An accident and a fog-shrouded Okanagan Connector couldn't slow down the Terry Fox Ravens. The Ravens walked onto Kelowna's Apple Bowl a half-hour before game time and hit the ground running in Friday's clash against the Mt. Boucherie Bears.
Nick Agnoletto took the opening kickoff 75 yards for a score to start the Ravens on their way to a 59-28 win. Ravens quarterback Conner McKee hit Adrial Sellers for a 23-yard touchdown and then connected for 57 yards with Mike West, who broke a number of tackles as he rumbled into the end zone. Keishon Ross also returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score in the first half that ended 28-28.
"The boys got a bit of a tongue lashing, to say the least, at the half and someadjustments were made, especially on D," said Ravens co-coach Martin McDonnell.
The Raven defence took over in the second half, capitalizing on four turnovers to silence the Bear offence. Isaiah Stevens led the way, finishing with 11 tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Jordon Seney had two sacks, four tackles and a forced fumble, while West was a force on both sides of the ball with five tackles and two sacks. Brycen Mayo also had a key interception.
McKee, West and Kyle Degeau all picked up rushing touchdowns in the second half, with Jason Shamatutu hauling in a 19-yard strike from McKee.
West finished the game with 120 yards on 10 carries, while Degeau had nine carries for 102 yards. McKee went 7-for-16 for 134 yards, with three TDs and an interception. He also rushed for 65 yards.
The Centennial Centaurs overcame a multitude of turnovers to ground the visiting Kelowna Owls 42-27 Friday.
J.P. Kalambay led the Centaurs' attack, racking up 295 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Quarterback Nick Okamoto ran one in himself and connected with receivers Josh Taitinger and Isaiah Stewart for the other two majors.
"Kalambay was such a threat on the ground that it opened up space for Nick to connect with his receivers," said Centennial head coach Simon Quinto."The final score doesn't actually show how close the game really was but I was impressed with our defence overall, only giving up three touchdowns [with the other touchdown coming on special teams] and forcing six turnovers."
Aaron Borg led the defence with eight tackles and forced fumble while Saeed Ali-Hussain racked up seven tackles to go along with an interception.
Centennial will travel to Kelowna to face Mt. Boucherie on Friday while the No. 2-ranked Ravens take on the WJ Mouat Hawks in Abbotsford.
