Mitchell throws two TD passes as Ticats down Blue Bombers 32-21 in ‘Team Ted’ game

HAMILTON – Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats capped a difficult, sombre day with an emotional victory Friday night.

Mitchell threw two touchdown passes while Greg Bell scored two TDs to power Hamilton past the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32-21. Earlier in the day, the Ticats received the gut-wrenching news that GM Ted Goveia had died.

“It just feels amazing to be able to do that for Ted’s family,” Mitchell said. “This is the team he put together, he finally got this opportunity, got the short end of the stick and didn’t get to be here with us to watch that win and then finish this thing off.

“But that’s our job to go out and do it for him and his family. Finish this thing the right way, every single game go out and play like it’s your last because for some it is.”

Hamilton improved to 3-3 at home in a game played with many heavy hearts following Goveia’s death. The 55-year-old Burlington, Ont., native announced in June that he’d been diagnosed with a “serious form of cancer,” which ended up being esophageal cancer.

The Ticats had already planned to honour Goveia’s impact on Canadian football in the contest, dubbed the ‘Team Ted’ game. Goveia became Hamilton’s GM on Dec. 5, 2024 following 11 seasons in Winnipeg’s front office.

The Ticats held a moment of silence in Goveia’s honour before the game. Following the first quarter, they paid tribute to Goveia with a touching video presentation and on-field salute.

“That was the toughest day of my professional career, bar none,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “I knew how I felt and the emotions I was going through since I learned about this (at 7 a.m.) and I could see they (players) felt the same way.

“It was sombre, it was hard. A credit to these guys, credit to Teddy, their fight, their resolve, the way they battled in a difficult situation. We know he was watching.”

Mitchell leads the CFL with 26 TD strikes as Hamilton (8-5) earned a second straight win to move six points ahead of the second-place Montreal Alouettes (5-7) in the East Division. Mitchell finished 21-of-28 passing for 230 yards while Kenny Lawler had seven catches for 97 yards facing his former team for the first time.

Bell rushed for 137 yards on 22 carries and a TD — his second-straight 100-yard game. He also had three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown before a Hamilton Stadium gathering of 22,913.

There was a scary moment in the fourth quarter when standout rookie middle linebacker Devin Veresuk remained down on the field for 10 minutes. Veresuk appeared to suffer a head/neck injury while tackling Winnipeg quarterback Chris Streveler but gave fans the thumbs-up while being carted off on a stretcher.

Winnipeg (6-7) was minus starter Zach Collaros (neck) and suffered a straight loss to stand tied for third in the West Division with B.C. (6-7), which beat Ottawa 38-27 later Friday. Streveler was 18-of-29 passing for 241 yards with a TD and two interceptions Hamilton converted into touchdowns.

Streveler also ran 11 times for 82 yards and a touchdown while Brady Oliveira had 116 yards rushing on 15 carries and four catches for 35 yards.

“It’s a great loss for Canadian football in general,” Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said Goveia’s death. “The condolences stuff, listen, the last few times I’ve been around Ted, he just wants to talk football so let’s just talk football.

“That (turnovers) is the easy one until we look and see what exactly happened, but yeah, they got 14 points off that. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the football and we’ve got to do a better job when we come on the field after a mistake happens … and fixing it for our teammates. We weren’t in-phase in all three phases this week.”

Tim White had Hamilton’s other touchdown. Marc Liegghio kicked four field goals and two converts.

Keric Wheatfall scored Winnipeg’s other touchdown. Sergio Castillo booted two field goals and a convert

Streveler’s five-yard TD run at 13:24 and two-point convert pass to Nic Demski pulled Winnipeg to within 32-21. Bell’s seven-yard touchdown run at 12:13 gave Hamilton a 32-13 advantage following an unsuccessful two-point convert.

Winnipeg recovered the onside kick following Streveler’s TD but it was called back by an interference penalty. The Bombers tried another onside attempt but Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges tipped the ball out of bounds to give the Ticats possession at the visitors’ 36-yard line.

Hamilton turned the ball over on downs at the Winnipeg 30-yard line with 37 seconds remaining.

Mitchell’s seven-yard TD pass to White at 14:26 of the second earned Hamilton its 20-10 halftime lead. It was set up by DaShaun Amos’ 22-yard interception return.

Bell opened the scoring with a seven-yard TD grab at 2:01 of the first, one play following Jamal Peters’ 39-yard interception return. Hamilton entered the game having scored 84 points off 30 turnovers (both league highs), while Winnipeg came in having committed a league-most 34 turnovers.

Steveler’s third-down 42-yard TD pass to Wheatfall at 4:54 of the first made it 7-7 before Liegghio’s 43-yard field goal at 8:36 put Hamilton ahead 10-7.

UP NEXT

Winnipeg: Visits the Ottawa Redblacks (4-8) on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Hamilton: Hosts the Edmonton Elks (5-7) on Saturday, Sept. 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2025.