BCFC semi-finals preview

The play-offs are upon us with the 4 teams predicted to be here in place. It might sound cliché to say, but this weekend makes for two very interesting games as the teams match up very well.

The Raiders, Rebels, Sun and Rams will have had two weeks off to nurse any injuries so expect them all to be at or near full strength. Interesting that the BCFC championship game will not take place until the 29/30 weekend so the two teams advancing will have the same benefit

Saturday, Oct 15 @ 7PM

Westshills Stadium, Langford

VI Raiders (5-4-1) @ Westshore Rebels (8-1-1)

Lifetime head to head in play-offs

Raiders 18 Rebels 15 (2006 semi-final)

Raiders 49 Rebels 17 (2011 semi-final)

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The Rebels and Raiders franchises have a bitter rivalry dating back to 2005. That season, then President Hadi Abassi relocated the organization to Nanaimo from Victoria. When alumni from the Rebels stepped back into the picture the BCFC granted a franchise to Victoria and battle lines were drawn on the island. The problem for the original team in Victoria though, is that it never was really a battle. The Nanaimo club dominated in winning 24 straight games until the Rebels snapped the streak this season.

The Nanaimo based Raiders maintained most of the coaching staff, including head coach Matt “Snoop” Blokker and all but a couple players who elected to stay in Victoria.  Since 2005 the Raiders have 7 BCFC and 3 CJFL championships to their credit. In the same 11 year stretch the Rebels never finished higher than 3rd place, have zero play-off wins and missed the post season altogether 5 times. While most of the people involved in 2005 on both sides have moved on you have to know there are alumni in Victoria salivating at the opportunity to see their club send the Raiders packing. This game is what rivalries are all about.

As for this season, the teams Rebels won the first game at home July 30 by a 45-22 score while the clubs finished up tied at 25 when they met Sept 17 in Nanaimo.

Both the teams will be feeling good about themselves in terms of playing their best football at the right time. The Rebels have 6 wins and a tie over the last 7 games as they did exactly what they had to do to finish in first place in the conference since their last loss to the Okanagan Sun way back on Aug 6.

There are two ways you can look at the 25-25 tie the Raiders managed to pull off when these teams met in week 8. If you are a Rebels fan you can feel confident there is zero chance your team will overlook the Raiders as that game served as a valuable wake up call for your team. Conversely, Raider fans, if not the Raiders themselves know they did the best job of any team this season in shutting down the Rebels offense in the game that ended in a tie. The Raiders defensive coordinator Doug Hocking was the mastermind of the Raiders dynasty, if there is anyone who will be able to take the Westshore offence off its rhythm it is him. Jerome Erdman’s squad likely isn’t going to be intimidated prior to kick off.

A high level of confidence going in will help the Raiders no doubt, but they will be taking on a Rebels team that has reacted well when faced with the adversity of playing behind this season. The tilts with the Raiders were no exception. In the first meeting they trailed 20-17 at the half before overwhelming the Raiders 28-2 in the second half. In the last game they trailed 25-17 in the 4th quarter before rallying for the tie.

Head to head stats in 2 games this season

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Defence