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Off-Season Forecast: Westshore Rebels

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters), 08/16/21, 8:00AM PDT

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They are ready for the 2021 season

In 2019 the Westshore Rebels were one win away from hosting the Canadian Bowl.  After their 8-2 regular season the Rebels hosted and beat the Okanagan Sun in the BC Conference semi-final before falling short in the Cullen Cup championship game.

Without a 2020 season Rebels head coach Shane Beatty and the organization went to work recruiting new players and retooling their team getting set for the 2021 campaign, which is now just a couple of weeks away.

What’s New:

The biggest addition to the Rebels coaching staff is new defence coordinator Dexter Janke.  The former CFLer won a Grey Cup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019 and also spent three seasons with the Calgary Stampeders.

Key Grads:

DB Maleek Womack – an All-Canadian in 2019 after collecting 24 tackles, had a sack, five knockdowns, forced a fumble and led the BC Conference with eight interceptions including one touchdown

QB Shawn Lal – he led BC Conference quarterbacks with 2206 passing yards and 138 completions in 2019.  He also threw 16 touchdowns, completing 53.1% of passes

LB Byron MacKinnon – he was a Conference All-Star in 2019 after 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks, had two knockdowns and forced a fumble

Entering Final Season:

QB Colby Henkel – a former CJFL Rookie of the Year he was injured for most of 2019 playing just one game.  As a member of the Kamloops Broncos in 2016 he threw for 2186 yards and 17 touchdowns

RB Zachary Lubin – back in 2019 Lubin was the main ground attack for the Rebels with 785 yards on 155 carries and scored eight touchdowns.  He also caught nine passes including one for a touchdown

OL Tyrese Hogue – he has been outstanding on the Rebels line the past two seasons.  At 6’4, 255 pounds Hogue will be relied upon heavily to protect Henkel and the Rebels running game

Counting On:

QB Colby Henkel – he’s coming back from a season of injury in 2019 and the Rebels have been impressed with what they have seen from Henkel is the offseason workouts.

DL Ivan Xu – a new recruit from the University of Regina will return to the Island to play for the Rebels.  He’s a Mount Douglas Secondary grad and will be counted on to put pressure on the opposition's offence.

DL Haider Syed – another recruit from the University of Regina comes to the Rebels via Santa Barbara California at 5’11 and 285 pounds and will be asked to get to the quarterback to cause problems for the opposition's offence

The Rebels will open the new season on Saturday September 11th in Kelowna in a rematch of the 2019 Conference semi-final against the Okanagan Sun.