Sun aim for perfect season

There will be a lot on the line for both teams when the Okanagan Sun host the Valley Huskers Saturday afternoon at the Apple Bowl.

For the Sun, Saturday will be a chance to complete a second perfect season in three years and check off the first of many teams goals.

For the Huskers, it’s a chance to get a leg up on Langley and Westshore in the tight three-way battle for the post season positioning.

All three teams enter the weekend with three losses on the season.

“Going 10 is good enough motivation for most guys to play a full 60 minutes,” said Okanagan Sun head coach Travis Miller earlier this week.

“The same as 2022 when we had an undefeated season going into PG. “We knew that would probably be a blowout, but in this case we have a really strong opponent who we could see in the first round of the playoffs.

“The last thing we want to do is play a bad game or not execute and give them some confidence coming back in the playoffs.”

How the other three teams finish will be decided over the final two weeks of the regular season. The Huskers face the Sun and VI Raiders while the Rebels tackle the Raiders and Rams.

The Sun and Huskers faced each other back in week two of the season, a Sun 26-0 win in Chilliwack.

But Miller says don’t read too much into that outcome.

“I think both teams are vastly different. They are definitely a stronger team then they were back then and I think we’re a different team than we were."

“I think it will be a really good battle between teams that could see each other in the playoffs, whether it’s the first or second round.”

Along with team goals, Sun running back Elelyon Noa has a chance to set a new BCFC single-season rushing record.

Noa, who broke the club record while rushing for 253 yards against the Rebels last weekend, is 200 yards shy of the league record of 1,604 set by Jamel Lyles in 2016.

He also has an outside chance at tying the BCFC and CJFL rushing touchdown and overall touchdown record. He would need seven and six respectively to equal those records.

Noa has already set at least five single game and season-long records including years, touchdowns and carries in a season, and is seven points away from the team scoring record.

For Noa, the records are nice but…

“Honestly, no,” he said when asked about the individual success.

“Whatever the stats are for me…I just want to win the game. I hate losing.

“Getting as many carries as I do, i just try to make the best of my opportunities. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to win as a team.”

Regardless of his workload Saturday, Noa and the rest of the Sun players will enjoy a final week bye to heal up and get ready for the playoffs in two weeks.

“It’s the end of the year. It’s been a long year and everyone is banged up, so just getting healthy,” Noa added about Saturday.

The extra week off before the playoffs could also factor into how the Sun approach Saturday’s game.

“We are not as concerned about playing guys this week as we were in other weeks, so guys will probably play more this week than if it was the last week of the season,” says Miller.

“Where we are right now, it’s a unique spot in that we get to go out and play the game like everybody else does, then we still get a bye at the end which is awesome for us.”

Saturday's game, which kicks off at 4 p.m. at the Apple Bowl, is also the annual Burn Fund Classic.

This game is a fundraiser for the BC Burn Fund, Kelowna Firefighters Charitable Society and West Kelowna Charitable Society.