The Raiders will come back refreshed and ready to try to be a better team in the second half of the season.
Following a bye week, Nanaimo’s V.I. Raiders (3-2) get back to B.C. Football Conference action this Sunday (Sept. 10) with a game against the Okanagan Sun at Kelowna’s Apple Bowl stadium.
Players had a week off to rest, reconnect with family, and keep hitting the gym.
“We’re going to come back with a mental edge and a physical edge,” said Doug Hocking, Raiders coach.
He recognizes that the schedule sets up tough for V.I. with back-to-back road games coming up against the Sun and Westshore Rebels – the league’s first- and second-place teams.
“It doesn’t get any easier for us, but there’s no other way that we would want it. We want every week to be a challenge,” Hocking said.
He thinks the Raiders are going to get healthier and start to get some starters back in the lineup and suggested that will make a noticeable difference.
The bye week provides a reset in some ways – the Raiders have faced every opponent now and have a better idea of where they are and where they want to be.
“We’ve seen every team and taken every team’s best shot, so we feel we’re sitting in a good place right now,” the coach said. “We still are only getting better every week and that’s the goal is to get better every week.”
GAME ON … The Raiders and Sun play at 1 p.m. Sunday and there will be a $10 webcast at www.bcfootballconference.com.
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