Ticats hold off charging Bombers for 3rd straight win

Kent Austin was relieved his Hamilton Tiger-Cats didn't experience deja vu against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Ticats coach/general manager watched his players hang on for a 16-11 win against the Bombers on Saturday, despite Winnipeg having a chance to pull out a late victory like it had on July 31 with a 27-26 final-play touchdown.

"Our defence needed to dig in," Austin said. "I was telling the guys after they got off the field that this was really good for our defence. We needed to finish that way. It's going to help us."

Rookie Mossis Madu ran 22 yards for his first CFL touchdown as Hamilton (5-7) extended its win streak to three games.

Hamilton has also won four of its last five games, a run that's come after quarterback Zach Collaros returned after missing five games with concussion-like symptoms.

'Scoring my first touchdown, it means so much. I'm still taking it all in.'- Tiger-Cats rookie RB Mossis Madu

Madu, replacing running back C.J. Gable who's on the six-game injured list, scored after the Bombers had turned the ball over on a blocked punt in the second quarter.

The Bombers have lost four straight and sit last in the West Division at 6-7.

"We knew it was going to be a battle from the get-go" said Madu, adding he predicted he'd score in the north end zone of Investors Group Field. "Scoring my first touchdown, it means so much. I'm still taking it all in."

The Bombers hurt themselves on the potential winning drive. With 2:04 remaining, Winnipeg started from its own 23-yard line. A couple of Hamilton penalties helped the Bombers get to mid-field. With 16 seconds left, Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy had his offence on Hamilton's three-yard line and it was second down.

Costly penalty

However, the Bombers were called for a time-count violation and lost a down.

Willy said he had a hard time hearing the play call so he ran to the sidelines to get it and then ran back into the huddle too late.

"Obviously, I'll take full blame for that," Willy said. "Even if I don't get the play, it's my job to have a play ready in that situation so it doesn't come down to that kind of situation.

"I can call my own play if I don't get it. I need to be better mentally prepared for a situation like that."

Willy then threw the ball into the end zone, but none of his receivers were very close. He said the pass was intended for Clarence Denmark.

"We were just on different pages. I'll take the blame for it," Willy said. "It's tough, for sure. I wish we could have beat them the same way we did the first time. I thought we were on a roll there in the end. To get to the three-yard line and not finish the game, it's quite disappointing."

Willy, playing after injuring his throwing shoulder Sept. 13, took some punishing hits that had him getting up slowly a few times.

He was sacked five times in the game, including four times in the first half.

Defensive lineman Ted Laurent had two sacks, linemates Eric Norwood and Justin Hickman each had one and linebacker Simoni Lawrence also dropped Willy.

"I told the guys in meetings we had to dominant this week," Laurent said. "That was our motto of the whole week, dominate."

Shoulder tested

Willy, who was also knocked to the turf a number of times, said he'll know more in the morning how his shoulder feels, but he doesn't expect it'll stop him from travelling to play Ottawa next Friday.

"There's one thing that you don't want someone to say about you, is that you're not tough," Willy said. "Just get up. You've got to keep fighting. It's a physical game. You don't want to show the other team that they're getting to you so hop up, get up and run the next play."

Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea was impressed with Willy's performance.

"I thought he played a gutsy game," O'Shea said. Willy completed 27 of 41 pass attempts for 303 yards and a TD.

Bomber receiver Cory Watson had caught a five-yard touchdown pass in the end zone with 5:52 remaining to make it 16-11.

A two-point convert failed with an incomplete pass to Watson in front of 28,534 fans at Investors Group Field.

Collaros, who was sacked three times, was 20 of 36 for 182 yards.

Ticats kicker Justin Medlock made field goals from 44, 37 and 39 yards, but went wide from 47 yards out.

Winnipeg also scored off a safety when Collaros was sacked in the end zone by defensive lineman Bryant Turner.

Lirim Hajrullahu connected on a field goal from 20 yards.

"Our defence did a heck of a job keeping us in the game the whole time and really winning it for us," Collaros said. "We made just enough plays offensively. I have to get better. We as a unit have to get better. It's better, though, to correct mistakes with a win as opposed to a loss so we'll take the win and get better next week."

The Tiger-Cats had led 10-5 at halftime.

Winnipeg was penalized 15 times for 130 yards, compared to Hamilton's 10 flags for 97 yards.

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