MILTON: Like 2024, finishing strong can provide momentum and belief for next season

While the Tiger-Cats are singularly focused on winning the game directly in front of them, trying to gather some end-of-season tailwind, they’ll be facing a team that’s absolutely ravenous for a win.

The Ottawa Redblacks host the Ticats Friday (7 p.m. Ticats Audio Network, TSN, Y-108) with both teams already formally eliminated from playoff contention, Ottawa three weeks ago and Hamilton after their heart-breaking triple-overtime loss in Edmonton last weekend.

The Ticats are 4-11 and trying to snap a five-game losing streak that included a couple of devastatingly close defeats, but that pales beside Ottawa’s 0-14 record, which matched the long-departed Shreveport Pirates’ CFL record for most losses to open a season, set back in 1994. Additionally, dating back to last season, the Redblacks have lost 20 in a row, the most in the CFL’s 80-season post-World War II era.

Ticat head coach Scott Milanovich put that succinctly this week when he said, “We know how hungry we are for a win. Try to imagine how hungry they are.”

The Redblacks, while reeling in the standings, have played much better of late and two of their last three losses have come on walk-off field goals. They made changes in upper management, including veteran Jim Popp coming in as senior adviser after former Ticat-exec Shawn Burke was released as football Ops VP, and installing veteran McCloud Bethel-Thompson at quarterback. That adjustment under centre has provided an apparent offensive spark, with season highs in net yardage over the past two games, 425 and 475 yards in back-to-back losses to Calgary. In those two games, Bethel-Thompson threw for a combined seven touchdowns against two interceptions.

Like the Cats, the Redblacks are facing it one game at a time, looking to build momentum heading into the off-season, playing for their future with the club and believing that they are a better team than their record indicates.

While in some corners there’s a feeling that you never want to be the ones that lose to a 0-14 team, that specificity of purpose isn’t really a factor in the Ticats’ approach, according to Hamilton receiver Kiondré Smith.

“They’re going to try to get their first second and third, and we’re going to try to go 3-0 the next three games,” the Cats’ leading receiver said. “I think their situation is entirely their business and our situation is ours.”

The Cats took a couple of days after returning from Edmonton to process the reality that a season which had started with so much promise until Bo Levi Mitchell was injured will end without a playoff berth for just the second time in eight years. Then it was back to the usual practice routine, working on the game’s details, tearing apart game film and preparing for a game with one primary goal. And that, Milanovich, is all about winning with a secondary purpose of evaluating “who needs to be in the room next year.”

“I go into it trying to win the game,” Milanovich said. “So, there isn't an element for me of, ‘Hey, let's get this guy in there and see if he can play.’ Injuries have determined some of that for us and will again this week. But, yeah, I'm about winning. That's what we're all here for. I think the players are, too.”

The head coach and players like defensive end Phil Ossai emphasized in their media availability that the Cats can’t, and don’t, take Ottawa lightly. They’re a CFL team with valuable elements—CFL all-purpose yards leader Kalil Pimpleton, a strong receiving corps led by Justin Hardy and Ayden Eberhardt, middle linebacker Nyles Morgan—and psychologically driven by the zero on the front part of their record.

And the CFL stats department pointed out this week that the Redblacks have four games remaining while the Cats have only three, so there is a slight mathematical chance that Ottawa could still catch Hamilton for third place in the East. The two teams, who meet for the first time Friday, play again in the season finale for each of them on Oct. 24 at Hamilton Stadium.

“When you've only won four, like us, we're certainly not in any position to look down on anybody,” Milanovich said. “We haven't been able to win the tight games. And obviously they've had a couple of opportunities at the same thing and have not gotten over the top, so I don’t think we’re in a much different spot than they are.”

While the Redblacks are obviously winless at home this year, the Ticats are a confounding 1-6 on the road (they’ll only play eight away from Hamilton Stadium because the World Cup put a scheduled road game with the Argos into the Cats’ home field). Last year’s 6-3 road record was a key lever in the Cats finishing first in the East for the first time in six years. This season, four of those road defeats have been close until late in the game, including losses in BC, Calgary and Calgary by three points each time.

While post-season possibilities have evaporated, the Cats can draw a lesson from two years ago, when they started the season 2-9, then played very well the rest of the way, going 5-2. That built confidence and momentum for last year when they started 6-2, went from last to first and made it to within one play of qualifying for the Grey Cup.

“We were trying to build a belief that we were good enough to compete,” Milanovich recalled of that conclusion to 2024, which helped set the table for 2025’s successes. “We won four in a row towards the end of that season and actually made a playoff run, started to get some confidence offensively. Bo started to get some confidence, and I think going into last year’s season there was a lot of confidence that we were going to be a different team. So, there’s an element of that too, but it’s a little different situation.”

