The V.I. Raiders logged a lot of yards at main camp, bringing them that much closer to football season.
Nanaimo’s Canadian Junior Football League team wrapped up training camp Sunday at Duncan’s Queen of Angels School.
“It went really well,” said Jerome Erdman, Raiders coach. “There was great competition, we got a lot of things accomplished, so we were very happy with how camp went.”
The three days included four practices leading up to an intrasquad game, which the offence won. The Raiders progressed in a number of different areas and feel like they were able to bring players up to speed on a base package of plays to set them up for the season.
“We’re way ahead of where we were last year at this time as far as understanding the playbook and [limiting] the mental mistakes,” the coach said. “We’ve still got some work to do; we’re still making some mistakes but overall I’m very pleased.”
As far as the various position groups, running backs were some of the standouts, with three or four guys showing really well, the coach said. He was also impressed with the O-line which he said looked solid. The Raiders had high expectations for their quarterbacks and those players didn’t disappoint. Receivers started well but injuries took a toll on that group.
On defence, the team suspected its defensive backfield would be a strength and that proved to be the case. Erdman said the unit is fast and athletic. In the linebacking corps, some young guys stepped up and showed they can play at the junior level. The D line has some talented players, but Erdman said depth is a concern there.
By the bus ride home, the coach said he and his staff now have a “pretty good idea” of what the starting lineup will look like. He said the experience of main camp definitely makes the Raiders more excited about what’s to come.
“Seeing our guys rise up to the challenge and compete against each other, it was exciting,” Erdman said. “We know we’ve got some good talent that can compete and that want to compete.”
It’s also a more tight-knit group after spending a weekend on the road together.
“It gave us a great opportunity to bond and already we’ve noticed a big difference in team chemistry and all the guys being a bit of a tighter group because we shared this,” said Erdman.
The team will take a day off and then begin a regular practice schedule on Tuesday. The Raiders will look to build on the things they worked on at main camp, get better, get healthy and although the guys are all in shape, they need to continue to find their football shape, the coach said.
“We’ll continue that process over the next couple weeks so we hit the ground running.”
GAME ON … The Raiders kick off the B.C. Football Conference regular season on July 23, when they host the Kamloops Broncos in a 2 p.m. game at Caledonia Park.
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