Sun roadshow in Chilliwack

Photo: Okanagan Sun

The Okanagan Sun's season opening road odyssey makes a stop in Chilliwack Saturday evening.

The Sun, 1-0-1, play their first four games on the road while the track at the Apple Bowl is resurfaced.

The Sun have never lost to the Huskers on the field, running up a 34-0 record. The only loss came in the boardroom when the Sun were deemed to have used an ineligible player in a lopsided victory.

But, these are not the same Huskers who entered this season losers of 31 straight overall. That ended with a season-opening 33-31 victory over the VI Raiders.

"They are very skilled, especially on the edges, receivers and defensive backs," said Sun head coach Ben Macauley.

"They've got serious talent, they've got playmakers. I think we have the edge in the box, our seven up front on defence and our offensive line I think gives us the edge which I'm happy about."

The Sun come into the game Saturday off a disappointing 18-18 tie in Victoria last weekend, a game Macauley says his team is taking like a loss.

And, coming into a game against a club they have dominated over the years, that attitude can only help.

"I'm glad my team saw it as a loss. We had a number of opportunities to put it away and we didn't.

"Had we won the game, maybe we would have overlooked some of the glaring mistakes we made, some of the personnel changes we need to adjust. If that's as close as we come to a loss, if that's what we need for a kick in the pants..."

The Sun expect to have rookie single caller Matthew Mahler under centre Saturday.

Mahler, who has had his struggles while playing the second half of both games this season, will likely get the start in place of Jakob Loucks, who suffered an upper body injury just before halftime in Victoria.

Mahler will have the advantage of working with the first string offence through the week of practice.

"I think he's more than ready to lead the team and do a good job of diving into some basic, fundamental things we do on our offence," said Macauley.

"He needs the experience, and we may need to lean on him later in the year, so this is a good chance to get him some of those reps if that's the case."

Macauley says a decision on who starts will be a game-time decision.

While the Sun prepare for the Huskers, Macauley says last week's tie still stings a bit, especially one particular sequence.

Leading 14-3 in the third quarter, the Sun connected on a field goal to go up 14. The Rebels were assessed a penalty on the play which resulted in a first down.

"I was not given an option whether to accept or decline the penalty," said Macauley. "Whether that was given to one of the on-field captains is unclear, but I was not asked."

The points came off the board. The ensuing drive stalled but the field goal attempt was wide, giving the Sun just a single point, not three.

Macauley says given the point of the game and the fact the offence was struggling to move the ball, he would not have taken the points off the board.

"Looking back on it, maybe I could have made a bigger stink about it in the game, but at the end of the day, we don't want to be in that tight of a game where that is a problem."