Photo courtesy of Jillian Kirby

For the first time in BCFC history the Kamloops Broncos will battle the Langley Rams in the post season.  The Rams, the second seed, will host the third seeded Broncos on Saturday October 18 at 4:00pm at McLeod Stadium.

The Rams have never lost to the Broncos in 12 meetings since 2007, outscoring them 561-161.

The Rams (7-3) are heavily favoured after crushing the Broncos (6-4) in Week 6, 70-24 behind 472 total offensive yards.  The ground game collected 313 yards and scored four touchdowns, led by Mario Narte who carried 13 times for 156 yards with three majors and Ryan MacDonald who rushed 12 times for 121 yards and a score.

Defensively the Rams recorded five sacks and two interceptions, one of which by Clovis Lumeka who returned it 77 yards for a touchdown.

The Broncos did gain 383 total yards, most of which was through the air.

Quarterback Steve Schuweiler was 16 of 32 for 294 yards and had two touchdown passes.  Derek Yachison had eight catches for 135 yards and a score.

During the regular season the Rams defense hasn’t given opposing quarterbacks much time to throw with a terrific rush up front from the likes of Dylan Roper, Alex Agnoletto and the blitzing Ethan Schultz.  They will need to get in the back field quickly against the Broncos to disrupt the timing of Schuweiler.

Given the time the throw, Schuweiler has proven this season that he is a threat.  The Broncos average over 439 yards of total offense a game and the pivot completed the third most passes at 154 with a Conference high 20 TD passes (tied with O’Brien of the Raiders).  The 1-2 punch of Yachison and Devin Csincsa collected 84 receptions, 1,377 yards and 11 TDs.

With the Broncos offense having some success moving the football, it’ll be up to their defense to try and slowdown the Rams high flying offense.

Since the injury to quarterback Dylan Tucker, the Rams haven’t missed a beat, watching 22 year old Jordan McCarty orchestrate the offense.  He finished the regular season 62 of 118 for 1,021 yards and threw 10 touchdown passes.  McCarty has taken advantage of possibility the best 1-2 receiver combination in the CJFL of Dan English and Malcolm Williams.   Combined they have caught 69 passes for 1,395 yards and 16 touchdowns. Needless to say the Broncos secondary will be tested early and often.

This semi-final will feature two of the best kickers in the CJFL.  Steve Thomas of the Rams led the Conference with 109 points scored and connected on 19 of 24 field goals in the regular season.  His longest field goal was from 44 yards away.

Aaron Smit of the Broncos can be just as lethal from long distances.  He kicked the BCFC’s longest field goal this season, hitting from 47 yards away and finished 13 of 18.

The Rams also own one of the best return games with the dynamic duo of John Beckerleg and English.  They combined for seven kick returns for touchdowns, Beckerleg setting a new CJFL record with four kick-off returns for touchdowns.

On October 18th the Rams will play in their 26th all-time playoff game, while the Broncos will play in just their second.

The winner of the semi will play either the Okanagan Sun or Vancouver Island Raiders in the 2014 Cullen Cup the following weekend.