CJFL SEMI FINAL

OKANAGAN SUN VS REGINA THUNDER

SUNDAY OCTOBER 27, 2024

WATCH PARTY DAKODAS PUB

Game Time is 12:00PM Pregame at 11:30

There will be a watch party at Dakodas Pub 1574 Harvey Avenue . Join us to help cheer on your Okanagan Sun. The game will broadcast on AM 1150 as well with Stephen Keppler and Jason Casey.

#sunwin #sunfamily #sunriseup

Story Courtesy Wayne Moore Castanet

Photo Courtesy  Eric Stansfield

For the second time in three years the Okanagan Sun have captured the BC Football Conference championship.

The Sun rode the legs of kicker Liam Attwood and Elelyon Noa to a thrilling 23-17 victory over the Westshore Rebels in the Cullen Cup championship on a cool, drizzly afternoon at the Apple Bowl.

Attwood snapped a 17-17 tie with a pair of field goals from 31 and 26 yards out in the fourth quarter to provide the margin of victory.

The defence shut down the door through the decisive fourth quarter.

The Sun dominated the first half, putting up 245 yards of total offence to grab a 17-3 lead.

But, the Rebels took advantage of a pair of Liam Kroeger interceptions in the third quarter to square things up at 17 heading to the fourth.

Noa, the game's offensive player of the game, scored the game's first touchdown, pounding his way in from one yard out as the Sun marched down the field with surgical-like precision on their first drive of the game.

Attwood booted a 12 yard field goal on the final play of the opening quarter to put the home side up 10-1.

They took a 16-point lead in the second when Kroeger, who started in place of Marek Filipek, hit Jordayne Falconer for a 26-yard touchdown.

A conceded safety left the Sun with a 14 point lead at the half.

As they did in last year's title game, the Rebels dominated the third quarter.

Ethan Pickard hit Zion Brown with a 12-yard major after Kroeger's second of three interceptions on the day to pull the Rebels to within seven.

On their next possession, Carter Williams scampered in from 11 yards out to tie the score at 17.

But the Sun defence came up strong and the offence did just enough to give Attwood a chance to kick the Sun to the victory.

David Lewis, the defensive player of the game, had three interceptions for the Sun while Easton Fenske picked off Pickard on the final play of the game to preserve the victory.

The Sun amassed 362 yards of total offence compared with 252 for the Rebels, much of that in the third quarter.

The Sun will now travel east next weekend to face the winner of Sunday's Prairie Football Conference final between the unbeaten Saskatoon Hilltops and the Regina Thunder.

Okanagan Sun head coach Travis Miller has been named the 2024 coach of the year in the British Columbia Football Conference (BCFC).

"I don't really treat it as a 'coach of the year' award, we look at it as a organizational award," Miller told Black Press Media. "I think it's paramount that our success is based off of not just myself but the entire coaching staff we have and our board of directors as well as our volunteers and obviously the players. As much as my name is on it, it's more of a reflection of the mass amount of people that have effort in the organization."

This is the second time in his three seasons at the helm that he's won the award.

As a group, we have a standard that's very difficult for anybody to achieve, outside perfection, it's the standard we set," said Miller. "Everybody tries to achieve that standard and in the process of doing so, we keep a level-up and keep everybody on the same page with obviously success coming on the field as a result."

Miller has lead the team to the BCFC championship game in every season. In 2022, he led the team to a BCFC and Canadian Junior National Championship, the team's first in 22 years.

Last season, they lost in the BCFC final to the Westshore Rebels. This year, Miller and the team are going for another BCFC championship this Saturday, Oct. 19, against Westshore for the third straight year. 

"In order to be the champions, you want to beat the champions," Miller added. "From my standpoint, it's been about working as hard as I can in order to make sure that our guys are prepared in the end and move forward in the right direction."

This is the second time in his three seasons at the helm that he's won the award.

"As a group, we have a standard that's very difficult for anybody to achieve, outside perfection, it's the standard we set," said Miller. "Everybody tries to achieve that standard and in the process of doing so, we keep a level-up and keep everybody on the same page with obviously success coming on the field as a result."

Miller has lead the team to the BCFC championship game in every season. In 2022, he led the team to a BCFC and Canadian Junior National Championship, the team's first in 22 years.

Last season, they lost in the BCFC final to the Westshore Rebels. This year, Miller and the team are going for another BCFC championship this Saturday, Oct. 19, against Westshore for the third straight year. 

"In order to be the champions, you want to beat the champions," Miller added. "From my standpoint, it's been about working as hard as I can in order to make sure that our guys are prepared in the end and move forward in the right direction.

In his three seasons, Miller has a 34-2 record.

Congratulations  to the players selected as BCFC All Stars

Kaiden Kerntopf            OL

Miceal Aston                    OL

Hunter Bultsma              DL

Dylan Remillard              DL

Elelyon Noa                       RB

Jacob Bond                         LB

Kenley Williams               DB

Ahmed Borhot                  DB

Grady Hay                          P

Since 1981, the players who have worn the Orange and Brown have helped build this program into what it is today.

Graduating players have always had a chance to "sign the wall" so that their names will be forever remembered inside the Sun Locker Room.

In the early 2000's, there was a fire inside the room, and a lot of those signatures were lost.

Today, marks the start of the Locker Legacy initiative.

ANY player who played for the Okanagan Sun has an opportunity to put his name, number, position and years played, permanently inside of the locker of his choosing.

Name Plates are  $250.00 each

Click the link to purchase your name plate today!

Check out video under Locker Room at top of the page

https://loom.ly/MBTU-vw

Creative: @undrdogmediainc