Photo courtesy of Greystoke Photography

For the fourth time this season the Okanagan Sun and Vancouver Island Raiders will meet.  This time, the winner moves on, the loser goes home following Sunday’s BCFC Semi-Final.

In the first three meetings of the season the Sun have outscored the Raiders 121-27 and shut them out 38-0 in their lone appearance at the Apple Bowl.  However in the playoffs it’s been the Raiders that have won all six meetings since 2006.   The last time the Sun hosted the Raiders in the post season was the 2010 Cullen Cup, falling 16-14.  This was also the last time the Raiders played on the road in the BCFC playoffs.

The game on Sunday will feature two different looking offenses. The Sun will pound the ball on the ground with BCFC rushing champ and All-Star Alex Bradley, while the Raiders will air it out with All-Star quarterback Liam O’Brien.

Bradley carried 77 times for 672 yards and scored five touchdowns in just seven games. Dillon Fortune was third in the Conference rushing 73 times for 597 yards and six majors.  In all the Sun tallied 1,986 yards on the ground.
In the three meetings the Sun have gained an average of 262 yards on the ground and 500 yards on total offense.

The Sun defense, particularly the secondary will be tested on Sunday afternoon with O’Brien being named the BCFC All-Star quarterback this week.  On the season he has completed 171 of 265 attempts for a Conference high 2,842 yards and 20 TD passes compared to eight interceptions.   Against the top ranked defense of the Sun during the regular season he was 61 of 86 for 831 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

O’Brien likes to stay in the pocket but can use his feet to allude danger and has been fortune to be able to connect with the Conference’s best receiver in Marshall Cook.  During the regular season Cook caught 64 balls and for 1,084 yards and nine touchdowns.  Against the Sun he hauled in 21 passes for 335 yards and a score.

When Cook lines up at the line of scrimmage, he’ll no doubt see Robbie Yochim across from him.  The Sun MVP has been matched up with the best receivers this season and has played very well.  Yochim leads the club with 34 tackles and four interceptions.  He was named a BCFC All-Star for the third consecutive year. 

Defensively the Sun will get Jonas Gering back after an injury in Week 7.  Gering makes an already strong defensive line stronger with Zac Ironstand and Lucas Machado who have 12.5 sacks between the two of them.  In six games, Gering had five sacks.

The Raiders defense will highlight three extremely talented players in Ash Gayat, Dexter Shea and Dylan Chapdelaine.  Both Gayat and Shea have three sacks each.  Gayat collected 19 stops while Shea had 17 and was seemingly always around the pile.  Chapdelaine on the other hand led the club with 27 tackles on route to his fourth straight BCFC All-Star selection.  He’s just the ninth player in history to be named an All-Star four years in a row.

Sunday afternoon will be a physical affair with emotions running high.  As the old saying goes, to be the best, you have to beat the best.  Regardless of what happened in the regular season, the Raiders are still the defending champs until someone knocks them off.

For the Sun, they are trying to get back to the Cullen Cup game for the first time since 2010 when they lost to the Raiders on home turf.