Home teams dominant in Week 5 CJFL action

n Week 5 of the British Columbia Football Conference the HOME teams would prevail as the Raiders, Rams and Rebels all pick up victories.

The game of the week was in Nanaimo in a battle of undefeated teams, the 4-0 Okanagan Sun and the 4-0 Vancouver Island Raiders.

The Raiders would score on their first two possessions on touchdown passes from quarterback Jordan Yantz. A five yarder to Jordan Botel and a 24 yard score to Whitman Tomusiak put the home side up 14-0 after the first quarter.

The Sun would respond in the second frame scoring 17 unanswered points including a 92 yard pass from quarterback Jeremy Mraovic to Ben White. Mraovic would tie the game on a one yard TD plunge. The Sun then took the lead just before half on a 35 yard field goal.

In the second half the Raiders would outscore the opposition 19-3 after two more touchdown passes from Yantz. He would finish 20 of 28 for 300 yards and four TD passes. He would find five different receivers including Michael Schaper who caught a game high seven balls for 137 yards and a major.

On the ground Botel would rush for a game high 24 times for 165 yards. Fullback Ashton Galloway was very effective carrying eight times for 61 yards.

The Raiders compiled 554 offensive yards in the 33-20 win, while the Sun totalled 279, most of which through the air (249). The Raiders enter the BCFC bye week 5-0 and on top of the Conference.

Turnovers were the big story of the night as the Edmonton Huskies turned over the ball on 10 occasions compared to the Saskatoon Hilltops 3. The Hilltops led 15-5 after 3, and then broke it open with 11 unanswered points in the final frame.

Hilltops pivot Chase Bradshaw was 8 of 25 for 104 yards. Chad Braun would reel in a 17-yard touchdown toss, while Regan Schuler ran for 65 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter.

Huskies passer Ben Gorniak went 19 of 33 for 224 yards, but threw 3 interceptions as he would drive the ball downfield often, but the offense would often sputter inside the 20. Yannick L’Abbe had 7 receptions for 79 yards.

Winnipeg Rifles quarterback Ryan Marsch had a career-best 6 touchdown passes and passed for 425 yards as he completed 20 of 34 on the day. Derek Dean had 3 catches, all were six-pointers. Matt Lariviere caught 7 balls for 128 yards and a pair of majors. Alex Vitt had the other Rifles touchdown.

Regina Thunder’s Wyatt Catley went 33 of 59 for 466 yards with 3 TD’s, but 3 INT’s. The 33 completions ranked 3rd in PFC & CJFL history, while the 59 attempts were 2nd most in both conference & CJFL play for a single game. Kolten Solomon was Catley’s go-to guy as he had 9 grabs for 138 yards and a pair of TD’s.

The stifling Calgary Colts’ defense was just that again on Sunday as they blanked the Edmonton Wildcats 30-0. The D would hold the Cats to 96 yards passing & 198 yards of net offense. Cuong Thai Lieu & Chucks Okafor dashed for touchdowns & rookie kicker Marshall Broom added 3 field goals.

Wildcats tailback Taylor Souster was one of the few bright lights as he ran 14 times for 70 yards.

The Ontario Football Conference opened the 2011 schedule with 4 games. Friday night the Hamilton Hurricanes defeated the Burlington Braves 27-7. The other three games Saturday saw the Windsor AKO Fratmen defeat the Ottawa Sooners 40-26, the London Beefeaters shut out the Brampton Bears 23-0 and the first year Twin Cities Predators lost 32-7 to the St Leonard Cougars.

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By Ryan Watters BCFC Media Coordinator & Tom Hallick PFC Media Coordinator

Photo courtesy of Mijen Multimedia