Woulda, Shoulda and Coulda are THREE words the Hamilton Tiger-cats are asking them selves one day after their loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers….. It’s a simple equation; win the turnover battle, and you win football games!! ‘Clicking’ and ‘grooveing’ are a slight understatement.
It was the veteran Burris who took command early, scoring a touchdown on his first drive with a 37-yard pass to Chris Williams.
The Bombers could only manage a point in the first quarter that came on a single from a missed 49-yard field goal by Justin Palardy.
Williams scored a second touchdown in the second quarter on a punt return 72-yard as he knifed through the Bomber coverage and raced all the way to the end zone It was Williams’ fourth kick return TD of the season and it gave his squad a 14-4 lead. Palardy kept the Bombers in the game with two field goals to end it 14-10 for Hamilton.
In the third, Elliott led the Bombers on a four-play 78-yard drive to their first touchdown with a handoff to Chad Simpson, tying the game at 17-17. Winnipeg finally took the lead in the fourth when Elliott connected with Chris Matthews for the Bombers’ second touchdown and it was 25-17 after the convert. A long single off the ensuing kickoff stretched the lead to eight early in the fourth and the Bombers looked to have the Ti-cats on the ropes, especially after yet another Burris fumble. But the Ti-cat quarterback found Williams with an 84-yard pass for No. 80’s third touchdown of the night. With the two point convert, the game was tied 25 with just over four to play. But Elliott moved the home squad 92 yards against a wheezing Ti-cat defence — they were on the field more than 10 minutes in the final quarter — and Will Ford capped it with a four-yard run that restored the Bomber lead. Hamilton got the ball back with 1:19 to play but Burris’ pass on third-and-one near midfield fell incomplete and the comeback bid was over.
HAMILTON TIGER CATS 25 WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS 32 NEXT GAME HAMILTON @ MONTREAL 08/23/12 @ 7:30 PM
Notes:Running back Chevon Walker suffered a lower body injury and did not play in the second half … Defensive end Bruce Davis, making his first CFL start, was injured in the second quarter and did not return … With an announced attendance of 27,039 the Bombers snapped their streak of nine straight sellouts.
Burris wanted the Ti-cats to take command in the East, with a win that would have lifted them above Toronto and Montreal but instead they fell to 3-4.
Elliott — who finished with more than 400 yards passing
With the loss, the Ti-cats fall to 3-4 on the season, just a game ahead of the now 2-5 Bombers. Hamilton travels to Montreal next Thursday before starting the annual home-and-home set with the Argos on Labour Day.
Thursday night the Winnipeg Blue Bombers dominated the turnover ratio 6:0 to capture their second win of the season — a 32-25 see-saw victory over the now reeling Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Hamilton defenders also had a couple of near-interceptions go through their hands.
Burris personally handed the ball to the Bombers three times on fumbles that either killed Hamilton’s momentum or led to Winnipeg scoring plays during the game. The Ti-Cats had three other turnovers as well.Winnipeg scored 17 points off six Ti-cat turnovers — three by quarterback Henry Burris.
-Laura Shea
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