The V.I. Raiders completely dominated an opponent in all facets of the game, once again.
Nanaimo’s undefeated Canadian Junior Football League team smashed the Kamloops Broncos 77-4 on Saturday night in the desert.
The numbers were eye-popping as usual, with the Raiders gaining 673 yards of offence compared to 97 by the Broncos.
Nanaimo was up 49-4 at the half and kept going in the second half, never settling for a field goal attempt and scoring 11 touchdowns. The game was a penalty-filled affair with several Raiders touchdowns called back due to unnecessary roughness.
The biggest chunks of yardage came from Raiders quarterback Jordan Yantz and tailback Jordan Botel. Yantz was 15-for-24 passing for 284 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Yantz also had a rushing major. Botel racked up 226 rushing yards on 20 carries, punching in three TDs.
Receiver Dustin Pedersen made four catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns and fellow pass-catcher Mike Schaper also scored two TDs. Andrew Smith had the Raiders’ other touchdown catch.
Taylor Flavel scored Nanaimo’s other offensive touchdown on a 28-yard run and the Raiders also got points from the defence as linebacker Dylan Chapdelaine recovered a fumble for a TD.
Chapdelaine also had six tackles on the day and Ranji Atwall had seven. Casey Neal made five tackles. Adam Laurensse and Cole Bishop had interceptions and Evan Foster had a fumble recovery.
After the Raiders’ defence surrendered 200-plus yards of rushing in last week’s win over the Westshore Rebels, the D clamped down and held Kamloops’ feature back Mike McMaster to 16 yards on seven carries. Overall the Broncos managed 33 rush yards compared to 389 by the Raiders.
GAME ON … The next game for V.I. is this Saturday (Sept. 24), when the last-placed Chilliwack Huskers visit Caledonia Park for a 2 p.m. game.