If there is one thing the Ti-Cats can take away from this past Friday night it is the fact that for the time being they are leading the season series against the defending Grey Cup champions.
A crowd of 24,068 packed into the familiar Bastion on Balsam to witness the first of four contests in the 2011 regular season between our beloved Black and Gold and the Montréal Alouettes. Going into the game, I believed the Ti-Cats had a slim glimmer of hope to pull out the W, especially after the Als' record-breaking quarterback Anthony Calvillo had to leave last week's game against the Riders due to an alleged scratched right eye. However, with Calvillo back in the line-up and starting, I felt the Tabbies' chances of winning their third straight game of the season were next to nil against a usually dominant Montréal offence. But as the game drew on, the Maulers out of McGill were anything but.
Don't get me wrong though. Calvillo did throw for 356 yards in the game, but had only a 51.1% completion percentage (23/45) and only threw for one touchdown. The cause for this odd malady were many attempts the receiving corps of Jamal Richardson and S.J. Green could not find a handle on, but still racked up a combined 243 yards. Otherwise, credit needs to go to the Ti-Cat defence who had the Montréal pass-catchers well covered and were putting pressure on the "Born in East L.A." Calvillo; including being sacked twice by defensive lineman Justin Hickman. What the Als didn't earn by crossing the goal line, kicker Sean Whyte made up for with his boot -- going 4/4 on field goals and adding a couple PATs for when they did make it into the end zone.
On the Ti-Cats side of the ball, last week's hero in Vancouver Chris Williams was relatively silent; making 4 receptions for 54 yards. Running back Avon Cobourne, a free-agent acquisition from Montréal in the off-season, promised a big game against his former team, but fell short of expectations when all he was able to muster was 67 yards on 15 carries. No, for our beloved Striped Warriors, the game ball goes to another former Alouette Dave Stala who hooked up with Kevin Glenn 5 times for 107 yards; including a 58-yard romp into the promised land that pretty much sealed the game for the Black and Gold. #5 and #88 would connect twice for major scores to go with an earlier 4-yard bootleg dash by backup QB Quinton Porter. Kicker Justin Medlock would add 3 field goals and a couple single points to bring the Ti-Cats a 34-26 victory at Ivor Wynne.
While the 'Cats came out with the win, you just know the defending champs will be back for revenge, and they'll get their opportunity when they return to Ivor Wynne on Labour Day for Round 2.
What's On Tap...
With the Black and Gold now winning their third straight game after dropping the first two to open the season, Week 6 has them travelling out west to face another 3-2 club, the Calgary Stampeders. Henry Burris and company narrowly edged out the Riders in Regina Saturday night with a 22-18 victory. If the 'Cats hope to make it four straight wins, Hickman, Jamall Johnson, and the rest of the D will have to find a way to contain the always scrambling Hank and the stellar offensive weapons in Ken-Yon Rambo, Joffrey Reynolds, Larry Taylor, and Nik Lewis. The game is Saturday night from ("I Tell It Like It Is") McMahon Stadium at 9:30pm ET. We'll be commentweeting the game again on @DiefOnCats, so watch the game on TSN and follow along on your computer or smartphone. Hope you have a great week, Tigertown. Oskee wee wee!
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