The Valley Huskers let a 10 point halftime lead slip away Saturday night in a 30-23 loss to the Kamloops Broncos.
In a battle of winless BC Football Conference teams at Exhibition Stadium, the Huskers led 9-0 through 15 minutes and 23-10 through 30.
But the Chilliwack offence sputtered in the second half, generating just 67 net yards.
At the same time the Bronco O woke up.
Kamloops quarterback Colby Henkel had his team back on even terms as the third quarter ended and a fourth quarter major dashed the home team’s hopes.
As the final whistle blew, Kamloops celebrating improving to 1-6 while the Huskers slipped to 0-7.
Though Chilliwack topped the 20 point mark for the fourth time in five games, this wasn’t a good game for the offence.
Quarterback Noah Falconer struggled, completing 15 of 39 passes for 185 yards. His one touchdown pass was offset by a costly interception.
Falconer’s TD toss was to Mike West, who led the Huskers with five catches for 62 yards.
Elijah Falconer had two catches for 41, including a 30 yarder.
Chilliwack kinda sorta had a rushing attack for the first time this season.
Ryan Beaubien rushed 12 times for 62 yards (5.17 per carry), and Noah Falconer had a rushing major.
But it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Broncos.
Special teams ace Trent Price was moved into the Kamloops backfield for this game and chewed up 99 yards on 11 carries.
But it was Henkel doing most of the damage through the air.
The QB completed 21 of 37 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns.
Brody Bernier caught two of them, including a 63 yarder and the long-named duo of Garrett Kryzanowski and Broden Romanovitch also reeled in TD strikes.
Henkel served up one costly turnover, with Husker defensive back Jason Ghag returning an interception 34 yards for a major.
Brendan Atkinson had a nice day on D, recovering a fumble and dropping Henkel twice for QB sacks.
James Sturgeon also had a sack and led Chilliwack with six solo tackles.
The Huskers have a big game coming up Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) as they host the Winnipeg Rifles at Exhibition Stadium.
The game will make history as BC and Prairie Conference foes meet in the regular season for the first time ever.
The Rifles are 3-5 in Prairie Football Conference (PFC) play this season.
But led by quarterback Tyler Vieira they possess a potent passing attack that’s rolled up a league-leading 271.5 yards per game.
A second inter-conference matchup on Saturday sees the Saskatoon Hilltops (4-1) visiting the BCFC leading Okanagan Sun (6-1) for a 7 p.m. start at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna.
