Ten Ticats Earn East Division All-Star Honours
[b]Ten Hamilton Tiger-Cats have been named to the East Division All-Star team: running back Nic Grigsby, receiver Luke Tasker, right guard Brian Simmons, defensive lineman Ted Laurent and Eric Norwood, linebacker Simoni Lawrence, defensive backs Delvin Breaux, Craig Butler and Rico Murray, as well as elusive return man Brandon Banks.
Grigsby, who spent time in Winnipeg prior to arriving in Hamilton in October, led the CFL with 10 touchdowns, while also ranking second in the league in yards from scrimmage (1,362) and third in rushing (890) as a rookie.
Second-year Tiger-Cat Luke Tasker had a career year, hauling in 72 passes for 937 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Ticats receiving corps.
Simmons, the team’s Most Outstanding Lineman, started all 18 regular season games after making the transition from left tackle to right guard early in the season.
Ticats Most Outstanding Canadian, Ted Laurent helped anchor the league’s best run defence. The Montreal-native posted a career-high nine quarterback sacks, while registering 24 defensive tackles, two tackles for a loss and one forced fumble in his first season in Hamilton.
Norwood led the East Division in quarterback sacks with 13. He also notched 48 defensive tackles, three tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles in 15 games.
Lawrence played an integral part of Ticats stingy defence as he led the team in defensive tackles (78), tackles for a loss (8), forced fumbles (3) and fumble recoveries (2). He was named the team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player last week.
Often matched against opponents’ best receiver, Delvin Breaux finished the regular season with 33 defensive tackles, five pass knockdowns, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and his first career interception, returned 27 yards for a touchdown.
Butler registered 40 defensive tackles, seven special teams tackles, one interception and one forced fumble after signing with the Tiger-Cats as a free agent in February. He has now earned All-Star nods in both the East and West Divisions.
Rico Murray finished the season tied for second in the CFL in interceptions (5) after converting from linebacker to defensive back partway through the season. In 15 games, he posted 68 defensive tackles, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Banks capped off his sophomore campaign with a total of 1,342 return yards and two touchdowns. The CFL-leader in combined (1,968) and punt return yards (618), was the only return man to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown this season.
The Division All-Stars were selected by 71 voters, including members of the Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) and CFL head coaches.
The East Division All-Stars were selected by the voting members of the FRC from the East Division markets, the National Chapter and the East Division head coaches. The West Division All-Stars were selected by the voting members of the FRC from the West Division markets, the National Chapter and the West Division head coaches.
The CFL All-Stars will be announced in early December.[/b]
[url=http://ticats.ca/article/ten-ticats-earn-east-division-all-star-honours]http://ticats.ca/article/ten-ticats-ear ... ar-honours[/url]Drew Edwards ?@scratchingpost 4m4 minutes ago
#CFL East all-star breakdown
@MTLAlouettes: 11
@Ticats: 10
@TorontoArgos: 6
@REDBLACKS: 0
Exactly how the standing finished… oh, wait...
Drew Edwards ?@scratchingpost 8m8 minutes ago
#Ticats #CFL East all-stars defence:
DT @tedlaurent
DE @ENorwood40
LB @Simoni_Lawrence
DBs @BreauxShow24
@Mr513RicoMurray
@CButler28
Drew Edwards ?@scratchingpost 10m10 minutes ago
#Ticats #CFL East all-stars on offence: RB @Nic_Grigsby5, WR Luke Tasker, OL @Almostadraftpic
Drew Edwards ?@scratchingpost 8m8 minutes ago
#Ticats kick returner @speedybanks87 gets #CFL East all-star on special teams.