There’s no doubt the Valley Huskers have taken a big step forward this year, jumping into the top echelon of the BC Football Conference (BCFC) after years and years at or near the bottom.
But there’s another jump to make if the junior football club wants to become a true title contender, and Saturday (Sept. 17) they discovered how big that leap will be.
The Huskers traveled to Kelowna where they were pummelled 49-7 by the first place Okanagan Sun. There’s no shame in that. The Sun are unbeaten (7-0), the top-ranked team in the country favoured to win not only a BCFC title but also a national championship.
They are where Huskers head coach Bob Reist wants his team to be.
“You need to play at your best to beat the best, and while I thought we had our moments, we weren’t at our best,” he said. “We needed to recognize and tackle better on defence, to get off the field. We had opportunities in the second quarter to close the gap, and we need to finish drives off.”
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Quarterback Josh Janssen hit a speed bump on his ascension into the BCFC’s elite. The second-year pivot threw three interceptions, two of them to ball-hawking Kemarr Bishop. But he also managed 202 yards and a touchdown through the air, completing 14 of 25 passes. Not eye-popping stats, but respectable against the stifling Okanagan secondary.
Dhag More caught the TD toss, one of his three catches for 61 yards. Luc Rodrigues had six grabs for 91 yards.
Running back Reece Wyke had his string of 100 yard games snapped at three. He managed 48 yards on 16 carries (three yard average).
Defensively, the Huskers couldn’t slow the Okanagan ground game and didn’t make any big plays.
The Sun rolled up 306 yards rushing, led by Jaevon Garwood’s 10 carries for 98 yards. Aidan Wiberg had 67 yards and Tristen Peddle had 56. The three backs combined to score five of the Sun’s seven majors.
Okanagan quarterback Dominic Britton didn’t have to throw often, but he was a lethally efficient 13 of 15 for 192 yards, with a pair of scoring strikes to Noah Bymak.
The Husker D was led by linebacker Jaiden Claassen, who produced nine tackles. Andy Ofosuhene had a fumble recovery.
Chilliwack will have the bad taste from this one lingering longer than they’d like. The Huskers (5-3) are tied for second in the BCFC standings with the Westshore Rebels (5-2) and have a bye week. They will be looking for good results on the out-of-town scoreboard. The Langley Rams (4-4) are now just one game back, but they’re in tough visiting the Sun (7-0). The Rebels have an easier matchup visiting the Vancouver Island Raiders (1-6) while the surprising Kamloops Broncos (3-4) travel to Prince George to face the Kodiaks (1-6).
“The bye is needed to get us healthy down the stretch and gives us time to prepare for our next game,” Reist said. “It’s been a long time since out last home game and we look forward to a big battle with a team (the Rebels) that we will potentially face again down the road.”
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