You don’t need to get the Westshore Rebels or Vancouver Island Raiders revved up for their B.C. Football Conference derby. All you have to do is throw out the ball and let the players have at it, as they will tonight at 7 at Westhills Stadium.
“This [rivalry] strikes deep inside of me,” said Rebels head coach Charly Cardilicchia.
It goes back to 2004 when the old Rebels franchise left Victoria to become the Nanaimo-based Raiders, leaving junior football to rebuild from scratch in the capital.
The Cardilicchia family — Charly was a former star receiver and dad John the head coach — have a long history with junior football in Greater Victoria. And long memories.
“We consider ourselves Vancouver Island’s [team] and they [Raiders] are Nanaimo. We take that personally,” said Charly Cardilicchia.
The first leg of this grudge match was in midsummer and went to the Rebels, who edged the Raiders 27-25 on Aug. 5, at Caledonia Park in Nanaimo.
Second-place Westshore is 5-1 with 10 points, behind the BCFC-leading Okanagan Sun (5-0-1), who are on 11 points. The Raiders are in third place at 3-2-1 for seven points, making tonight’s Island derby a key matchup in the tables.
The Langley Rams are 3-3 and hold down the fourth-and-final playoff position. The Kamloops Broncos (1-5) have two points and winless Fraser Valley Huskers are 0-6.
It isn’t lost on the Rebels, that as good as last season was, this year’s edition can still top it in the regular season. The 2016 Westshore team went 8-1-1 in the regular season en route to winning the Cullen Cup for the BCFC post-season crown before placing second to the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Canadian junior final.
“No team in this league scares us. But I think we worry a lot of the other teams,” said Cardilicchia, who took over the Rebels head coaching position this season from J.C. Boice.
“We want to win out and finish 9-1 in the regular season, and then win out in the playoffs, and we control our own destiny in doing that.”
Tonight provides the perfect platform toward that goal, said Cardilicchia, because the game is at Westhills Stadium.
“Teams that are on championship-era runs always have great home records, and Westshore hasn’t lost at Westhills since October of 2015,” he added.
“Okanagan won more than 35 consecutive home games at the Apple Bowl back during its dynasty days. When you get that kind of vibe around your home park, it gives you a lot of strength as a team. And [tonight], we hope to get 1,500 fans out, and maybe even more for a terrific atmosphere.”
The Westshore bench boss said his Rebels match up well against the Raiders, who are coming off a morale-boosting 31-31 tie against Okanagan last week.
“The Raiders are playing well and they believe in each other. But we are bigger, stronger and more athletic,” said Cardilicchia.
“We want to have a fast start and break their will early [tonight]. A key in the game will be winning the turnover battle and keeping their offence off the field, so our defence remains fresh.”
That is the key because the Raiders’ pass-happy offence can be potent. Vancouver Island quarterback Jake Laberge has completed 59.3 percent of his throws and leads the BCFC with 1,382 passing yards while his 12 touchdown throws are second-best in the league.
At the receiving end of the Raiders’ aerial assault has been Brycen Mayoh of Tampa, Florida, who has hauled in 23 passes for 412 yards and six touchdowns, hometown Nanaimo-product Hugh Rainey, who has 29 catches for 339 yards and four touchdowns, and Trevor Pelland of Grande Prairie, Alta., with 16 receptions for 210 yards.
Quarterback Scott Borden of Westshore has completed 44.9 per cent of his throws for a league fourth-best 1,035 yards. D’Saun Greenaway, a six-foot-five target from Mississauga, Ont., who has played in U Sports for the York University Lions, leads the Rebels receivers with 22 receptions for 361 yards and two touchdowns. Birhanu Yitna has 14 catches for 281 yards and four touchdowns.
All-purpose running-back Trey Campbell of the Rebels, also a threat out of the backfield with nine catches, leads the league in rushing with 350 yards for a 6.9 yards per-carry average and four touchdowns despite missing two games with a broken finger. Rhett Williams of the Raiders is second with 318 yards rushing for a 5.8-yards average.
Westshore is by far the most flagged team in the league and that needs to be cleaned up if the team is to go far.
“Penalties need be addressed,” admitted Cardilicchia, who said it comes down to individual responsibility. “You can’t put yourself ahead of the team.”
