The Okanagan Sun will look to keep their winning ways alive as they host the Vancouver Island Raiders on Saturday night at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna.
After a week in which the Sun gained over 600 yards of offence and allowed under 100 yards on defence, the team will look to earn their 4th win in a row and second of the season against the Raiders when the two teams collide on Saturday. The Sun are coming off of an 87-point shutout in a 87-0 victory over the Kamloops Broncos last Saturday at the Apple Bowl.
The Sun got some tremendous individual performances in their lopsided win on Saturday, including a five-touchdown effort from quarterback Dominic Britton to lead the charge. Britton heads into Week #7 of the BC Football Conference season leading the league in completion percentage (54.5%), passing yards (1,175), yards-per-attempt (10.5) as well as touchdown passes (12).
Offence has not been a problem for the Sun, who lead the league with 277 total points on the season, over double of the next best team (Langley Rams at 115). Malcolm Miller has continued to tear up the league, scoring a BCFC-high 9 rushing touchdowns while rushing more than 500 yards more than anyone else in the league, running for 979 yards on 112 attempts, averaging 163.2 yards per game.
Mike O’Shea and Kyle Zakala sit 1st and 3rd respectively in the BCFC in receiving yards heading into Week #7 with O’Shea leading the way with 436 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns caught this season. Zakala has one touchdown grab and 343 yards throw the air.
Defensively, the Sun have surrendered 42 points against, which is second lowest in the league behind Langley and have collected the second-most sacks in the league with 12 on the campaign. Peyton Ryder leads the defensive charge with 19 tackles on the season, tied for 4th most in the BCFC while Kelon Thomas is the team leader at 2.5 sacks through 6 games.
The Sun and Raiders met in late September in Nanaimo at Nanaimo District Secondary School (NDSS) with the visiting Sun coming out on top by a 39-14 margin. Jake Laberge is at the helm of the offence for the Raiders at quarterback, sitting 3rd in the league with 1,110 yards passed and second in touchdowns thrown at 11, one behind Sun QB Britton. Running back Jason Henderson comes into the week sitting 3rd in rushing yards while Alex Bonnetplume, Maren Bradbrooke, Marcel Grant and Dylan Pye all stand in the top 10 of receiving yards.
The Sun (5-1-0) will continue with their current home stand and look for win number four in a row in welcoming the Vancouver Island Raiders (3-2-0) to Kelowna and the Apple Bowl on Saturday night for football under the lights and a 7:00 PM kick-off.
