Photo courtesy of Shoot The Breeze Photography

#2 Westshore Rebels @ #1 Okanagan Sun - Saturday October 22, 4:00pm - Apple Bowl | WATCH HERE

The Cullen Cup will be handed out in BC on Saturday afternoon when the top seeded Okanagan Sun host the second seeded Westshore Rebels.  A berth in the CJFL National Semi-Final game is on the line as the winner will travel to Ontario the following weekend.

The Sun blew through the regular season, other than one game.  They averaged over 44 points a game in the regular season and gave up 13.5.  They are loaded with talent in all three facets of the game and can score in multiple ways. 

The one game that gave them issues was against the Westshore Rebels on the road in which they needed to score 21-points in the second half to come back and win 34-31.   All indications are pointing to a similar looking close game on Saturday. 

In the seasonal series the Sun outscored the Rebels 99-60 but both teams were able to move the football with their star quarterbacks.  Te Jessie of the Rebels was named the Conference Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 2864 yards completing 55.4% of his passes and led the CJFL with 28 touchdowns.  Dominic Britton of the Sun was right behind him connecting on 58.1% of his passes for 2086 yards and 24 touchdowns. 

Despite two very scary offences that can put up a lot of points, the defences will play a major role in this one.  The Sun have the stingiest defence in the Conference led by All-Star Kelon Thomas.  He collected 11.5 sacks during the regular season and was Defensive Player of the Week in the Sun semi-final victory last weekend.  With Thomas and Romario Reid on the edges, a solid linebacker crew and ballhawks in the secondary the Sun make it very difficult on the opposition.

All that said the Rebels were able to sustain several drives and put up 60 points in the seasonal series.  They relied heavily on Jessie and the passing attack because their ground game didn’t generate much. Through the air they found success compiling 615 yards and six touchdowns, four of which were caught by the Conference Outstanding Receiver Kieran Poissant.

Their defence features some very talented players in Tarick Polius, Cordell Holder and Dolani Robinson.  In the secondary De’von Young and Josh Hoyt each had four interception and will need to help generate turnovers on Saturday.  

Head—to-Head

Records: Rebels 7-3 – Sun 10-0
Points For: Rebels345 – Sun 448
Points Allowed: Rebels 245 – Sun 135

Passing Leaders: Te Jessie – 169 of 305 for 2864 yards and 28 touchdowns (Rebels) – Dominic Britton – 122 of 210 for 2086 yards and 24 touchdowns (Sun)

Rushing Leaders: Gerren Hardisty – 121 carries for 798 yards and 2 touchdowns (Rebels) – Jevon Garwood – 115 carries for 920 yards and 9 touchdowns (Sun)

Receiving Leaders: Kieran Poissant – 44 receptions for 811 yards and 10 touchdowns (Rebels) – Noah Bymak – 33 receptions for 616 yards and 9 touchdowns (Sun)

Leading Tacklers: Dolani Robinson – 33 tackles (Rebels) – Peyton Ryder – 36 tackles (Sun)