Raquille Cespedes scored a special-teams touchdown for the second straight week as the Okanagan Sun pulled away for their 22nd consecutive regular-season victory, defeating the visiting Vancouver Island Raiders 37-19 on Saturday night at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna.
In only his second season of football, Cespedes was coming off a BCFC-record 120-yard return of a missed field goal for a touchdown in last week’s 27-21 home win over the Westshore Rebels from Victoria. Facing another tough test from an Island team, Cespedes rose to the occasion again in recovering a blocked punt and returning it 15 yards for a major in the fourth quarter to cement this triumph over the Nanaimo-based Raiders.
Conor Richard blocked that punt and later added an interception as Okanagan’s defence dominated the second half, with Vancouver Island’s only points coming on a fourth-quarter safety that cut the deficit to 24-19.
The Raiders’ offence did some damage in the first half, opening the scoring on a field goal and leading 10-7 after the first quarter thanks to a late 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jacob Laberge, who then connected with conference-leading receiver Dustin Rodriguez for a 79-yard passing TD in the final minute of the second quarter to keep Vancouver Island close at 21-17.
Okanagan kicker Kealey Heintz responded by drilling a 35-yard field goal with 11 seconds left on the clock as the Sun took a 24-17 lead into halftime.
Heintz finished 3-for-3 on field goals, adding 25- and 26-yarders in the fourth quarter to help the Sun (4-0) stay unbeaten on the season. The Raiders fell to 2-2.
Offensively, the Sun scored three times in the first half but failed to get into the end zone — passing or rushing — over the final two quarters.
Starting quarterback Foster Martens got Okanagan on the board, calling his own number for a two-yard score to go ahead 7-3 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Martens pitched the ball to running back Brendan Hansen for a six-yard major that made it 14-10 for the Sun. That was Hansen’s first rushing TD of the season.
Later in the same frame, Martens threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Lliam Wishart that extended Okanagan’s lead to 21-10.
Martens played most of the game, completing 15-of-23 passes for 200 total yards, but that TD was offset by two interceptions.
Elsewhere on Saturday night, the Rebels and Langley Rams both improved to 3-1, while the Kamloops Broncos and Valley Huskers of Chilliwack remained winless at 0-4.
Westshore beat the Broncos 45-32 in Kamloops, while Langley prevailed 41-16 at home over the Huskers.
The Week 5 schedule features three more Saturday games, with Okanagan hosting Kamloops (7 p.m., Apple Bowl), Westshore visiting Chilliwack, and Langley in Nanaimo to take on the Raiders.
