Ticats have early edge on Argos

“They’re going to hopefully follow Ricky’s lead but they’ve got to stay composed and understand it’s going to be a 60-minute game”.

The playoff win was heady indeed for Masoli, who began the season fourth on Hamilton’s depth chart and spent time on the practice roster. On Sunday, he’ll start the biggest game of the year for Hamilton, the Grey Cup finalist the last two seasons. “A lot of road games”.

“Everybody held together pretty good”. “The way he responded, how he handled the situation, not only during this week but during the game – he handled it like a true pro”. “We just have a level of commitment that’s the standard in our locker-room that everybody has to prepare and know what they’re doing just in case”. Next season, the Argos will call BMO Field home with the hope that the more intimate lakefront venue will spur interest in a franchise that has run the risk of becoming irrelevant in recent years.

Costly penalties hurt Toronto all year, with the Argos the second-most penalized team in the league behind Saskatchewan. The march was helped by a roughing-the-passer penalty against Toronto’s Martin Wright, who appeared to be blocked into Masoli.

“You guys know I saw”, Toronto head coach Scott Milanovich said.

“I feel fresh physically and mentally, that’s the good thing about it”, he said.

“I’m not going to make any decisions during the year, I’ll wait until the off-season”.

Leading 10-6 at the half and 18-6 with six minutes left in the third quarter, the Argos were outscored 19-4 the rest of the way.

If anything, he looked worse in the second, his first pass picked off by Akwasi Owusu-Ansah.

He finished the game 12 of 18 for 141 yards, one interception, one TD and one rushing TD. At other times, he seemed less than crisp and seemed to force the ball on the interception at the start of the second half.

“We just wanted to get Masoli out of the game… and talk through what we were going to do moving forward, just settle him down a bit”, said Hamilton head coach/GM Kent Austin.

“If you get three in a year, you’ve got to take a step back”.

“That feels good”, Masoli said. However, Waters missed from 39 and 40 yards earlier in the quarter.

With Waters hurt on and off, the Argos went through kickers during the season the way Richard Burton collected wives. Waters kicked two converts, two singles and two field goals.

Milanovich spoke up for his kicker.

“(On Sunday night) I was thinking I wanted the game to come down to me”, he said.

Collaros led Hamilton to its three wins over Toronto at Tim Hortons Field and was the overwhelming favourite to capture the CFL’s outstanding player award before his injury. “You’ve only got one head, one brain. At least from my perspective”.