With first place and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs already locked up, there isn’t much to play for Saturday afternoon when the Westshore Rebels (7-1-1) take on the visiting Kamloops Broncos (2-7) at 4 p.m. at Westhills Stadium.
Well, nothing besides a new record for rushing yardage in a season, that is.
Jamel Lyles — who has already established a new B.C. Football Conference record for all-purpose yards in a campaign with 2,181 — now has his eyes set on most rushing yards in one season. He requires 147 to snap Matt Medwick’s mark of 1,592 set in 2000 with the Valley Huskers.
Lyles currently sits at 1,446, just 30 yards back of former Vancouver Island Raider Andrew Harris’s 1,476, set in 2009, which is third all-time. Former Westshore Rebel, Greg Morris, romped for 1,496 in 2012 to establish a team record and stands second overall in the league.
“We want to maintain our momentum and we want to keep our identity intact. We’re a physical team that wears people out,” said Rebels head coach J.C. Boice, who was pleased with his team’s defence last week.
“Offensively, I’ll go ahead and say it, Jamel is within striking distance of a league record. The offensive line, the entire team and, certainly, he has worked really hard. We talked about the record one time in our meeting on Sunday and that’s it.
“We’re going to run the rock because that’s what we are. But our quarterbacking play is much better, so we’re going to take our shots there, too.”
In other words, it will be more of the same for the Rebels, who have shredded opposing defensive lines for major yardage along the ground.
“I think I know I can get there because my offensive line makes it so easy to run and see the holes. It’s on me on whether I make the wrong read or not,” Lyles said when asked if he thought he could achieve the new mark.
“Those are personal achievements, but at the same time it’s a team thing because it’s not a one-player game. I don’t block for myself and cut in off the block.”
As for the importance of establishing a new record, Lyles’s eyes tell the story. His hunger is there each and every week.
“It would mean a lot to be compared to players who set those records and to beat it. It was something I came here knowing I wanted to achieve and the offensive line was on the same page,” he said.
“But we’re not going into this game thinking we want to break a record. We’re going in to put points on the board. We’re playing it like we have every other game. On the way, if we break a record, then awesome and if it happens I will still carry on,” added Lyles, who was named offensive player of the week for the fourth time this season for his 18-yard performance last week.
You can bet the Rebels will want to rest a few bodies should that record be achieved and the result is safely secured. Westshore would love to finish at 8-1-1 after three straight 2-8 campaigns.
No matter what happens today, the Rebels will face the Raiders in the BCFC semifinals next weekend at Westhills, while the Langley Rams and Okanagan Sun tangle in the other, with the host to be determined this weekend. Neither the Rebels nor the Raiders can move up or down in the standings.
“It’s playoffs now,” said Boice, not wanting to let up. “This is our first playoff game and that has to be our mindset.
“If he gets it, he gets it,” he added of the record. “We want him to get 300 yards because that’s what we do every week.”
Fans can’t forget the effort that quarterback Ashton Mackinnon has put forward of late. Last week he completed nine of 16 passes for 199 yards including a new CJFL record 109-yard touchdown to Nathaniel Pinto, who continues to shine.
MacKknnon also ran 11 times for 113 yards and did not throw one interception while the Rebels recorded four.
