Argonauts.ca staff
TORONTO – The Argonauts are out for revenge tonight when they take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2015 Labour Day rematch at the Rogers Centre.
The Labour Day Classic was a game to forget for the Argos, falling to their rival Ticats at Tim Hortons Field, and conceding the Ballard Cup for the 2015 season in the process. Toronto now trails Hamilton by one game in the standings in the midst of the stretch run to the end of the season.
“Those are the games you get up for, you look forward to the Labour Day games,” said Argos DE Ricky Foley. “It’s a playoff atmosphere midseason. To get a loss like that one is disheartening for sure.”
But the beauty of a home-and-home series – especially one separated by just four calendar days – is that the Argos will get another shot at the Ticats while the memory of Monday’s loss is still fresh.
“Disappointment has turned to anger,” said Foley. “If there’s one good thing about the short week it’s that it’s a quick turnaround. We get (the loss) out of our system quickly and we get to go at them again right away, hopefully make up for what happened on Monday.”
Trevor Harris has found tremendous success in his first season as a CFL starter, ranking second in the CFL in passing yards and touchdowns, while leading the league in completion percentage and quarterback rating. These facts make his lack of success against the Ticats all the more puzzling, though Harris isn’t fazed by his history against a strong Hamilton defence.
“They’ve had our number as a team this year,” said Harris. “Everyone wants to talk about a rivalry but it’s not a rivalry if they beat you down every time.
“We’ve got to go out there and earn respect,” he continued. “We’re not pressing, nobody is worried, there aren’t down looks on anyone’s faces. We’re ready to show that we’ve improved as a team and we’re ready to stand up and keep fighting.”
In addition to solving an opportunistic Ticats defence, the Argonauts will face off once more against former QB Zach Collaros, who threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns against the Argonauts in week 11.
“Zach is playing out of his mind right now,” said Argos head coach Scott Milanovich. “Apart from the Montreal game, in the past seven games Collaros has played as well as any quarterback I’ve ever seen play in this league.”
Despite losing the season series with their rivals, a win on Friday would put the Argos right back into the mix for the 2015 East Division title. An Argos victory over the Ticats would pull them to 7-4, at least two games ahead of the Montreal Alouettes. With a back-to-back series against the Ottawa REDBLACKS and two more games against the Als looming, the Argos control their own playoff destiny due in large part to a strong first half of the season.
“(This game) is very important, especially after losing the first two games to Hamilton,” said WR Vidal Hazelton, who leads all CFL rookies with 555 yards receiving. “We’ve got one more game against the Tiger-Cats and we’ve got to make a statement. They’re going to have to go through us again down the line, so we want to let them know what they’re in for.”