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Reporters view

By BCFC Media, 10/13/16, 10:45AM PDT

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Every week reporters from BCFC cities give their two cents on how the teams are going to fair this week. Thanks to Marty Hastings (Kamloops this Week), Warren Henderson (Kelowna Daily Courier), Eric Welsh (Chilliwack Progress), Gary Ahuja (Langley Times) and Don Descoteau (Goldstream Gazette)

Its semi-final weekend as the Langley Rams travel to the Apple Bowl to take on the Okanagan Sun on Sunday afternoon. But before that we have the island rivalry at Westhills Stadium in Langford as the VI Raiders visit the Westshore Rebels.

 

Langley @ Okanagan

Marty; Okanagan will have its hands full with Langley, but the Sun will be tough to beat at home and should advance to a championship showdown against Westshore

Sun 28 Rams 26

Warren; Look for this one to be considerably closer than the Sun's 44-24 win over Langley to close out the regular season Oct. 2 in Kelowna. 

But with the Apple Bowl faithful on their side and an offense that has finally found its rhythm, expect Okanagan to advance to another Cullen Cup final.

Sun 33 Rams 27

 

Gary; The Rams defence has been their calling all season, but has come up short in the last two weeks with home-field at stake.

The Sun shook off a three-game losing streak with a big win over the Rams in the regular season finale.

Langley is still looking for that full 60-minute effort.

If the Rams defence played like it did weeks 2 to 8 or the score is close then I give the Rams the edge.

If the defence gets burned for big plays like in weeks 1, 9 and 10, then the Sun should prevail.

Rams win it on a late-field goal.

Rams 22 Sun 21

 

Don; Unlike the other two semifinalists, these two teams had a very meaningful battle on the last day of the season to determine which would host the playoff game. The Sun, having lost three straight games for the first time in anyone’s recent memory, righted their ship and handily beat the Rams 44-24 at the Apple Bowl.

We think the losses awoke the Sun to the fact they might be headed for an early winter if they didn’t snap out of their doldrums, and the Rams saw the real Okanagan team show up. This weekend’s game will be much of the same, with the Sun having much of their mojo and swagger back.

Sun QB Foster Martens has a bevy of talented receivers to look for. They include late pickup and Cincinnati Bengals camp cut Rashaun Simonise, who racked up 132 yards on five catches against the Rams and has averaged 22.1 yds. per reception; Liam Wishart (548 yds.), Shamar Donelson (425 yds.) and Kelton Kouri (76 yds. vs Rams). They’ll be up against the league’s best defence, with the Rams having allowed just 203 points this season, just behind the Sun’s 219.

Langley has perhaps the best 1-2 punch at QB with Stephen Legare and Colby Peters, who have slick Khalik Johnson (711 yds.), Jay Jay Jackson (93 yds. TD last game) and Seye Akinsamni (543 yds.) as targets. On the ground the teams balance off fairly evenly with the Rams’ Joseph Carter (527 yds.) and the Sun’s Brendan Hansen (518 yds.) leading their teams in rushing.

This game could wind up being a battle of the kickers, with all-star Tiernan Docherty (BCFC best 106 pts., 24 field goals) giving Langley the edge. Okanagan’s Kealey Heintz is good, but hasn’t been relied upon to put up points the way Docherty has been.

In the end, though, it’s going to come down to pride and confidence. The Sun has plenty of both coming in, as well as home field advantage, and will make it three straight wins over Langley.

Sun 34 Rams 20

 

 

VI Raiders @ Westshore Rebels

 

Marty; The Rebels seem primed for a title run and should take care of the VI Raiders on Saturday

Rebels 31 Raiders 14

 

Warren; With the Raiders improving each week and gaining confidence along the way, the Rebels will once again have their hands full in the Battle of Island.

Still, with Jamel Lyles and home field in their arsenal, look for the Rebels to emerge victorious in a tightly-contested battle. 

Rebels 28 Raiders 24

 

Gary; The Raiders have played better as of late — including a tie against Westshore a few weeks back — but the Rebels run game should be the difference.

Rebels 35 Raiders 27

 

Don; With a week off to heal up and get a bit of a rest, both teams will be ready to go for this potentially history-making junior football matchup. The Rebels have never beat the Raiders in a playoff game and come in with a chip on their shoulder, hoping to prove to everyone they are the better team this year. The slow-starting Raiders enter the playoffs with momentum, having crafted a three-game unbeaten streak to end the regular season, with a in over Okanagan and a tie against the Rebels in Nanaimo part of that streak. They’ll be looking to show they are a team on the way up at the right time and pull off what would be a mighty upset to get back to the BCFC Cullen Cup final.

Both teams played against weaker opponents to end the regular season but should have no problem ramping up their games for this Saturday’s third meeting of the season. The Rebels, who pounded the Raiders at Westhills Stadium in the first game and saw penalties and other squandered opportunities prevent them from winning in Nanaimo, continue to be the favourite here.

Westshore’s weapons on offence are many and start with explosive running back Jamel Lyles, the newly crowned BCFC rushing record holder with 1,604 yards, He was the runaway leader in TDs with 17 and amassed 2,277 all-purpose yards, again easily tops in the league. Backfield mate Trey Campbell (576 yds., third in BCFC) gives the Rebels a solid second option. And big quarterback Ashton Mackinnon, who was rested in week 10, showed great poise under pressure otherwise, running for 458 yards (7.9 yds/carry).

In the air Mackinnon settled into a groove in the last several games, boosting his efficiency rating up to a solid 94.9 per cent. While his completion rate isn’t great (53.3%), when he does pass he has the soft hands of Nathaniel Pinto (610 yds., 30.9 yds ave.) and Kain Melchior (410 yds.) to throw to.

While none of the Rebels defensive backs made the 2016 all-star team, they’ll be anxiously awaiting playing against Raiders starting QB Jacob Laberge, who had the third-most completions in the league with 118 (55.9 % completion rate), but had one of the worst TD to interception ratios (7 to 10) among starting passers.

That said, Laberge has an excellent target in the elusive Dustin Rodriguez (league-best 941 yds. receiving) and a reliable running back in Nathan Berg (930 yds.).

On special teams the Raiders have strong legged James Parker handling all the kicking duties. His solid consistency may be a factor if the game is close, but Rebels up and coming place kicker Kyle Clarke has been equally effective when called upon.

For the notoriously slow-starting Rebels, the only thing that will keep them from the final is allowing the Raiders to stay in the game too long. That is the Nanaimo squad’s challenge, come out fast and hard and put the Rebels on their heels. Should that not happen, the Raiders are in for a long unpleasant night. 

Rebels win this one going away, 37-25.