The Langley Rams are off to a strong start in the 2013 B.C. Junior Football Conference season, after shutting out the visiting Kamloops Broncos 51-0 in their home opener at McLeod Park on Saturday.
The team enters the season as defending league champions, having won the 2012 Cullen Cup against the Vancouver Island Raiders last October.
Although the score in game one looks impressive, there is still a lot of improvement needed, said new head coach Ted Kirby.
“You’re always happy when you win obviously, but the score is really secondary,” he said.
“We have a lot of things we have to do better and we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
That includes avoiding unnecessary penalties and finishing drives, which were both weak spots last game, he said.
“It was a great start — but that’s exactly what it was, it was a start and we have got to continue to improve, we really do.
“We can’t be making mistakes like that throughout the year or we won’t be taking wins like that.”
If anything, the game offered an opportunity for coaches to see which players may stand out this season.
“My expectations were to see the guys in a true game and see how they were going to perform when adversity hits,” Kirby said.
“One of the benefits of that score is that you get to play everyone on the team and see who’s game ready.”
One such player was Nathan Lund, who was named the McKinnon Career Coaching Player of the Game.
“What I was proud of is that I always talk about being a balanced football team, and when I look at it statistically, I think our passing and our rushing were within 30 to 40 yards of each other, I think our special teams performed and I think we played all three facets of the game relatively well,” Kirby said.
And with nearly 70 per cent of the roster returning players from last season, there is great cohesion in the group.
“There are a lot of returning guys which is really helpful because they know the system, but we have also brought in a few new guys,” Kirby said.
“To be quite honest, that first game was nice because they’re starting to see how we are as a family and how we operate and are starting to understand the process a little better. And hopefully that will improve for game two so those little mistakes we are making will be less and less.”
The Rams now take on the Westshore Rebels at 4 p.m. at McLeod Park on Saturday (Aug. 3).
For more info visit www.langleyrams.com.
