On George Reed Day, Sask. Roughriders suffer 5th straight loss in 38-13 setback to Hamilton

Bo Levi Mitchell got the Hamilton Tiger-Cats started and Matt Shiltz brought them home in a convincing 38-13 CFL victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.

Mitchell, playing in his first game since July 28, got the start at quarterback for the Tiger-Cats. The 33-year-old veteran has had two stints on the injured list this season and returned to the roster this week after recuperating from a fractured right leg.

Mitchell played the first quarter, completing four of six passes for 129 yards and one touchdown. He looked comfortable in the pocket and was quite accurate with his passing. He admitted after the game that he was tempted to try and stay in the game, rather than have Shiltz take over in the second quarter.

"Obviously I was prepared to play as long as they let me, but we had a pretty good plan going forward knowing that I'd probably play a quarter," said Mitchell.

"I'm thankful I was able to go out there and make some good throws and make some good reads. It was a good confidence builder but it's not about flashes of greatness, it's about the consistency. So, let's just keep building on that game and putting those kinds of games together."

Tiger-Cats head coach Orlondo Steinauer also considered, however briefly, giving Mitchell additional playing time.

"I'd be lying to you if I said we weren't tempted, but we stuck to a plan that we're going to play him for a quarter. Was that tempting? Sure, but we were very pleased with what we saw," said Steinauer.

Saturday was also proclaimed as George Reed Day by the Saskatchewan government to honour the football legend. There was a video tribute and Reed's daughter spoke from the section where he used to sit. The section was renamed as Section 34.

One the field, GR was painted on the 34-yard lines along with his number in the end-zones. The game began with Roughrider's Jamal Morrow, who attended the same college as Reed, leading the team onto the field holding a 34 flag.

In handing the Riders their fifth consecutive loss, the Tiger-Cats dominated the first half, taking a 25-9 lead while rolling up 345 yards of net offence. Mitchell and Shiltz combined to go 12-of-18 passing for 276 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the half.

With Mitchell watching from the sidelines, Shiltz guided the Tigers-Cats offence impressively. In three quarters of work, Shiltz completed 16-of-19 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The duo combined for 400 yards passing, completing 20-of-25 passing attempts.

While Mitchell and Shiltz were piling up big numbers through the air, running back James Butler did significant damage on the ground. He rushed for 107 yards on 25 carries and eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second consecutive season.

Butler, who also caught five passes for 77 yards, now has 1,049 yards rushing in 2023 after totalling 1,060 yards rushing in 2022 as a member of the B.C. Lions. Butler's contributions haven't gone unnoticed by teammates.

"Rushing for over 1,000 yards, that's huge for us as an offence. We're not one dimensional now. We're able to run the football, and that opens up play action. We're able to kind of answer whatever the defence is doing and hopefully be able to dictate play on our terms. James is a huge part of that," said Shiltz.