For the second time in a month, the Vancouver Island Raiders proved too much for the Big Kahuna Rams.

Saturday in Nanaimo, the Raiders capped an undefeated season with a fourth consecutive B.C. Football Conference title, after a 50-14 win over the Rams.

The heavily favoured Rams actually trailed the Rams 14-13 after the first quarter, but exploded for three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 34-14 lead they would not relinquish.

The Raiders now host the Canadian Bowl Nov. 14, against the Edmonton Wildcats. The Wildcats, the Prairie Football Conference champions, defeated the Ottawa Sooners, Ontario’s top squad, Sunday to earn a berth in the national title game.

After the Raiders opened the scoring just five minutes into the game – quarterback Jordan Yantz and receiver Jared Ralko combined on a 49-yard catch-and-run – Big Kahuna bounced back with two big plays of their own.

First, running back Errol Brooks found a seam in the defence and rumbled 64 yards for a touchdown, and quarterback Cam Clark followed with a 52-yard scoring toss to wideout Thomas Rafuse.

Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to keep the momentum going in the second half, as the Vancouver Island defence dominated after the break, holding the Rams’ offence off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

“This team’s a bunch of battlers; we battled all season long, just kept going,” said Raiders defensive lineman Ranji Atwali, who helped anchor the home team’s defence in the second half.

Raiders running back Andrew Harris, the BCFC offensive player of the year, led the victors with a relatively modest – my his standards, at least – 104 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Jordan Botel also had a TD on the ground, which closed out scoring in the contest.

Much to the Rams’ credit, Harris was held in check for much of the first half, but finally found pay dirt in near the end of the first half, and again in the third with a one-yard TD plunge.

“That was the point in the game right there that really hurt them,” said Raiders head coach Matthew Blokker, of the third-quarter touchdown.

Clark finished the game seven-for-18 in passing, for 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 43 yards.

He was sacked four times, however, and the final sack – late in the game – resulted in a fight which saw two players from each team ejected.

Rams return man Nick Downey – who had three returns for touchdowns in the semifinals against Victoria – finished with 51 punt-return yards on five attempts, and he gained 63 yards on four kick returns.

His Vancouver Island counterpart, Robin Medeiros, had a big game. He finished with 170 yards on seven punt returns, highlighted by a 63-yard scoring run.

“Robin had a little extra jump in his step... and wanted to prove to everybody that he’s a pretty talented guy himself,” said Blokker.

Though they still lost by 36 points, the Rams put together a much better road game than they did during their last foray into Nanaimo’s Caledonia Park.

Back on Oct. 3, the Raiders crushed the Rams 64-0, which prompted Rams head coach Chris Butschler to lash out at his entire squad.

– with files from Greg Sakaki