Before the game, the coach told the players that they were in for a heavyweight fight.Boy was he wrong.
As as accomplished coach he is, he was wrong with that prediction, but nobody following the Hamilton Tiger-Cats season is going to fault him for that.
When the Tiger-Cats hosted the best team in the Canadian Football League on Friday night in Hamilton, the Ti-Cats needed a win to help them secure a first-round playoff matchup at home.
The Ti-Cats whipped Montreal 40-3 and held their all-star quarterback Anthony Calvillo off the scoreboard completely; to Jordan Matechuk, native of Yorkton and former Yorkton Regional High School football player, the win wasn't even that huge a shocker.
"Before the game, the coach (Marcel Bellefeuille) said this was going to be a heavyweight fight."
It turned out it wasn't any kind of fight. Hamilton walked all over them.
"We know we're a good team," explained Matechuk via telephone two nights after his club recorded its first major victory of the season.
"Every win is just as important," said Matechuk. "But this one was special. People can give us some respect now."
The win over Montreal puts Hamilton's record up to 9-7 and 18 points. They are now tied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for second place overall in the league; Montreal and Calgary continue to be in a dog fight for first overall, both teams lost their games over the weekend.
Matechuk told Yorkton This Week that one of the reasons he believes Montreal is among the best in the CFL is that the players on the team know each other well because they've been playing together for years.
"We needed this win," he said "This is the best time of the year."
Hamilton's Chris Bauman had the biggest outing for the Ti-Cats, catching six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
It was one of the best performances by quarterback Kevin Glenn too, who went 21-32 for 371 yards.
Montreal was playing without tailback Avon Cobourne (ribs), linebacker Diamond Ferri (hip) and kick returner Tim Maypray (family reasons).
Next up for the Ti-Cats will be a trip to McMahon Stadium where they will play the league's other best team, Calgary.
