Okanagan Sun score late, get timely turnover in ugly 10-8 win over VI Raiders

Story Courtesy Wayne Moore Castanet

Photo Contributed

There’s an old adage in basketball - start the game with two minutes left and the score tied at 100 and let the teams go at it.

The Okanagan Sun and VI Raiders could have put that to practice Saturday night on a soggy track at the Apple Bowl. 

If you only saw the last three minutes, you would have felt satisfied you got your money's worth - and then some.

All the excitement on a rainy night in Kelowna was packed into those final 180 seconds.

Leading 6-3 with less than five minutes to go and the ball on their seven yard line, the visiting Raiders elected to punt out of their own end zone rather than concede a safety and make the Sun march down the field from their own 35, something they had not been able to do all game long against the tough Raiders defence.

The Sun instead started from the Raiders 36 and runs of 14, four and eight yards by quarterback Marcus Christos and running back Matt Chapman put the ball just inside the Raiders 10.

Christos, on a quarterback sweep around the left end, was hit hard as he dove down to the two yard line. He stayed down for several minutes before leaving with an upper body injury.

Third string quarterback Liam Connolly came in and, after gaining one yard on second down, bulled his way into the end zone on third and goal to put the Sun up 10-6 following Grady Hay’s extra point.

With a little more than two minutes left, Gavin Whittingham returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Sun 53.

A 29-yard pass to a wide open Blaze McCarty put the ball on the 24. Runs of 13 and one yard placed the ball on the 10 before a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 20.

On first-and-20, cornerback Glen Kodua jumped a route in the right flat to seal the victory.

The Sun gave up a safety with seconds left and ran out the clock for a gutsy 10-8 victory.

The offence to say the least struggled all night long with Christos, in for an injured Liam Kroeger, having trouble finding open receivers down field or running for his life when the protection up front broke down.

Kroeger, injured late in the Westshore game last weekend, is expected to miss the game against Kamloops next weekend, but head coach Travis Miller expects him to be ready for the Sept. 12 showdown with the Langley Rams.

Starting running back Jaxon Allan was also out of the lineup with an injury, but backup Matt Chapman drew the praise of Miller, carrying the ball 21 times for 127 yards and catching three balls for 35 more.

“Gutty and resilient,” was the way Miller described Saturday’s effort.

Very fortunate could have described it just as easily as well.

Neither team was able to move the ball effectively at all.

The Raiders got field goals of 22 yards in the first quarter and 32 yards six minutes into the fourth from Koen Petryna. The Sun countered with an 18-yard field goal from Grady Hay late in the first half.

Hay also missed a 28 yard attempt on the opening play of the second quarter.

The teams spent the rest of the night punting and battling for field position.

The Sun were able to start three drives on the Raiders side of the field in the first half but came away with nothing.

Christos managed just 56 yards through the air and was also intercepted once while the team gained 175 on the ground.

The Raiders were not much better, amassing just 63 yards through the air and 137 on the ground, 58 of those from Morgan Crisp on the first drive.

He managed just 14 yards the rest of the night.

The Sun expect to have Allan back for the game in Kamloops next Saturday, but will likely start third-string quarterback Liam Connolly.

The win improved the Sun to 5-1.

They remain a full game in back of the 6-0 Rams who dumped Prince George 62-10 Saturday.