Sun will shine at Apple Bowl
Sun play Kamloops Broncos tonight at the Apple Bowl
Special To Okanagan Weekend The Okanagan Sun are shining brightly. After a Week 1 win over the Westshore Rebels, the Sun are sitting at No. 2 in the Canadian Junior Football League’s top-10 power rankings.
The only team ranked higher were the Saskatoon Hilltops, though the perennial national favourites out of the Prairie Conference and threetime defending champions have yet to kick off their regular season.
Last week at the Apple Bowl, in their first game of the season, the Sun defeated the reigning BCFC champions Rebels 19-15. It was a rematch of the provincial championship Cullen Cup, but this time the Sun prevailed for some sweet revenge.
Westshore opened the scoring and jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Sun roared back and tied the game 14-14 by halftime. In the second half, the Sun netted two points from a conceded safety, to make it 16-14, then a field goal in the fourth quarter. The Rebels’ lone point in the half came from a missed field goal in the third quarter that made it 16-15.
Despite their Week 1 losses, both Westshore and Langley cracked the list, at No. 5 and No. 10, respectively. Langley had lost to the Raiders, 20-13, who came in at No. 7.
The other teams ranked from across the CJFL were Hamilton (No. 3), Calgary (No. 4), Windsor (No. 6), Edmonton (No. 8), and Regina (No. 9).
Another bright spot for the hometown team: defensive end Tye Kitzman is the CJFL’s first Fans Choice Player of the Week recipient.
After being named Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, Kitzman picked up 75 per cent of the fan votes.
The Sun return to action tonight at the Apple Bowl as they host the Kamloops Broncos at 7 p.m.
The Broncos also started their year on a winning note as they blitzed the Fraser Valley Huskers 41-8 in the league’s other season curtain-raiser. Last year, the Broncos finished with a 2-8 record; both wins were close-scoring affairs against the Huskers.
The Broncos were largely dominated in their eight losses, but did put up a spirited effort in a final weekend 34-25 loss in Victoria to the eventual conference champion Rebels.
The Broncos may or may not be better than they were in 2016, but the Raiders, Sun, Rams and Rebels, who finished ahead of them, were all at least a few strides better.
Closing the gap this season is no easy feat, but speculation coming out of Chilliwack is that Kamloops has vastly improved.
You can find out tonight whether the Sun will keep shining, or whether the Broncos will buck their way to a win and match the number of victories from last year.