It’s now official — the Okanagan Sun are the team to beat in the B.C. Football Conference this year.

With Saturday’s 46-11 dismantling of the Vancouver Island Raiders under ideal playing conditions at Caledonia Park in Nanaimo, the Sun head into the Labour Day bye week with a perfect 5-0 record and wins over every opponent in the conference.

That includes a 19-15 victory over the defending champion Westshore Rebels of Victoria, a 36-0 blanking of the Kamloops Broncos, a 34-17 doubling of the Langley Rams, and a 71-7 obliterating of the Valley Huskers from Chilliwack.

Yet, this triumph over the rival Raiders may go down as the most impressive to date.

Okanagan’s defence was dominant from start to finish, holding Vancouver Island to just 33 yards rushing — 17 in the first half and negative yards in the first quarter.

Not only that, Okanagan’s defence outscored Vancouver Island’s offence thanks to two pick-sixes from Aldrich Berrios and Conor Richard — returning interceptions for touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters, respectively.

Okanagan’s special teams also contributed on the scoreboard, with rookie Javen Kaechele returning a kickoff more than 100 yards for a major to make it 21-3 before halftime.

Truth be told, Okanagan’s offence was stalling for much of the game — settling for two field goals from Isaac Wegner and a punt single from Matthew Panattoni through three quarters, with the Sun clinging to a 21-4 advantage.

Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Raiders’ offence finally broke through when Jake Laberge tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brycen Mayoh to cut the deficit to 21-11.

It was Mayoh’s sixth touchdown of the season and seemingly shifted the momentum in favour of Vancouver Island, which had previously pulled Laberge for his early struggles at quarterback.