in the running attack to keep the Hamilton linebackers off-balance. With such a strong linebacking crew, play action becomes an even more important weapon than usual.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Nick Setta gives Hamilton a strong weapon if they can get within field goal range. However, Hamilton is facing the best special teams unit in the CFL. The keys to our special team’s play is our speed and discipline in downfield punt and kick coverage, our knowledge that if we can make a couple of key blocks we can spring Ian Smart for huge punt returns, and a special team’s coach who is looking for that one key opposition weakness each week to exploit. You make your mark on special teams on our Leos and every player understands it’s the path to the next stage of their career in B.C.
WRAP
Interesting aspects to watch for in this game is facing Casey Printers in an opposition uniform for the first time…. and also the possibility of seeing both Dickenson and Printers quarterbacking during the same game on opposing teams. However, the story of Casey Printers is not the main story of this game nor is it the possibility of getting Dickenson some game reps.
The story of this game is simple and important. Our Leos need to go on the road and win this game to secure first place, a bye in the playoffs, and the opportunity to host the Western Final at B.C. Place. We will need to do whatever it takes to get that done and everything else will be secondary!!
