The Langley Rams are hoping the third time is the charm.
The junior football squad has played the Vancouver Island Raiders twice this season, losing 22-14 in week one in Nanaimo and 24-18 in week nine in Langley.
But for the Rams to continue their season and advance to a fifth straight Cullen Cup championship game, they will need to go through the Raiders first.
V.I. finished second at 7-3 while Langley was third at 6-4.
The teams will meet in a B.C. Football Conference semifinal game next Saturday (Oct. 17) at Nanaimo’s Caledonia Park.
“We do match up well in certain spots but we have to be careful, they have explosive players at certain spots and we have to take care of them,” said Langley coach Jeff Alamolhoda.
Raiders quarterback Liam O’Brien was second in the league with 2,089 passing yards with 20 touchdowns versus just six interceptions in 10 games.
Dustin Rodriguez was his primary target, hauling in 41 passes for 775 yards and six touchdowns. And in the backfield, Nathan Berg carried the ball 82 times for 588 yards (7.2 yards per carry) and three touchdowns as the lead back.
O’Brien also ran for seven scores himself.
And defensively, Cole Virtanen was second in the league with five interceptions.
A big key will be the Rams discipline as they led the league in penalties.
Included in that was a 21-flag performance the last time they played the Raiders, which played a huge result in the the Rams loss.
“Discipline is the key word,” Alamolhoda said.
“If we are able to keep our penalties off the stat sheet, we should be able to execute our game plan and I believe we will be able to come away with a victory at the end.”
He fully expects this game to be the like the first two: a one-score game.
Langley had the edge offensively, scoring 306 points compared to the Raiders’ 272, but V.I. allowed less points, 198 to the Rams’ 206.
And the Raiders were also tops when it came to turnover differential with 31 takeaways (12 interceptions, six fumble recoveries and 14 turnovers on downs) while turning the ball over a league-low 14 times for a +17 differential. The Rams were second at +8 with 29 takeaways (eight interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries and 10 turnovers on downs).
Langley is led by quarterback Dylan Tucker, who completed 56.5 per cent of his passes for 1,710 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Nathan Lund — who was named a BCFC offensive all-star after rushing for 621 yards on 74 carries (8.4 yards per carry) and five touchdowns — leads the Rams ground game.
Tucker’s favourite target is receiver Bobby Pospischil, who was second in the league with a 22.5 yard average per reception. He caught 28 passes for 629 yards.
The defence had four players named league all-stars, including defensive lineman Brock Gowanlock — who led the league with 14.5 quarterback sacks — and Alex Agnoletto, who led the team with 30 tackles and 11 assists. Agnoletto also had four sacks.
Linebacker Brendan Desjardine (23 tackles, 11 assists, five batted balls, one sack and one blocked kick) and defensive back John Beckerleg (16 tackles, four assists, one batted ball, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and an interception) were also named all-stars.
And Anthony Daley was named a league all-star along the offensive line.
