They say never take points off the board, but the Langley Rams did, and the decision paid off as they won the Cullen Cup.
The Rams kicked a game-tying field goal in the late-going of Sunday’s B.C. Football Conference championship game against the Okanagan Sun at Kelowna’s Apple Bowl. But a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Rams the option of keeping the three points on the board and tying the score at 19, or accepting the penalty and having the ball at the six-yard line with a fresh set of downs.
Langley accepted the latter and two plays later, Nathan Lund dove into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game and a 23-19 Rams lead with 31 seconds to play.
The Sun’s Hail Mary pass to end the game saw the receiver catch the ball, but get tackled well short of the end zone.
And that would be all as Langley won the Cullen Cup for the second time in three years. And as they did in 2012, the Rams will host the Canadian Bowl — Canada’s junior football championship game — against the Saskatoon Hilltops.
The game is Nov. 8 at McLeod Athletic Park with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Rams coach Jeff Alamolhoda said it was a pretty easy decision to make about taking the points off the board, mainly because they were well within kicker Steve Thomas’ range if they needed to boot the field goal again.
“We were confident that we had two extra opportunities,” Alamolhoda said.
“We just talked about being safe with the ball and just taking our opportunities when we could.”
The first play was an incomplete pass and the decisive play was a hand-off to Lund.
The running back was stopped initially, but kept his legs moving, bounced to the outside and broke free, diving into the end zone for the winning points.
And that was the difference in the game.
“We talked about it all week, if we get opportunities, we have to capitalize,” the coach said.
The yardage was similar in the game, with Okanagan having 382 yards compared to Langley’s 369. And both teams had one fumble and one interception.
But the big difference was finishing.
Okanagan had three field goals and one touchdown — a 101-yard run from Alex Bradley — while Langley finished their drives with a trio of touchdowns along the ground. Lund ran for a pair and 105 yards while Jacob Patko had the other rushing score.
Lund was named the offensive player of the game.
“When he needed to get the job done, and we needed a guy to get those tough, hard-fought yards, we knew Nathan was going to do it and we put the rock in his hand, and he came through,” Alamolhoda said.
After his go-ahead score, the Sun had good field position because the Rams did not want to deviate from their game plan of kicking off short to keep the ball away from all-star returner Robbie Yochim.
In the teams’ previous meeting, Yochim took two kickoffs for touchdowns to change the momentum into a 37-20 Sun victory.
“Our game plan all day was to kick it short and away from him, and we didn’t want to break our consistency even though there were 30 seconds left on the clock,” Alamolhoda said.
The Sun completed the first pass for about 30 yards.
“That started getting the ticker going a little bit and the heart racing,” the coach said.
The Rams put in some of their tall receivers in on defence, to help knock down potential passes downfield, and Tore Corrado did on the first one. The last play was a completion to about the 15 or 20-yard line, but another receiver, Malcolm Williams came up with the stop.
And defence was a big story in the game.
Already missing two defensive starters before the game, the Rams lost BCFC defensive player of the year Dylan Roper to a broken hand on the second series. A short while later, they lost defensive tackle Brock Gowanlock.
“We went into that game down bodies; we adjusted our defensive scheme accordingly. It was out of necessity, but it also ended up being effective,” Alamolhoda said.
He said the coaching staff, especially co-ordinators Khari Joseph (defence) and Eddie Ferg (offence), came up with great game plans which the players executed.
“The difference was what we had been preaching all week, and that was our next play mentality. Whatever happened on the previous play, it wouldn’t matter, the goal was then to win the next play.”
Luke Andrews earned the defensive player of the game honours after finishing with a team-high five tackles — tied with Adam Marchetti — as well as two assist, two special team tackles, one quarterback sack and a fumble recovery.
What makes his stat line ever more remarkable is that Andrews — the special teams captain — was playing out of position, taking Roper’s spot at linebacker. Andrews normally plays defensive tackle, but this season went to the coaches and offered to focus exclusively on special teams to help out.
“He showed the fight in him that a Ram absolutely emulates,” Alamolhoda said.
“He bleeds blue and yellow.”
Andrews still played on special teams in Sunday’s victory, as well as on the defence.
He attributed his success to the coaches keeping things simple.
“I have never played that position before,” he said.
“We kept simple play calls and it worked out.
“I felt nervous for the first play, but after that, it went away.”
Andrews, who is from Langley, played in the Cloverdale Minor Football program and played his final season of community football with the Langley midget Stampeders.
The 22-year-old is in his final season of junior eligibility.
“It feels great to go back to the national championship one more time,” he said.
“I have played on this team for four years and I have got to play for the national championship twice and played in the Cullen Cup all four times. It has been quite the treat.”
Another Langley Minor Football alum, Charles Scott, came up with an interception for the Rams’ defence.
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Rams’ kicker Steve Thomas was presented the Ron White Community Service Award at half-time.
Fred Schaad For the Langley Times
Langley Rams’ running back Nathan Lund dives into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. The score came with 31 seconds to play and gave the Rams a 23-19 victory over the Okanagan Sun at Kelowna’s Apple Bowl on Sunday afternoon in the Cullen Cup, the B.C. Football Conference championship game. With the victory, Langley will host the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Canadian Bowl on Nov. 8 at McLeod Athletic Park.
