With the exception of two quarters of shaky football by the offense, Okanagan Sun head coach Shane Beatty was mostly pleased with his club’s effort Saturday night in Kamloops.
After sputtering its way to just two points over the opening 30 minutes, the Sun erupted for a trio of second half touchdowns en route to a 23-8 win over the Broncos at Hillside Stadium.
After a few adjustments at the break, it didn’t take long for the Sun offense to find its rhythm, scoring on three of five possessions.
“(Kamloops) came out with a good game plan, sending seven or eight guys after us,” said Beatty. “It took some time to adjust, but at halftime coach (Nat) Nagy and I made some changes and the guys came out and executed. We were patient and it worked out. Three touchdowns on five possessions is pretty good.”
Mistakes were the Sun’s Achilles in the first half as they surrendered four turnovers on downs and another on one of two fumbles by Dillon Fortune.
Rookie quarterback Theo Deezar had a tentative first half of his own, but then found his stride and fired a trio of touchdown passes—one each to Tommy Howes, Thomas Huber and Deion Bain.
Howes led the receiving corps with nine catches for 123 yards.
“He’s a special player and a special kid,” Beatty said of Howes, the 22-year-old from Winnipeg.
For the fourth week in a row, Beatty lauded the play of the Sun defense which has yielded just 47 points this season.
Robbie Yochim, Jack Rush and Brandon Donkers had interceptions, while Brennan Van Nistelrooy, Jonas Gering and Terrence Mendes grabbed fumble recoveries. JT Fernandez led the charge with seven tackles and Zak Ironstand recorded a sack.
“I was very pleased with our defense, the guys are doing a great job on that side of the ball,” Beatty said. “We’re fast and physical and we’re giving other teams problems.”
Next up for Beatty and the Sun are the defending BCFC champion Langley Rams.
The Rams (4-0) bring their unbeaten record into the Apple Bowl this Saturday night.
“They’re very explosive on offense and our defense is playing very well, so it should be a barnburner,” Beatty said.
In other BCFC action over the weekend, the Rams drubbed Westshore Rebels 58-20, while the Vancouver Island Raiders dropped the Valley Huskers 56-3.
