BC regular season wraps up in weekend CJFL action

Thanksgiving weekend saw the final games of the 2011 regular season and a showdown for first and third places in the British Columbia Football Conference.

The first place showdown been the 9-0 Vancouver Island Raiders and the 8-1 Okanagan Sun had all the makings of a classic…it didn’t turn out that way.

Instead the five time BCFC champion Raiders flexed their muscle, completely dismantling the hometown Sun in a 35-3 victory to conclude an undefeated season.

Quarterback Jordan Yantz finished 15 of 28 for 237 yards and threw three touchdown passes finishing the year with 35, tying a conference record. Yantz would find Michael Schaper twice and Whitman Tomusiak for majors.

On the ground the Raiders were led by BCFC leading rusher Jordan Botel who carried 16 times for 134 yards, most of which in the second half. The Raiders would gain a total of 177 yards on the ground.

The Sun offence was virtually non-existent against the stingiest defence in the CJFL, fumbling on their first play of scrimmage. Quarterback Jeremy Mraovic would compete 11 of 28 for 149 yards and an interception.

The ground assault would see the Sun rush for 172 yards; Alex Bradley totally 111 of those on 13 carries.

Sun kicker Steven Shott returned to the line-up for first time this season connecting from 23 yards out for the lone Sun points.

The Raiders will host the Westshore Rebels in one BCFC semi-final this coming weekend, while the Sun will host the Langley Rams in the other.

In other BCFC action the Rams clinched third place with a 42-14 win in Westshore, while the Kamloops Broncos beat the Chilliwack Huskers 29-13.

Edmonton Huskies 31 Saskatoon Hilltops 22

The Hilltops jumped out to a 22-0 first half lead on a pair of Regan Schuler touchdowns & 2 Zach Schmidt field goals. But a 52-yard field goal from Huskies kicker Jonathan Heidebrecht late in the second quarter lit the fuse for Edmonton.

An Akeem Brown 21-yard touchdown catch cut the deficit to 22-10 at halftime. Edmonton scored 21 unanswered second half points to get their first win since October 12, 2007.

Winnipeg Rifles 35 Calgary Colts 35

The Colts raced out to a 28-3 first quarter lead as Cuong Thai Lieu, Chris Huband, Mac Sarro & DJ Whetton all scored six-pointers. The third quarter turned out to be the Ryan Marsch show as he threw touchdown strikes to Matt Lariviere, Derek Dean, Alex Vitt & Kurt Goodrich to vault Winnipeg into a 35-28 lead, erasing a 28-7 Calgary halftime lead. The 4 touchdown tosses tied Darryl Leason’s PFC record for touchdown passes with 31. Marsch would throw for 393 yards, setting a new CJFL single-season passing yards record with 3,030.

Mac Sarro would tie the game late in the 4th with a 14-yard touchdown grab. Marsch was gunning for touchdown pass 32, only to be picked off by Skyler Pinchak on the final play.

Regina Thunder 53 Edmonton Wildcats 37

Wyatt Catley passes for 372 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Thunder ran their winning streak to 4 straight with a convincing road win. Kolten Solomon had 9 catches for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns in his return to the Thunder lineup. Clay Cooke caught 6 balls for 105 yards and a major.

Andrew Johnson had 7 catches for 148 yards and a six-pointer while Ryan Smith had a TD snag & added a field goal for the Cats.

CJFL staff