VICTORIA 33 CHILLIWACK 3
After an opening-season loss to their Nanaimo counterparts, the Victoria Rebels have now rattled off six consecutive wins.
The latest was Saturday's 33-3 victory over the Chilliwack Huskers, the sa国际传媒 Football Conference's weak link the last three seasons - a team that remains winless over those three years.
The Rebels, meanwhile, now prepare for their biggest test since the opening 44-14 loss to the Vancouver Island Raiders - a home date with the Langley Rams next Saturday afternoon at Bear Mountain Stadium.
"You never want to say this as a coach, but the reality is you find yourself looking past these last couple of opponents," Rebels defensive co-ordinator Scott Mennie said of wins over Kamloops and Chilliwack.
"This next one is a massive matchup with huge implications."
The Rams will be testy, having lost their first game of the season to the Raiders on Saturday by a 41-29 count. That leaves the Raiders in first place at 6-0-1, the Rebels sit second at 6-1 and Rams third at 5-1-1 with a key two points up for grabs in Victoria this weekend.
After experiencing more travel problems (the 9 a.m. ferry was cancelled Saturday, forcing a 3: 30 p.m. start instead of the original 2 p.m. kickoff), the Rebels jumped out to a 17-3 halftime lead.
Two weeks ago, the team's bus broke down on the highway to Kelowna, but the Rebels came up with a huge victory over the Okanagan Sun.
On Saturday, the team was forced to go without someone to tape up the players and just a 15-minute warmup.
"We responded OK considering the circumstances," said Mennie. "Mentally, it affects you."
Runningback Greg Morris had a pair of touchdowns for the Rebels, while receivers Eric Eggleston and Fikreiwnet Yitna had the others. Quinn Van Gylswyk added a pair of field goals for the winners.
Defensively, Braeden Swatez recorded two interceptions to make it four straight games in which he has recorded at least one turnover for the Rebels.
"Yeah, like he called it in the sa国际传媒 [Saturday]," Mennie said with a chuckle.
Swatez was coming off a BCFC record-breaking performance last week in which he had five pass knockdowns, as well as an interception.
Asked this week how he could top it, Swatez said with two interceptions, which he managed to pull off.
The Rebels will now face Langley on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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