Courtesy Edmonton Journal:

HAMILTON- Bob Young gave himself a stinging performance review Saturday as the long suffering fans of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats filed into Ivor Wynne Stadium.

“The owner is such a moron,” Young said, surveying his Steeltown empire. “Look at what he has done. Four years into this, and he’s still losing football games. Can you believe this? He is such an idiot.”

With those words, Young kicked off the second annual Toilet Bowl between the TiCats and Edmonton Eskimos, two teams in the cellar of their respective divisions.
Edmonton Eskimos’ slotback Kamau Peterson is tackled by Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Zeke Moreno during the first half of their Canadian Football League game in Hamilton on Saturday.

By the end of the night, the Tiger-Cats (3-15) had flushed the Eskimos 21-19.

With the loss, Edmonton (5-12-1) finishes with its worst record since 1969. The Green and Gold lost their final six games to mark their worst losing streak since 1971.

“The best thing about it,” said slotback Kamau Peterson, “is that it’s over.”

Saturday’s game meant nothing in the standings to either team, but everything to a handful of players in the quest for jobs. Specifically, the kickers for both teams.

Before Saturday, rookie Warren Kean toiled for 17 long weeks on the practice field as an apprentice for Sean Fleming. With his mom and dad in the stands, Kean kept warm nailing the ball into his kicking net over and over.

Early in the second quarter, a lubricated Hamilton fan leaned over the railing and screamed, “Kean, you kick like a girl.” Moments later, Fleming yelled at his understudy to get on the field and try his first career field goal from 42 yards. The ball sailed through the uprights, and the Edmonton bench gave the kid a round of applause as he jogged to the sidelines and celebrated a personal first.

“Good start, Kean,” Peterson said.

By the end of the night, Kean made field goals from 17 and 13 yards and came up just a few yards short on a 56-yarder with less than a minute remaining and Edmonton needing three points to send the game into overtime.

“Pretty close,” Kean said, with about 25 family members chanting his name. “That’s a kick I can make, and that’s something I expect myself to make.”

All night long, Hamilton kicker Nick Setta gave the crowd of 20,411 reason to cheer with field goals from 38, 53 22 yards and a series of skyscraping punts. Unfortunately for the Cats, Setta is expected to try his luck in the NFL.

On Saturday, Hamilton staked out an 11-3 lead on three Setta field goals and an Eskimos safety touch. The game was a kicking duel until late in the second quarter, when Esks quarterback Stefan LeFors showed off his athletic ability by darting eight yards into the end zone to narrow the Hamilton lead to 11-10.

LeFors banged his head on the play and was forced to leave the game due to dizziness and signs of a concussion.

Predictably, the Eskimos broke down in the third quarter and surrendered their sixth touchdown of the season on special teams. This time, Jo Jo Walker zipped 71 yards past 12 helpless Eskimos to the end zone to give the Tiger-Cats a 21-13 lead early in the third quarter.

Punter Sean Fleming made a tackle to save a touchdown earlier in the game, but he had no hope when Walker roared towards him in open field.

“I’ve seen that too many times this year,” said Fleming, who dutifully waved goodbye to the television cameras to mark the end of his 16-year CFL career.

Steven Jyles filled in at quarterback and moved the ball with success, only to throw an interception in the end zone to extinguish a promising drive.

Edmonton centre Trey Darilek had a tough night in the snapping department. His worst mistake came on a botched exchange with LeFors that resulted in a 15-yard sack that pushed the Eskimos out of field-goal range.

“There’s not really much to say,” said Edmonton head coach Danny Maciocia. “Giving up the big plays on special teams and not converting when we have the opportunity down there. … That’s just the way it goes.”

After the game, Hamilton linebacker Ray Mariuz grabbed a microphone and thanked the fans for sticking with the team through such a brutal year.

“You guys have been with us through the wins and the losses,” he said. “And next year, believe me, we’ll get a hell of a lot more wins.”