The Langley Rams used a punishing ground game and smothering defence to earn their first victory of the season.
The Rams trailed the Kamloops Broncos 14-3 in the second quarter before scoring 22 of the final 25 points to win 25-17 on Sunday night at Kamloops’ Hillside Stadium.
Both teams are now 1-1 in B.C. Junior Football Conference action.
Nathan Lund led the charge along the ground with 144 yards on 10 carries and one touchdown. Devin Logan also came up with a big game, carrying the ball nine times for 82 yards. Jacob Patko had a touchdown on five carries for 26 yards.
“Our offensive line, they were moving,” said Langley coach Jeff Alamolhoda. “And our running backs were seeing holes well.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s BCFC semifinals, which Langley won by holding on for a 48-46 victory. Kamloops, a highly explosive offensive team had scored 72 points in week one and prior to the game against the Rams, the team’s offensive co-ordinator Mike Faisthuber told the Kamloops This Week that they expected to put up between 40 and 50 points and about 500 passing yards.
The Rams defence held Kamloops to 213 yards passing, 286 total yards and 17 points.
“It was really good to show our true character and our ability to fight and come back against a really good football team, a team that has a really potent offence and a flying-around defence,” Alamolhoda said.
Langley also had an interception and a fumble recovery, with the latter of the turnovers coming midway through the fourth quarter and the game tied at 17.
Three players later, quarterback Dylan Tucker — who entered the game late in the third quarter — threw a touchdown pass to Seye Akinsanmi for the winning score.
Alamolhoda said the insertion of Tucker gave the team a spark heading into the fourth quarter.
Brock Gowanlock continued his fantastic start to the season as he finished with a pair of quarterback sacks. As a team, the Rams dropped quarterback Stephen Schuweiler five times. Saeed Hosaine-Ali had two sacks and four tackles while Austin Iredale had the other sack.
“We have some guys up front, as well as linebackers, that are giving different looks and pressures. And they are competing their butts off and finishing (their plays),” Alamohoda said.
Defensive lineman Alex Agnoletto — the B.C. Lions defensive player of the week — led the teamwith eight tackles and John Beckerleg and Clovis Lumeka each had four tackles. Lumeka also picked off a pass and returned it 22 yards.
Kicker Brian Hope was also named the B.C. Lions special teams player of the week, connecting on his only field goal, three converts and adding a kickoff single. He also averaged 48.6 yards per kickoff and 36.5 yards per punt.
Despite the victory, the Rams did have some areas of concern to address, chiefly their discipline as they were flagged 23 times for 205 yards in penalties.
“It is definitely something that we as a team will be concentrating on and trying to figure out a way to reduce and eliminate our mistakes so we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot again,” Alamolhoda said.
The Rams will play their home opener on Saturday night at McLeod Athletic Park when they host the 0-2 Valley Huskers. Game time is 7 p.m.
— with files from Kamloops This Week