鈥淲e鈥檙e preparing ourselves for a team that has won three in a row. The Rams are dangerous and they鈥檙e looking to upset us. It鈥檚 a bit of a trap game for us, coming off a very emotional game and a very good result for us,鈥� Cardilicchia said, referring to this afternoon鈥檚 venture to Langley.
Coming off a 22-17 win over rivals, the Vancouver Island Raiders, last week and four straight games at home, the Rebels (6-1) need to be cautious against the Rams (4-3), whose head coach Khari Joseph stepped down this week.
Former head man Jeff Alamolhoda steps back in the interim.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not expecting anything different from them. They鈥檝e won three in a row. It鈥檚 a game that after being four weeks at home 鈥� five if you include the bye week 鈥� that we have to take seriously,鈥� Cardilicchia said.
With just two more regular-season games remaining following today (one in Chilliwack and the other at home to the first-place Okanagan Sun), the Rebels know what they need to accomplish to finish first.
鈥淲e feel we are in the driver鈥檚 seat, especially with that tie between Nanaimo and the Sun.鈥�
Having lost 19-15 to Okanagan back in Week 1, that meant the Rebels would have needed to cover that point spread if it came down to that final week. Now three straight wins would secure first place and home advantage through the playoffs.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really important to us,鈥� said Cardilicchia. 鈥淲e鈥檝e won six in a row and we are the hottest team in the country right now. I like that. I like that we鈥檙e coming together as a team.鈥�
In the win over the Raiders, the Rebels allowed Rhett Williams to run for 150 yards on just 16 carries as he collected BCFC offensive player of the week honours. But Westshore limited quarterback Jake Laberge to just 169 yards passing, completing just 11 of 28 passes.
Trey Campbell rattled off 137 yards rushing of his own for the Rebels and quarterback Scott Borden Jr. ran for 74 yards and threw for another 225 on a very productive day.
鈥淥ffensively, we鈥檝e had 1,000 yards the last two weeks and we still haven鈥檛 hit full stride,鈥� said Cardilicchia. 鈥淚 thought Scott Borden played his best game of the year last week.鈥�
His quarterback has only tossed two interceptions all year.
Defensively, the team does not have a single player in the top 15 in statistics, but as a unit it has great depth.
Maleek Womack is coming off defensive player of the week honours after intercepting two passes and recording a forced fumble.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got some really good defenders, obviously,鈥� said Cardilicchia. 鈥淜ent Hicks has been a big piece of it and Jeremie Drouin is turning it on as of late. Maleek, making those types of interceptions late in the game, has got great savvy.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a real spirited bunch on defence. Brandon Gandire played a really good game for us and he鈥檚 really starting to step up as one of the top corners in this league and this week we鈥檙e adding Manny Menegbo.鈥�
Now they just have to watch for that trap door in Langley.
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