Sun off to BCFC final

Photo: Wayne Moore

Kelton Kouri outran the Huskers defence for his first of three touchdowns Sunday.

It'll be the Okanagan Sun and Langley Rams for the BC Football Conference championship next Sunday.

The Rams earned their way to the title game with a 37-26 win over the VI Raiders, while the Sun got three touchdowns from Kelton Kouri in a 40-21 thumping of the Valley Huskers Sunday at the Apple Bowl.

Kouri was the linchpin of a ground attack. He carried the ball 11 times for 197 yards, as the Sun shredded the Huskers defence for 362 yards on the ground.

He showed off his speed an vision on the fourth play of the game. After the Sun were forced to punt on their opening drive, the Huskers were called for too many men of the field, giving the Sun a first down at their 43.

On the next play, Kouri found a seam over right tackle, broke through a tackle, bounced to the outside, and raced down the sidelines for 67 yards.

Midway through the fourth, after the Huskers had cut the deficit to five, Kouri capped a five-play, 85 yard drive with a 55 yard scamper in which he broke through numerous tackles, and zig zagged his way around other would-be tacklers into the end zone.

He capped off his day with a seven yard run in the dying moments to put an exclamation mark on a career day.

"He surprises me. I kind of threw him under the bus a few weeks ago...I didn't know how fast he was," said head coach Ben Macauley.

"He keeps showing up and finishes down the field. Just when you think he's going to get tackled, he has a little extra left in the tank."

Kouri, and his running mates Malcolm Miller and Jesse Amenkwaa all had a lot in the tank as Macauley and the staff took advantage of three healthy running backs for the first time since early in the season and rotated them series by series to keep them fresh.

"It's really important this time of year to be able to plug fresh legs in especially if you run the ball as much as we do, which is quite a bit.

"We have three dynamic guys and we have to figure out ways to get their hands on the ball. Malcolm did great at times, Jesse is a real tough runner and powerhouse and Kelton does just about everything."

Miller carried the ball 12 times for 116 yards while Amenkwaa had five carries for 13 yards, most of those later in the game.

The Sun built a 15-0 lead after one quarter after quarterback Matthew Mahler hit Kian Ishani on a 53-yard strike at the end of the quarter.

The Huskers battled back in the second quarter. Quarterback Julian Wytinck snuck in from a yard out, capping an eight play drive aided by three Sun penalties. The first negated an interception, then two unnecessary roughness fouls put the ball on the one.

With time ticking down, the Huskers dug deep into their bag of tricks. Wytinck threw a backwards lateral to receiver Anthony Dyck, who connected with a wide open Jacob Penner on a 54-uard scoring strike to pull the Huskers to within one at the break.

The defence helped build the lead back to 12. The Huskers conceded a pair of safeties when the defence pinned them deep in their own end, then defensive back Trey Adams stepped min front of a receiver on second a long, and scampered 10 yards for a touchdown, putting the Sun up 26-14.

The Huskers got close again, but a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns from Kouri and a two-yard run from Amenkwaa put it away.

Mahler completed 13 of 26 passes for 199 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions as the Sun amassed 561 yards in total offence.

The Huskers were unable to get anything going on the ground, gaining just 31 yards against the Sun defence. Wytinck was forced to go through the air for any success.

He completed 18 of 39 for 268 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

The Sun and Rams will decide the BCFC title next Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Apple Bowl.

It will be the third meeting between the two teams. Each team was victorious on the road.