Week 17 Review
The Bombers are back in familiar territory after clinching the playoffs with a huge win over the Elks.
Edmonton Elks 27 - 55 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Zach Collaros had the best game of his long career, passing for 6 touchdowns and 432 yards on 21/26 passing with no interceptions. Brady Oliveria ran for 86 yards and had a 33-yard touchdown reception where he ran through multiple Elks defenders to dive into the end zone. Kenny Lawler and Nic Demski had 2 touchdowns and 130 and 117 receiving yards, respectively. Sergio Castillo went 2/2 on field goals and made all 7 extra points. McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 19/34 passing for 233 yards, but 3 touchdowns. Justin Rankin had 109 rushing yards. Eugene Lewis has 72 yards and a touchdown for the Elks. Boris Bede also went 2/2 on field goals, but both were chip shots with both being under 25 yards. Winnipeg has officially made the playoffs now, but Edmonton still has a chance because of what happened later that night.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32 - 29 BC Lions (OT)
The Ticats overcame the BC Lions tough defence in an exciting overtime game. Bo Levi Mitchell has been clicking on all cylinders. He threw for 315 yards on 34/40 for 315 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Hamilton also ran for 2 touchdowns as a team. Hamilton had a trick play where Tim White threw a pass to Bo Levi Mitchell, but they only got 3 yards on it. Kiondre Smith had 92 receiving yards and a touchdown. For BC, Nathan Rourke went 22/36 with 264 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. William Stanback ran for 103 yards, but Rourke stole all of the rushing touchdowns. Sean Whyte made all 5 field goals, including a 50 yarder. Hamilton has been one of the hottest teams in the league, with this being their 4th straight win, and they are inching closer to passing Toronto or BC for the last playoff spot in each division*.
Ottawa Redblacks 16 - 29 Saskatchewan Roughriders
The RedBlacks may have made a mistake by starting Jeremiah Masoli this week over Dustin Crum. Masoli went 26/36 with 278 yards and a touchdown, but 3 interceptions. Justin Hardy did have a great game with 111 receiving yards. Lewis Ward went 3/4 on field goals, including hitting from 53. Trevor Harris played very well with 315 passing yards on 27/36 passing. Thomas Bertrand-Hudon ran for 72 yards and 1 touchdown. KeeSean Johnson had cleared the 100 yard mark with 101 yards. Brett Lauther had an amazing day with 7/7 on field goals, but missed the only extra point attempt.
Montreal Alouettes 31 - 37 Toronto Argonauts
Lirim Hajrullahu may never be the greatest kicker of all time, may not even be top 10, but he will go down with the best kicking performance of all time, going 8/8 on field goals. To put that into perspective, Liram had 24 points in field goals. The average NFL team averages 22 points a game. Chad Kelly had 287 yards in the air and an interception with 25 rushing yards. Ka’Deem Carey ran for 90 yards and a touchdown. For Montreal, Cody Fajardo went 20/29 passing for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Cole Spieker had 99 receiving yards on 3 catches for a touchdown. Their kicker, Jose Carlos Maltos missed his only field goal, which resulted in a single.
Player Of The Week: Zach Collaros
Game Of The Week: Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ BC Lions
*The crossover rule says that if the 4th place team has a better record than the third place team in the other division, they may make the playoffs for the other division. Example: If the Ticats got 9-9 and finished 4th in the east, and BC goes 8-10 and is 3rd in the west Hamilton will make the playoffs as the last team in the west. The crossover team must have more wins then the team they are replacing. So, if they both were 9-9, but Hamilton beat BC twice this season, BC still makes it since they have the same amount of wins.