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55 Yard Line

By Paul Shortt, 08/24/17, 7:45AM PDT

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Prior to week four kicking off, the BCFC brass informed the teams that the dress code rules would be relaxed. Now I know that enforcing the Dress Code rule was difficult and varied from stadium to stadium, but the rule was put in place for a reason. For those who had forgotten, the BCFC at one point was looked at and compared to a beer league because players wore what they wanted. When the rule was put in, which by the way was endorsed by the teams, the goal was to clean up the image of the league. And no place better to start is with how teams are dressed. l know in the grand scheme of things it has no impact on the play, but violating the rule did hit teams in their pocket book. I would hope, no I know, that the teams won’t let the players take advantage of the relaxation of the rule as they’ve worked too darn hard raising money and the image of their own team in the community. Not to mention the efforts of the BCFC and the new platform of BCFC TV with the hope of securing future sponsors. First impression is very important when you are talking to potential sponsors, and that first impression is always visual. So here’s hoping that the teams still demand that the players adhere to the rule. As all the teams know, play outside the BCFC is under the CJFL Dress Code Rule, which by the way was the rule that the BCFC used as a template for its own Dress Code Rule. The CJFL Semi-Final and Canadian Bowl require all players to follow the rule. I would hate to have players’ minds distracted over how to dress because they weren’t used to adhering to the rule in the first place. I also hope the decision to relax the rule was put on the floor at a meeting, seconded and discussed by all the teams before a vote was taken. I hope it wasn’t relaxed because of a few whining teams.

There are couple of good match-ups heading into week five. The Rams / Broncos game should give a good indication of what teams will be play-off bound. It will be the twentieth game between the two in their history. The Rams hold an 18 to 1 lead in games won. Even with that domination, this one might be too close to call with any confidence. As well, the Raiders / Sun game should be a doozy. The Raiders lead the series with 16 wins against 10 losses, but the last few games have been back and forth. Across the CJFL, there are two crossover games with the Regina Thunder in Hamilton for a match against the Hurricanes and the Hilltops will be hosting the Ottawa Sooners. The last time the Sooners were in Saskatoon was in 1991 when the two played in the Canadian Bowl game. Hilltops won that one 41-27. By some observers, the Sooners were picked to host Canadian Bowl this year, but a 0—3 start will make that very challenging.

This past weekend, the BCFC saw a few records fall at both the team and league levels. First off you’ve got to tip your hat to the Raiders’ Brycen Mayoh. In the “you’ve got to be kidding me” category, this kid had a great game, doing it all against Kamloops. He first set two records for his missed field goal returns. First was his combined 158 yards that broke the BCFC single game mark of 123, which ironically was set by the Broncos’ Max Joseph last week. Brycen also established a new record for the longest Missed Field Goal Return in BCFC history. His 128 yard return broke the previous record of 121 that the Rams’ Jordan Lund set in 2016. The 128 yard return also eclipsed the Combined Punt and Missed Field Goal Longest Return by three yards. The old combined record was 125 that had been set by Armin Pogosian from the Vancouver Trojans in 1996. His combined 254 yard total between punt and missed field goal returns put him 4 yards shy of the BCFC Combined Punt and Missed Field Goal Return Yards in a Game. The record is 258 yards that was set by Nick Downey in 2010. But the most impressive thing about Brycen’s afternoon, was that he became only the third player in BCFC history to amass more than 400 total yards in a game. Brycen put up 402 yards from 110 receiving yards, 96 punt return yards, including one that he took to the house and 158 yards on missed field goal return yards. The BCFC record for the most total yards in a game is 420 and is held by Ben Wilson of the South Surrey Rams, who put those numbers up in 2007 against the Raiders.

How about Brycen’s teammate Quinton Bowles. Quinton recorded 5 sacks against the Broncos that broke his own team record of 4 from 2014. The five sacks also ties him with the BCFC record for Most Sacks in a Game with four others. The last time anyone recorded five sacks in a game was Evan Foster of the Langley Rams in 2012. The five sacks also give Quinton 22 in his career, which saw him leap frog his former teammate Ash Gayat who had 19, to become the Raiders all-time sack leader. Quinton now sits in fifth place all-time in BCFC career sacks.

The Raiders also established a new team record for the Most Sacks in a Game with 10 against the Broncos. Their old record was six from 2009. On the flip side, the 10 sacks that the Broncos surrendered, established a new team record for the Most Sacks Allowed in a Game. Their previous record was 8 which they gave up in 2010.

A couple of Sun players also jumped into the spotlight for thievery. Defensive back Tye Kitzman, who is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 4, grabbed one on Saturday night and returned it 101 for the touchdown. The return ended up breaking the Okanagan Sun team record for the Longest Interception Return in a Game. The old mark was 81 yards that Terrance Huston established in 1995. That’s a record that had stood for a long time.

Tye’s defensive back teammate Aldrich Berrios is to be congratulated as well, as he tied a Sun team record for the Most Interceptions in a Game with 4. He ties Darby Ray who stole four from the Victoria Rebels in 2003. The last time anyone intercepted four passes in a game came in 2008 by Karl Delong from the Chilliwack Huskers.

Talking about the Sun, the 71 points they put up on Saturday was the 10th time in their history that they’ve scored 70 or more points in a game. You guessed it, they do lead the BCFC in that category. The last time they put up 70 or more in a game was in 2015 when they defeated the Westshore Rebels 78 to 7. Their record for most points in a game is 92. That came in a 92 to 7 win over the Rebels in 2014. Now don’t get bent out of shape due to the high score. The last time I looked the Huskers were members of the BCFC. And as I’ve always said, it’s not the job of the offensive coordinator to stop his own team, it’s the job of the other team’s defensive coordinator to stop them. But as everyone knows or has experienced, sometimes things just get out of hand for good or bad.

Lastly, on the Noah Falconer watch, Noah moved into 4th place on the BCFC All-Time Pass Attempt list. He now has 784 pass attempts in his career. He needs three attempts this week to jump into third place over former Broncos QB Stephen Schuweiler (2011-2015). The top two are Jordan Yantz from the Raiders (2008-2012) with 949 attempts and Kenhoong Yiem from the Abbotsford Air Force (2001-2005) who finished with 929. Noah currently sits in a tie for tenth place on the completion side with former Victoria Payless and Abbotsford Air Force quarterback Lance McDonald (1985-1988) with 357 each. With 8 completions this weekend against the Rebels, Noah can jumped over former Rams QB Shawn Olson (1992-1995). Yes, that Shawn Olson, the former Head Coach of UBC Thunderbirds and the current Langley Rams Offensive Coordinator. Shawn ended his BCFC career completing 364 passes.