ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – As a result of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ 19-16 overtime defeat of the Montreal Alouettes, the Toronto Argonauts will now face their rivals from Hamilton in the Eastern Final at Rogers Centre on November 17 at 1:00 p.m.
This is the first time since 2007 the Argonauts have hosted the Eastern Final and the second consecutive season the Double Blue have had a home playoff game (Eastern Semi-Final in 2012). This is also the first time since 2010 Toronto and Hamilton have met in a CFL playoff game (Eastern Semi-Final at Ivor Wynne Stadium), and the first time since 2004 Toronto has hosted Hamilton in a CFL playoff game (Eastern Semi-Final at Rogers Centre). Toronto won both meetings.
Hamilton holds the edge in the 2013 season series as the Argos won the first meeting in week one 39-34, but fell in the home-and-home series against the Ticats in October – losing 33-19 in week 15 at home and then falling 24-18 in week 16 in Guelph.
Argos Head Coach Scott Milanovich had this to say about playing their Southern Ontario rivals:
“The bye week is a little awkward that way, you have to prepare for both teams. We’ve all been waiting around to see who we’re going to play. Certainly [the Tiger-Cats are] a talented football team, a lot of weapons, going to be a heck of a game on Sunday.”
Both the Argos and the Ticats sport quarterbacks who were their team nominees for Most Outstanding Player, with Ricky Ray eventually beating out Henry Burris for East M.O.P. honours. Burris has had some very productive outings against the Argos but the coaching staff will have a strategy in place to limit the Ticats pivot.
“With any quarterback the key is to make him uncomfortable and put some pressure on him. There’s a lot of ways to do that and one of the ways to do things like that is to stop the run first and make them one dimensional. Henry’s probably a Hall of Fame quarterback and he’s a champion so I don’t know that you’re going to completely shut him down. You saw that this afternoon the way he came on in the fourth quarter and led them 100-yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Our defence will have our hands full and so will our offence and special teams, but that’s what you get in the playoffs.”
In the Eastern Semi-Final, the Ticats utilized both Burris and backup QB Dan LeFevour throughout the game. Milanovich said the coaching staff will have to prepare for both Ticats quarterbacks.
“It puts a lot on your defence. You have to essentially prepare for two different styles of offence. How much they’ll do that against us? We won’t know until game day, but you have to prepare for it. It makes it difficult, it takes time out of practice and when you’re preparing for a bunch of different things there are things that you can’t cover. It’s difficult but it’s not the first time Chris [Jones] has had to do something like that so I have no doubts we’ll be prepared.”
The Ticats also represent the East for both Most Outstanding Rookie with RB C.J. Gable and Most Outstanding Special Teams player Mark Beswick. When asked if the coaches can learn from how the Alouettes were able to stop the Ticats running game this season, Milanovich seemed confident that game tape of the Eastern Semi-Final would be very useful.
“What Montreal’s done all season is crowd the box. In addition to the talented players, that’s one of the reasons you don’t see teams run the ball against them. Certainly something we can take from that, but also when you do that you’re putting your defensive backs out of position where they don’t have as much help. That’s a risk-reward situation and Chris [Jones] is going to have to do a great job of mixing things up and knowing when to cover and when to come after them.”
On another note, Milanovich mentioned that RB Chad Kackert would not be available to the team for the Eastern Final and did not provide a timetable for his recovery or return.
It is sure to be a heated match-up as the rivals finally meet in the playoffs after a long drought. Be sure you’re at Rogers Centre on November 17th!
Getting your tickets to the 2013 Eastern Final vs. Hamilton at Rogers Centre is easy:
- Individual tickets are available online www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling Ticketmaster directly at (855) GO ARGOS (462-7467).
- Purchase Playoff tickets at all Ticketmaster Retail Outlet Locations.
- Purchase Playoff tickets at Rogers Centre Gate 9 Box Office (hours of operation Tuesday-Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
- Call (416) 341-ARGO (2746) to order your individual, group, VIP access and luxury suite tickets through the Toronto Argonauts sales office with a credit card.
2013 Argonauts season ticket holders and new 2014 Argonauts season ticket holders can take advantage of preferred season ticket holder pricing by calling the Argonauts service team at 416-341-ARGO (2746).