Vancouver Island Raiders tailback Andrew Harris is tripped up by an Okanagan Sun tackler during Saturday’s B.C. Football Conference game at Caledonia Park. Harris wore No. 33 for the game instead of his usual No. 20 in honour of former teammate Aaron Niedergesaess, who was killed in a car crash in Alberta last week. The Raiders beat the Sun 45-20.
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By Greg Sakaki - Nanaimo News Bulletin
Published: October 06, 2008 3:00 PM
Updated: October 06, 2008 3:17 PM
The Vancouver Island Raiders are back at the top of B.C.’s junior football heap.
The Nanaimo team defeated the Okanagan Sun 45-20 Saturday at Caledonia Park to end the regular season 9-1, good for first place.
The win was the Raiders’ 20th straight home victory, and they defended their turf by playing punishing football.
“We wanted to be the team that was by far the most physical and I really thought we demonstrated that on Saturday,” said Matthew “Snoop” Blokker, Raiders coach.
That physicality showed up on all areas of the field – the offensive line and receivers blocked well, the Raiders’ defensive front kept the pressure on Sun quarterback Derek Mann, and Nanaimo’s special teams units were excellent.
“Everybody was on their feet when specials was on because they were hitting people,” Blokker said.
With the Raiders up 22-6 at halftime, Joe Holder set the tone for the second half when he delivered what Blokker called “the hit of the year” on Okie’s kick returner.
As always, tailback Andrew Harris put up outstanding numbers. He compiled 268 rush yards on 27 carries, punching in three touchdowns.
The coach said the Raiders’ blocking was so good, Harris was routinely getting into the “third level” of the Sun defence before being touched.
Raiders QB Campbell Antonini also scored a rushing TD and completed four of nine pass attempts.
Kicker Mark Mueller was good on three field goals and Nanaimo’s other points came on a late TD pass from backup QB Jordan Yantz to receiver Jared Ralko.
Mann was held to 10-of-21 passing with a TD and an interception.
“Once you start hitting the quarterback a couple times, his eyes, instead of [looking] downfield, he’s watching the rush,” Blokker said.
Defensive back Graham Norrish picked off Mann, batted down a ball and had a team-high six tackles. D-lineman Josh Williams had three tackles.
GRID BITS … The first-placed Raiders will host the No. 4-seeded Chilliwack Huskers Saturday (Oct. 11) in the BCFC semifinals at 1 p.m. at Caledonia Park.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
