V.I. Raiders overwhelm

August 25, 2009

Author: Greg Sakaki - Nanaimo News Bulletin

One of these days, the Vancouver Island Raiders are going to be tested, but it wasn't going to be this past weekend.

The Raiders hammered the Vancouver Trojans 76-26 Saturday in Burnaby, opening up a 28-0 lead on their first four possessions.

Andrew Harris had 294 rushing yards and three touchdowns on only 10 carries. Quarterback Jordan Yantz saw four of his five completions go for majors as he finished 5-of-8 for 246 yards. Receiver Tyson Buchannon had five catches for 190 yards and three TDs. Slotback Robin Medeiros had 100 receiving yards, caught a touchdown pass and threw for another. Andrew Smith caught two TDs and Jared Ralko and Derek Cooper also found the endzone. Backup QB Marc Migneault was 8-of-9 with two TDs.

"I really liked the way our quarterbacks played," said Matthew "Snoop" Blokker, Raiders' coach. "They put the ball where it needed to be."

Defensively, linebacker Lucas Desmet led the way with seven tackles and safety Levar Hayden had five. Defensive back Graham Norrish had three solo tackles and three pass knockdowns. Kyle Pavan and Prashant Chaube each intercepted a pass.

Not all the statistics were positive for the Raiders. The team did allow the Trojans to garner 428 yards of offence including 336 passing yards. Part of that, Blokker said, was inexperience in the DB corps with star cornerback Aaron Davies out injured and Walker Morrison getting hurt.

Blokker also thought the Raiders' D-line needed to be better at getting through to the quarterback.

GRID BITS . Other B.C. Football Conference scores saw the South Surrey Rams defeat the Victoria Rebels 37-16 on the mainland and the Okanagan Sun take it to the Kamloops Broncos 48-14 in the desert.