For the first half of Sunday’s game at the Apple Bowl, the Okanagan Sun looked very much like a team without a head coach.
But even in the absence of the suspended Shane Beatty, the Sun demonstrated they are the team to beat in the B.C. Football Conference en route to a 38-19 victory over the Kamloops Broncos.
The Sun finished the regular season at 9-1, their best record and first BCFC title since 2010.
Beatty, in his second season as bench boss, was absent from the sidelines after being suspended by the league this week for a breach of the coach conduct policy — an off-field conversation between Beatty and another party was deemed inappropriate, according to Sun GM Jay Christensen.
Veteran quarterback Cam Bedore returned to the lineup after missing three games with a concussion and played the first half. Rookie Josiah Joseph took over in the second half and helped pace the offence to four scores and a field goal.
The Sun have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, starting with the BCFC semifinal on Sunday Oct. 19 (1 p.m.) when they battle the Vancouver Island Raiders (5-5).
