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Rams Upset Sun In Cullen Cup

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters), 10/26/14, 9:30PM PDT

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The season comes to a close with loss

Photo courtesy Greystoke Photography

After a terrific regular season and a semi-final win over their arch rival the Sun season comes to a close with a 23-19 loss to the Langley Rams in the Cullen Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The Sun got on the board first with two field goals from Thomas Huber in the first quarter.  He hit from 15 and 26 yards away and led 6-0 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Rams showed why they had the most potent offense during the regular season.  With nine minutes left in the quarter Jacob Patko blasted through the Sun defense from five yards out to give the Rams their first lead of the game.  The drive was set up by the Rams “D” who recovered a Dillon Fortune fumble.

Less than four minutes later Nathan Lund scored his first of two touchdowns spiriting into the end zone from 15 yards out to give the Rams a 14-6 lead at halftime.  Once again the Rams defense pinned the Sun deep forcing them to punt, setting up tremendous field position.

Surprisingly the Rams offense was led by their ground attack, rather than their terrific passing game in the first half.  As a matter of fact the Rams collected 105 yards on the ground in the first half alone. The Sun defense had only allowed one team all season long to gain over a 100 yards on the ground.

Both defenses didn’t allow the offense much in the third quarter.  The Rams conceded a safety, before Huber connected on his third field goal of the game.

Just as the fourth quarter began, some fireworks.  The BCFC’s Most Outstanding Running Back Alex Bradley busted 101 yards untouched for the lone Sun touchdown.  The run set a new Cullen Cup record for longest touchdown run in the BC championship game.  It also gave the lead back to the Sun; 18-14 with 14 minutes to play.

Three minutes later Rams kicker Steve Thomas drilled a punt through the end zone for a rouge. 

After the Rams missed a field goal the Sun drove the ball down to the Rams 18 yard line.  On a third an inches, the Sun were whistled for a penalty pushing them back for a 31 yard field goal attempt by Huber, which he missed, collecting a single point.

The missed attempt gave the Sun a 19-16 lead and the Rams went to work offensively led by quarterback Jordan McCarty.  He would conduct a 75 yard championship winning drive capped off by Lund driving into the end zone from 15 yards out giving the Rams the lead for good with just 31 second s to go.  The drive was kept alive by a roughing the kicker penalty on Ron Mwamba as the Rams were attempting to tie the game with a field goal.  The penalty gave the Rams a new set of downs from the six yard line before Lund punched it in two players later.

The penalty reminded fans of a roughing the kicker call in the 2010 Cullen Cup which led to the Sun loss.

McCarty finished 14 of 27 for 235 yards, while the ground attacked collected 168 yards.  His favourite target who made six catches for 133 yards.

Defensively the Rams continuously hurried and rushed Sun quarterback Cam Bedore as he finished 10 of 19 for 176 yards.

Lund was named the Offensive Player of the Game with a pair of rushing touchdowns on 17 carries and 105 yards.  Luke Andrews was named the Defensive Player of the Game and Brennan Van Nistelrooy of the Sun was named the Special Teams Player of the Game.

The Rams will now host the Saskatoon Hilltops in the 2014 Canadian Bowl on Saturday November 8, a rematch of the 2012 game.  The Hilltops advanced to the national championship game after beating the Calgary Colts 27-7.