Photo courtesy of Honey Mustard Media

Langley Rams 7
Okanagan Sun 4

It was one of the lowest scoring games in CJFL championship history and was a defence slugfest as the Rams record the three-peat and are BC Conference champions again winning the Cullen Cup. This was the lowest combined BC final since 1978 when the Vancouver Meralomas shutout the Renfrew Trojans 11-0.

The game was played in a steady downpour in Langley making it difficult on the offences to not only move the ball, but hold onto it.  Neither team scored a touchdown in the game that featured four safeties.  As a matter of fact all points were scored on a safety other than a 28-yard field goal by Rams kicker Tato Ferreyro Araya who connected in the first quarter.

The defences were certainly on display as evident by the 19 first downs in total that were recorded.   Both teams forced five turnovers including a pair of massive interceptions by the Rams secondary.

The turning point of the game came with the Rams leading 7-2 and punting from deep in their own end.  The Sun special teams barrelled through the line and blocked the punt attempt, the ball however fell at the feet of Kyle Clarot who picked it up and rushed 20 yards for a Rams first down getting them out of a first and goal situation.

Clarot played an integral part of the Rams win which included intercepting a Sun pass on the goal line and returning it 15 yards out of harm’s way.  He also led his club with four solo tackles and had a knockdown.  Nathan Murray intercepted a pass as well and Jesse Goedman was solid with two solo tackles and a pair of quarterback sacks.

Rams’ quarterback Michael Calvert was named the Offensive Player of the Game completing only eight passes but did an excellent job controlling the flow with 13 rushes for 55 yards.  Running back Joel Klaassen carried the rock 18 times for 73 yards.

On the other side of the field the Sun offence was dismal recording only 51 net yards with the Conference Outstanding Offensive Player Malcolm Miller seeing limited action in an apparent injury suffered in the semi-final; he carried six times for two yards.  Quarterback Dominic Britton completed two passes and threw two interceptions.

They did have a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter getting the ball to the Rams 21-yard line. They sent kicker Liam Attwood onto the field for a 28-yard field goal attempt, however Mike O’Shea was unable to handle the snap and the play was botched.

Despite the offensive woes, the Sun defence kept them in the ball game all day. All-Star Kelon Thomas recorded a pair of sacks, three knockdowns and had two tackles, linebacker Peyton Ryder had a game high eight tackles and Tyler Going collected seven.

The Rams will now play in the CJFL National Semi-Final game and host either the Regina Thunder or Saskatoon Hilltops on Saturday with the winner punching their ticket to the Canadian Bowl.  The Rams last hosted the National Semi-Final in 2018 beating the Hamilton Hurricanes.

Players of the Game:

Offensive - Michael Calvert - Langley Rams
Defensive - Kelon Thomas - Okanagan Sun
Specials - Tato Ferreyro Araya - Langley Rams