By Marissa Tiel
The Okanagan Sun鈥檚 offensive line put on a show at the Apple Bowl Sunday afternoon as the Sun cruised to a 47-21 semifinal victory over the Valley Huskers to advance to the Cullen Cup final.
Quarterback Matt Mahler had nothing but praise for the unit following the game.
鈥淢VP of this game goes to the O Line,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey protected me. They opened up holes for (Kelton) Kouri and every other running back鈥� they鈥檙e down here fighting.鈥�
The Sun running backs would feature heavily in the game. Kouri led them with three touchdowns, scoring his first early in the first quarter with a 67-yard run to put the Sun up 7-0.
It wasn鈥檛 long before the Huskers capitalized on penalties and a trick play to make it 15-14 at the half.
鈥淭hey hit a couple of gifts from us which were unnecessary roughness penalties, which we can鈥檛 take and that鈥檚 undisciplined鈥� said Sun head coach Ben Macauley. 鈥淲e put them at the one-yard line so it鈥檚 tough for them not to score if we give them that.鈥�
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The Sun cleaned up their play in the second half and doubled their score, running the football up the field as often as they could.
鈥淲hy take the risk and put the ball in the air when we can put it in a playmaker鈥檚 hands,鈥� said Mahler.
With the offensive line making holes in the Huskers defense, running the ball seemed like a natural choice.
鈥淭hey were playing very motivated inspired football, so we figured we鈥檇 trust them; we鈥檇 trust our ball carriers,鈥� said Macauley. 鈥淥ur offensive line blew holes wide open all day. That鈥檚 a lot of fun to watch.鈥�
The Sun, who won the BCFC regular season, will take on the Langley Rams in the Cullen Cup final next weekend. The Rams beat the VI Raiders 37-26 in the other semifinal to advance.
The Sun and the Rams split their two regular season meetings.
Macauley is expecting a challenge in the Rams.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to play our best football yet,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think we can win, but we鈥檙e going to have to absolutely not make some of the mistakes we made today.鈥�
The Sun are looking forward to at least one more game on home turf.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance for us to play again in front of our home crowd and really put our mark on the league this year,鈥� said Macauley. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making memories. This is stuff guys are going to remember forever.鈥�
The Cullen Cup final is set to take place Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. the Apple Bowl.
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