When Chilliwack Huskers head coach Howie Zaron calls this weekend’s playoff matchup between his crew and the Vancouver Island Raiders a ‘David versus Goliath’ matchup, he was very close to the truth.

Truthfully, David probably had a better chance than the 6-4 Huskers do going on the road to face the defending league champs (9-1).

Three weeks ago, the Huskers made the lengthy trip to Nanaimo and came home smarting from a 30-4 loss.

“The key is to stop (Andrew) Harris,” said defensive halfback Joe Klyne. “We hit him a lot in that game in Nanaimo. We stopped him for no yards a lot of times. But we missed some tackles and he burned us.”

Ah yes, Andrew Harris.

In that game, he carried the ball 20 times for an astounding 223 yards, scoring one touchdown. He finished second to Chilliwack’s Matt Peterson for the B.C. Football Conference rushing crown, rolling up 976 yards and a dozen touchdowns along the ground.

“We’re hoping to beat up on Andrew Harris and slow him down,” Zaron said, re-stating the obvious. “Nanaimo is a very well-balanced football team on both sides of the ball. We have to go in there and put the effort in and see what happens.”

If the Huskers succeed in thwarting the Raider ground game, they’ve still got to cope with Campbell Antonini and the passing attack.

The Nanaimo pivot finished fifth among BCFC quarterbacks with 1320 yards through the air.

He was third in touchdown passes with 15 and was the most error-free passer, tossing up just six interceptions.

Against Chilliwack, he went 8-12 passing with three scoring strikes to Harris, Joe Holder and Kolten Soloman.

These are worrisome numbers for a Huskers defence that has been particularly vulnerable through the air. Any opponent with a half-decent passing attack has been able to take advantage of the Chilliwack secondary.

Klyne, a veteran leader in that secondary, hopes the team figured some things out during a 48-6 win over Vancouver last weekend.

“The last few games before this one, the defence wasn’t as intense as it was earlier in the season,” he said. “Against the Trojans, we got back to basic football, reading and reacting and flying to the football.”

The Huskers offence also had a good game against the Trojans, led by running back Matt Peterson.

He rushed for more than 200 yards to pass Harris and win the rushing crown, scoring four touchdowns along the way.

Quarterback Ryan Kroeker didn’t play against Vancouver, but he’ll be back behind centre against the Raiders.

He didn’t have a great outing the last time out against Nanaimo, going 9-18 through the air for 148 yards with two interceptions.

“That’s the thing that people don’t appreciate about the Raiders,” Zaron noted. “They are really good defensively. From their line to their linebackers to their secondary, that is a solid football team.”

The good news for Chilliwack is that they didn’t have wideout Memo Badr in the previous matchup.

The speedster is back, and he provides a field-stretching presence on the outside that should open up passing options underneath.