Next stop on Around the QB Horn: Hamilton, Ontario.
Michael Hoomanawanui . This is where youll find the Beast of the East, a Tiger-Cat team that went 8-2 against East Division opponents. Thats tops in the Division with two more wins than Toronto, four more than Montreal. Simply put, Hamilton is considered a major threat to be playing in Regina on November 24th. Offensively this team is led by 14-year veteran Henry (Smilin Hank) Burris. Hes a 38-year-old quarterback that plays like hes in his mid-20s. Burris can still make any throw on the field, often times making it look easy! He possesses the ability to make defenders miss and can gash a defense with his legs just as well as he can with his cannon-like right arm. Some folks talk about Henrys turnover woes, which do seem to come at the most inappropriate times, but what makes Burris so good is he can do things other quarterbacks cant and often times makes it look easy. So when he does make a mistake, it can leave you scratching your head and wondering what he was thinking. He was just being Henry, which is pretty damn amazing. Id much rather have a quarterback with his rare and unique skill set at the helm and try to real him in a bit than one without his abilities and ask him to do things hes not capable of. Put it this way, with Henry, you live and die by the sword, but at least you have one! He gives the Ticats a chance to win every time on the field. Much has been made about Dan LeFevours play this year in short yardage situations. When you digest the fact that you have a 38-year-old starting quarterback, you dont want to put him into the most violent scenario, ultimately the short yardage game. Kent Austin managed his quarterbacks and did it wisely by removing Henry from this abuse and inserted a younger and certainly talented rushing quarterback in his own right, in LeFevour. LeFevour is a second-year Ticat from Central Michigan who has scored seven touchdowns on 54 rushing attempts. Thats 54 less touches on Burris in a guaranteed contact and severe collision mode situation. LeFevour has been solid when given the opportunity to chuck it down field as he has completed 40-62 passes for 394 yards, a 64.5 percent completion percentage. Id look for a few attempts when hes in short yardage scenarios Sunday, as that would be a tendency breaker... A couple of weeks back, we saw the emergence of Jeremiah Masoli, a dynamic young quarterback from Ole Miss. He was used in a wildcat formation against Montreal and was extremely effective. Masoli is a firecracker of a quarterback that is cut from the same cloth as many of the leagues running backs at 510 and 221 lbs. Coach Austin has spared his veteran gunslinger some obvious punishment in short yardage situations this season by employing the skill set of the younger LeFevour, and balanced an aggressive Montreal defence with the deployment of Masoli in the misdirection wildcat offence. But - and this is a big but - he took away valuable touches from one of the most electrifying running backs in the CFL this year, super-rookie CJ Gable. Austin continues to tinker and tweak his offense, keeping opposing defenses on their toes and often times, their heels. Austin is creative, effective and certainly not afraid of mixing it up from week to week. Lets see how the “Mad Scientist” Kent Austin attacks Montreals stout defence this Sunday. No doubt Burris will be slinging it all over the field making it look easy, LeFevour will be doing his thing in short yardage and maybe even Masoli will be deployed in the wildcat offence balancing up that aggressive Als defence. Should be a great game Sunday at the University of Guelphs Alumni Stadium!
Michael Hoomanawanui Jersey . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third.
Duron Harmon Jersey . -- Floridas seniors, those four guys who fell just short of the Final Four the last three years, talked about cutting down the nets after clinching the Southeastern Conferences regular-season championship.It was Ethan Hollingsworths night. The Winnipeg Goldeyes crafty right-hander threw a complete game two-hitter, as the Goldeyes whipped the New Jersey Jackals 6-0 in front of 5,923 appreciative onlookers at Shaw Park. The only hits that Hollingsworth allowed were an infield scratch hit by speedy Felix Sanchez in the seventh inning and a flared opposite field single to right by Dwight Childs in the ninth. Hollingsworth allowed a single walk in the third, but the base runner was erased on a double play. It was a brilliant performance from the opening pitch as Hollingsworth threw the first two-hitter at Shaw Park. Ace Walker threw a one-hitter in his final start of 2010 (Aug. 29) against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Lefty Bobby Madritsch had the Goldeyes other two-hitter in Fargo in 2002. "I had my curveball going tonight and stayed ahead of hitters," Hollingsworth said. "The defense, as always, was great behind me. Theyre always great. I dont strike out a lot of guys (he had five), so I need a good defense and there isnt much more you can say about how good they are. "I think I might have had a complete game before, but Ive never had a two-hit complete game shutout before. It was fun out there tonight. I really wasnt thinking about a no-hitter or even a one-hitter. When I was out there, I was just thinking about protecting a 6-0 lead." With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 55-33 and have matched last seasons win total with 12 games rremaining this season.
Bryan Stork. They have one more win than they had in 2012 when they went on to win the American Association championship. The Goldeyes have now won 15 series this season and with a win on Wednesday night, they can sweep their eighth series of the year. The Goldeyes have now won four straight games and lead the St. Paul Saints by nine games in the race for first in the American Associations North Division. St. Paul lost 4-2 in Gary on Tuesday night. The Goldeyes magic number is now 5. Winnipeg opened the scoring with a run in the first, as Reggie Abercrombie drove home Brock Bond with an infield single. The Fish added two in the second, as Ryan Pineda hit a solo homer and then Jake Blackwood singled, went to third on a double by Tyler Kuhn and scored on a wild pitch. Kuhn drove in a run in the fourth as Pineda, who had walked, scored on Kuhns single and then Bond scored his second run of the game as Abercrombie drove in his second run of the game with a fielders choice ground out. Luis Alen rounded out the scoring with a monster home run in the fifth. It was a big night for Pineda who homered, singled, walked twice, scored twice and drove in a run, while Blackwood and Casey Haerther each had three hits. Hollingsworth (7-1 3.63 ERA) got the victory, while New Jersey starter Tom Vessella (1-2, 4.95 ERA) took the loss. The Goldeyes finished with six runs on 15 hits, while New Jersey had no runs on just two scattered hits. ' ' '