WESTSHORE 37 KAMLOOPS 22
The Westshore Rebels moved back into second place in the sa国际传媒 Football Conference standings late Saturday night in Kamloops, handing the host Broncos a 37-22 setback.
Earlier in the day, the Langley Rams lost a heartbreaker as Mark Mueller kicked a 41-yard field goal on the last play of the game to hand the Vancouver Island Raiders a 34-32 win on the mainland.
The Raiders lead the sa国际传媒 Football Conference standings with an 8-0-1 record while the Rebels improve to 7-2, with the Rams right behind at 6-2-1. Westshore ends its season Saturday afternoon on the road against the Raiders while the Rams face the Okanagan Sun.
The top two teams will have home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Rebels running back Greg Morris was looking to secure his place in the club record books, requiring 73 yards to match Sam Adu's record of 1,139 yards, set in 2010. His final stats were not available at press time.
Morris - the team's first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher since Sasa Petrovic did it in 1987 and 1988 - was also two touchdowns shy of Blaine Kruger's team record of 15 in one season.
"He's a great athlete," six-foot-six, 380-pound Rebels' offensive lineman Rob Smith said of Morris before Saturday's matchup. "He gets a lot of yards after our blocks, too, which is huge, and good on him."
The Rebels' game plan going into the matchup in Kamloops was to continue pounding away at defences via a strong ground game.
"There have been a couple of hiccups here and there, but we've been able to run on most defences," said Smith. "If teams don't believe that, all they have to do is look at Greg's stats."
As for Morris, the Ontario native says his focus is to win, not break records.
"I don't count them, no," he said of his rushing totals. "I just wait for my offensive linemen to open up the holes and then I go to work."
As for facing the Broncos, Morris added: "I don't see big differences with any of the teams. I see them all the same and just try to execute."
Rebels head coach John Cardilicchia stressed his now 7-2 team will continue to focus on the rushing attack.
"We believe we can run every time we go out and we commit to that. We're a run-heavy team that can still throw the ball downfield," he said. "We can get the big play at any time so defences can't crowd the line of scrimmage on us. Teams have to do it with their defensive line and linebackers."
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