Hamilton Tiger-Cats hold 12 starters out of CFL regular-season finale

Backup quarterback Matthew Shiltz will be behind centre on Saturday, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats holding 12 starters out of the regular-season finale.

The Tiger-Cats (7-10) are locked into a third-place finish in the East Division, which allows them to reduce injury exposure against the playing-for-pride Ottawa Redblacks (4-13) in the nation’s capital on Saturday (5 p.m., TSN/RDS/AM900CHML/Ticats Audio Network). As such, Shiltz is listed as the starter, while Evans while dress as the backup.

Hamilton, which will face the Montréal Alouettes in the East semifinal on Nov. 6, has scratched middle linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, the entire first-choice defensive line, both cornerbacks and one specialist. On offence, two receivers are being shielded.

Ottawa is rolling with second-year Caleb Evans as its starting quarterback. Two former Ticats, slotback Jaelon Acklin and Canadian running back Jackson Bennett, are not going to play.

• Offensive backs / receivers: Slotback Tim White, the club’s CFL Most Outstanding Player nominee, and Lemar Durant, the club’s most experienced Canadian receiver, are not dressing. Steven Dunbar Jr., who needs 31 yards for a 1,000-yard season, is starting as the field-side wideout. Recent addition Terry Godwin II will draw for White in slot. Wes Hills is listed as the starter at running back.
• Offensive line: Right tackle Colin Kelly will get the week off and 25-year-old rookie Brandon Kemp will make his first CFL start. The 6-foot-7, 310-pound Kemp is a Valdosta State alumnus
• Defensive line: Nothing is being left to chance, as ends Malik Carney and Julian Howsare, and interior tackles Micah Johnson and Ted Laurent will be rested and an all-rookie line will get some live reps. Tre’ Crawford and Cedric Wilcots II will get most of the run at defensive end, with Mohamed Diallo and McKinley Williams filling in as the tackles.
• Defensive back-eight: Lawrence Woods III and rookie Will Sunderland will start as the corners as Jumal Rolle and Ciante Evans sit. Kyle Wilson will get a look at Santos-Knox’s middle-linebacker spot. Wilson started at outside (or ‘will’) linebacker earlier this season when Simoni Lawrence was rehabbing injuries..
• Specialists: Blake Hayes, the 6-foot-6 Australian whom Hamilton added through the CFL Global Draft, will get a punting audition. St. Catharines native Michael Domagala, whose 44.8-yard average is seventh out of the CFL’s nine punters with at least 60 attempts, is being rested.

Ottawa has second-year quarterback Caleb Evans listed as the starter. Two former Ticats who are now in Ottawa, slotback Jaelon Acklin and running back Jackson Bennett, are sitting out this one.
The winner of the Ticats-Alouettes semifinal next weekend will face the Toronto Argonauts in the East final at BMO Field on Nov. 13.