Just how dominant has the Langley Rams front seven been this season?
Their opponent, the Valley Huskers, only attempted three runs in a one-sided 52-0 victory in Langley’s home opener on Saturday night at McLeod Athletic Park.
The Huskers had three rushes for nine yards. By comparison, the Langley backfield combined for 336 yards on 30 carries, including 145 yards and two touchdowns on just seven rushes for Nathan Lund.
The win improved Langley to 2-1 in the B.C. Football Conference while the Huskers dropped to 0-3.
The Rams held Valley to 170 yards of net offence, including just 29 yards and one first down in the second half.
Langley racked up another six quarterback sacks — two apiece from linebacker Shaiheem Charles-Brown and lineman Brock Gowanlock — and the team has now dropped the opposing signal caller 18 times in three games, with Gowanlock registering eight of those.
Rams head coach Jeff Alamolhoda Gowanlock’s off-season commitment to training, and the fact he has been more focused and mature, is paying dividends.
It also helps that Langley is well-stocked on the defence front.
“We have a lot of depth and a lot of players who can make plays,” Alamolhoda said.
“That’s why we are able to be successful because we are able to rotate guys in and keep everyone fresh.”
The Rams knew the Huskers were going to abandon the run and work on getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly.
“We game-planned for that,” Alamolhoda said.
“That’s why we jumped a lot of their under-routes.”
The offence overcame a slow start — they had just seven points in the first quarter — to score four touchdowns before the half.
In addition to Lund’s two scores, which including a dazzling 65-yard run, Jacob Patko had a short-yardage score and Dylan Tucker connected with Bobby Pospischil on a 32-yarder and a 14-yarder to Seye Akinsanmi for a pair of touchdown passes.
The second half saw touchdowns from Jesse Cerva on a 21-yard fumble return and Devin Logan on a short touchdown run.
Brian Hope rounded things out with a 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He also made all seven converts.
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The Rams head into Kelowna on Saturday for a showdown against the 3-0 Okanagan Sun.
The Sun have allowed just 10 points this season and the game is a rematch of the 2014 Cullen Cup championship, which Langley won.