Even though they could still take some pride in falling to the league's top club, Jordan Matechuk and his Hamilton Tiger-Cats are by no means happy that they did not come out on top in their one and only trip this season to Taylor Field Saturday afternoon.
Native of Yorkton Matechuk, had a crowd of family and friends who made the trip to Taylor Field to watch him battle the Saskatchewan Roughriders and it was Matechuk's teammate, quarterback Kevin Glenn who stole the show early in the game's opening quarter under the scorching hot heat of the Saskatchewan sun.
And a record-breaking game from Hamilton receiver Arland Bruce wasn't enough as the Ticats fell 37-24 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Bruce caught 16 balls for unbelievable 272 yards and two scores but Glenn threw two picks - both off the hands of receivers - and Justin Palardy had yet another punt blocked as Hamilton squandered 14-13 halftime lead.
Bruce scored the game's opening touchdown after the Riders opened the scoring with a punt single, Glenn led Hamilton on a nine-play drive capped off by a beautiful 18-yard touchdown reception by Bruce in the end zone.
Matechuk said after the game that regardless who his Tiger-Cats are up against, nothing less than a victory is satisfactory for himself, or any of his teammates.
"We came out firing tonight. We just need a win. It's a long season. It's not over, but it's on everybody's mind."
He was asked about how the team has come up short against the CFL's big guns, Montreal, Calgary and Saskatchewan, and acknowledged that they've been playing well, however none of the Ti-Cats are about to start basking in the glory of the simple fact that they held themselves together and actually kept the 30,000+ crowd of Rider Nation quiet for the entire opening quarter.
That hadn't been the case in previous trips to Taylor Field.
"We don't usually come out swinging like that," Matechuk insisted with a bit of a laugh. Nobody in the dressing room was laughing that night, however.
When Glenn found Bruce in the end zone to put Hamilton up 7-1, all looked good for the black and gold."We were fired up," he said in the locker room with a bit of a gleam in his eyes. "We had some big drives, but they outplayed us. We (still) need a win."
Hamilton's defence was strong enough all game long to keep Glenn from getting sacked. He went 31-45 with three touchdown passes and also picked up 425 yards.
Matechuk also went on about how missed passes and dropped footballs also helped cost them what otherwise could have been an incredibly timely victory for the Tabbies.
Other costly calls against Hamilton helped Saskatchewan make a comeback in the second half. Matechuk acknowledged the officials were once again the enemy, and added that it definitely wasn't the first time.
"Reffing has always been a problem in Regina," he says, going back to his days as a Yorkton Regional High School Raider Gridder as well as his time in the Prairie Junior Football Conference.
The other problem with the Ti-Cats defence was an inability to keep quarterback Darian Durant at bay.Hamilton's offensive performance topped that of any other wide receiver in the Canadian Football League. Bruce completed the afternoon be decimating the Riders defence for 272 yards, including 16 receptions and two touchdown catches. He had 85 of his total yards in the opening two quarters.
Luca Congi meanwhile hit seven field goals against Hamilton while Durant threw for 270 yards.
Saskatchewan sits atop the west with a record of 4-1. Hamilton, after facing Saskatchewan, Calgary, Montreal and Winnipeg twice, drop to 1-4.
The Ti-Cats will play their third game of the season with Winnipeg this weekend.
Bruce scored his first touchdown as a Tiger-Cat in front of the Rider faithful last season.
