Making a difference

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/10/2011 (5098 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the winter, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats brought in running back Avon Cobourne to light a fire.

The 32-year-old has 788 yards and eight touchdowns this season, backing up his claim that he still had a lot in the tank when the Montreal Alouettes elected not to re-sign him.

In two games against Winnipeg this year, he’s rushed 30 times for 135 yards. Those numbers are fairly average, true, but like the Ticats, the Bombers say there’s more to the small, hard-nosed back than just numbers.

“He gives them a lot of energy — both with his mouth and with the way he plays,” Winnipeg linebacker Marcellus Bowman said prior to tonight’s game with the Ticats at Ivor Wynne Stadium. “He can back up what he says with the way he plays. He runs with a lot of intention out there.

“He talks a lot, and it seems like it’s personal. I don’t know what I did to him; maybe he’s just like that all the time. I enjoy the intensity. That’s what really makes this game great.”

Bowman figures Cobourne is the key for the Hamilton attack. If you slow him down, take him out of the offence, the Tabbies have a hard time moving the football.

BOMBERS’ ROSTER

Quarterback Buck Pierce is starting, pushing Alex Brink to the backup role and Brandon Summers off the roster. Punter Mike Renaud gets to keep his job for at least one more week. Nose tackle Doug Brown is back on, while defensive back Johnny Sears and Canadian receiver Nick Fitzgibbon find their way to the 46-man roster as well. Returner Tim Brown and defensive lineman Rodney Fritz are on the one-game injured list.

BIG PICTURE

Thanks to a pair of wins earlier this year, the Bombers have already wrapped up the season series with the Ticats. That’s the key tiebreaker for playoff rankings at the end of the schedule. A win in Hamilton and some expected out-of-town scoreboard results and the Bombers end a two-year playoff drought. A victory also ensures the club finishes with a winning record on the road in 2011 — quite an accomplishment for a club that went 0-9 away from home last season.

TURNOVER TURN

Winnipeg’s once-impressive lead in the turnover ratio has disappeared. The club is plus-14 in the ratio (44 takeaways, 30 giveaways), but just four up on B.C. for the league lead. Winnipeg has turned the ball over 20 times in the last five games. That’s a drastic increase from the summer, when they turned it over just 10 times in the first eight contests.

EXTRA POINTS

Bombers kicker Justin Palardy has made his last nine field goal tries and has hit 15 of his last 16 attempts… Winnipeg DE Odell Willis leads the CFL with 12 sacks. Hamilton’s Justin Hickman has 10, while Stevie Baggs has five… Bombers DB Jovon Johnson has as many interceptions — six — as the entire Hamilton defence.

— Wazny