But despite the different circumstances, the need for a win—and make that plural—remains the same.

After Friday’s final road game of the season, the Cats finish off with next Friday’s home date against Edmonton in the Wall of Honour Game and the fan celebration game in the Oct. 24 season finale against the Redblacks.

Tiger-Cats Depth Chart & Roster

REDBLACKS Depth Chart & Roster

CATS CLAUSES:

The Cats have made relatively few changes from last week. With WR Keric Wheatfall injured, he’s been replaced by Jaelen Gill; Brian Ugwu comes onto the roster as part of the eight-man defensive linemen rotation after this week’s trade of veteran Julian Howsare to Montréal, and rookie Jonathan Denis is added to the game-day roster as the Cats will go with seven offensive linemen in uniform, up one from last week. Harrison Frost starts again at QB with Tre Ford and Jake Dolegala as backups, and punter Nik Constantinou gets his second straight game after returning from the NFL. Shutdown corner Jamal Peters remains on the injured list.

Ottawa has added Global kicker Paul Geelen after trading Brett Lauther to Saskatchewan and has added three defensive backs who weren’t on last week’s roster: Kahzir Brown, Aaron Casey and Sage Ryan, all of whom will start. McLeod Bethel-Thompson starts at quarterback with former incumbent Jake Maier as backup.

SMITH LOOKING FOR ANOTHER “GRAND” FINISH

Kiondré Smith consistently defers to large team goals and says winning, not personal achievement, is the most important thing. He leads the Cats in receiving and needs 167 yards—and an average of 56 per game—to reach 1000 for the second straight season. “I won’t lie to you, I’ve got my eye on it,” says the direct-talking Smith, who acknowledges that there are a lot of great receivers in the CFL but always wants to be the best at everything he does.

“It would mean a lot to get 1000. It’s something I’m striving for every year, and it’s something I set as a minimum benchmark for me every year. To me, that’s the bare minimum, and I intend to crack that.”

Smith has had a least catch every game, one of four Cats to do that: Smith, Keric Wheatfall, Kenny Lawler and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Five of Smith’s last nine catches have come on second down, an important contribution.

HOWSARE A MENTOR AND FRIEND

The Ticats traded defensive end Julian Howsare to the Alouettes this week after he had two stints in Hamilton, covering six seasons including this one. He was a CFL All-Star last season and the finalist for the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the year.

“He was a big part of the room, the defensive line and the team,” said fellow defensive end Phil Ossai. “A huge leader. Everyone had their own relationship with him, and I had my own personal relationship with him. I talked to him (the day of the trade), and he knows what we have in the room. He knows we can carry on that it's going to be fine. And he wishes us the best of luck … as we wish him.

“It's tough because he wasn't just a teammate to us; he was sort of a mentor, a big-brother type of deal. And also, a friend and a great one. But then we’ve got to move on. We’ve got a job to do.”

Howsare had gone 10 games without a sack, but that statistic doesn’t show all the other things he did for the team, including pass knockdowns and forcing quarterbacks to change their angle of vision.

“His numbers were down this year, but we watch the film and teams were doing different things to him. He was a focus for the O-line of a lot of teams in their preparation.

“They would chip, slide, whatever, to try to keep him from getting going. But his production was up there like it always was. He drew a lot of attention from a lot of teams.”

NOTES AND QUOTES: Ticat RB Larry Rountree III is coming off 13 rushing attempts for 99 yards in Edmonton, his second-highest total and best since week 2 … Ticats WR Kiondré Smith is the Ticats’ nominee for the Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award. As well as clubhouse leadership and excellent play on the field, Smith is involved in supporting young people through football school and mental health initiatives. He works with CAMH and CLEAR and is the Cats’ spokesman at the Egg Farmers Mental Health Breakfast … the Ticats have used at least 9 different combinations of offensive linemen in games this year, including one in which they won after all linemen finished the game at a different position than they started at. It was the first time a CFL team had ever won in that roster situation … … DB Quavian White has 3 pass knockdowns in his last four games … the Ticats’ defence ranks third in restricting big plays and in pass prevention while the Redblacks’ defence is ranked last in both categories … Injured Ticat rookie LB Loïk Gagné, who had a couple of special teams tackles in seven games before tearing his ACL, will be taking his national exam to become a Certified Athletic Therapist in early November. He has his degree in physical therapy from Concordia … In Canadian football history, the Ottawa Rough Riders of 1928 to 1932 hold the record for consecutive losses at 25 … Ottawa’s Kalil Pimpleton leads the league in all-purpose yards with 2623 ... Redblacks WR Justin Hardy had 12 catches last week tied for CFL single-game lead and is among the league leaders in receptions with 82. He has 1023 receiving yards … teammate Ayden Eberhardt has 941 yards from 47 catches … the two teams rank last (Hamilton) and second-last in points per game.