V.I. Raiders shut down Sun

September 09, 2009

It wasn't the prettiest win of the season for the Vancouver Island Raiders, but it was the most important so far.

Nanaimo's Canadian Junior Football League team defeated the Okanagan Sun 16-11 Saturday at Caledonia Park to improve to 5-0.

The Raiders got it done with defence. They had to - the offence wasn't overpowering with star tailback Andrew Harris out of the lineup due to injury.

"It's nice when the defence comes through and we're not always having to rely on the offence putting up 70," said Josh Williams, Raiders' defensive lineman.

The V.I. attack scored just enough points, but things were a little dicey - the visitors led 8-3 at halftime and 11-10 going into the fourth quarter. Kicker Mark Mueller hit a pair of field goals in the clutch, however, and the defence made the points stand up.

As usual, the Raiders shut down the run, allowing just 47 yards on 17 Okie attempts. They also got better defending the pass as the game went on as Sun QB Derek Mann finished 13-for-26 for 206 yards and a touchdown.

"He had a couple of big plays but that's what's going to happen, a big player will make his plays," Williams said. "We just had to stop him, and we completely destroyed the run. It was a total defensive effort and it was awesome."

Mark De Swart, Ranji Atwall and Nick Woznesensky all had sacks and Williams recovered a Mann fumble. Raiders coach Matthew "Snoop" Blokker said much of the pressure was possible due to good coverage by safety Levar Hayden and the rest of the defensive backfield.

"It made [Mann] hold onto the football," Blokker said. "He held onto the ball a lot more in the second half and we got him."

On offence, V.I. quarterback Jordan Yantz was 11-of-21 passing with a TD throw to Matt Sawyer. Without Harris, rushing duties fell to backup Brett Willsie who was held to 45 yards on 14 carries.

The Raiders' 21st straight victory at Caledonia Park allowed the team to hang on to first place in the B.C. Football Conference and build momentum entering the second half of the season.

"It's a confidence booster playing in a close game like that, knowing we can grind one out like that, play some smashmouth football and get the win," Sawyer said.