OKAGANAGAN CAPTURES CANADIAN BOWL IN REGINA

For the first time since 2000 the Okanagan Sun are CJFL Canadian Bowl champions after a 21-19 victory over the Regina Thunder Saturday afternoon.

It was a very cold afternoon in Regina, but the Sun was shining in more ways than one.  Down 15-7 at the half, the Sun came out strong in the third quarter converting two touchdowns including a gutsy 24-yard touchdown pass on a third and two when Dominic Britton connected with Mike O’Shea.  It turned out to be the game winning score. 

For the Thunder, it was their only loss of the season. Carter Shewchuk completed 18 passes for 188 yards and Ryland Leichert rushed 22 times for 77 yards.

Their defence was led by Stephen Smith who made five tackles and had seven assisted tackles.  Matthew Schill was also a factor with four tackles and put pressure on the Sun backfield. 

This is the third national title for the Okanagan Sun after winning in 1988 and 2000 and it’s their first ever victory on the Prairies. As a matter of fact, it is just the second time a team from BC has traveled to Saskatchewan and won a game.  The other time was in 2008 when the VI Raiders beat the Saskatoon Hilltops. 

(Ryan Watters, CJFL.org)