Rams no match for Raiders

August 10, 2009

Author: Michael Rhodes, Nanaimo Daily News

Somewhere down the line, the Vancouver Island Raiders are going to be tested in a big way.

It may come in Week 5, a road game against the Victoria Rebels or a week later at home against the Okanagan Sun.

Through two weeks, however, the Raiders haven't met much in the way of resistance from B.C. Football Conference opponents.

On Saturday, the South Surrey Rams brought a lot more to the field than the Kamloops Broncos did in the Raiders opening-season game a week before.

The Rams put points on the board and were a lot more physical but the Raiders cruised to a 52-19 win at South Surrey Athletic Park.

The Raiders have a bye this week and won't play again until Aug. 22 when they visit the Vancouver Trojans.

They may need the extra rest. Though there were no serious injuries according to head coach Matt Blokker, the Raiders got beat up a bit and not by run of the mill play.

"They're the chippiest team in the league, no doubt about it, they are the dirtiest and chippiest team in the league" said Blokker on Sunday. "That's the kind of battle it is every time we go over there. It's the most physical game we play. They've got a lot of hot air over there and they like to blow it up.

"That team seems to get a little too wound up. It took us a little bit to settle down."

Tailback Andrew Harris had a career first half, scoring all four of his touchdowns, three on the ground and one by air.

Two of his runs were longer than some people go on vacation -- 70 yards and 89 yards -- to stake the Raiders to a lead they would never relinquish. Unofficially, he carried the ball 17 times for 246 yards.

He also had a 16-yard score and a 21-yard touchdown from the arm of starting quarterback Jordan Yantz.

Yantz also connected for touchdowns to Robin Medeiros (40 yards) and Jared Ralko (34 yards) before Joe Holder rounded out the scoring with a 19-yard run.

Yantz completed 13 of 21 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns.

The effort looked overpowering on the scoreboard -- and it was -- but Blokker said the team wasn't very celebratory on the way home.

"I think the expectations that are put on our team right now, only by ourselves, not by anybody else, are fairly high," said Blokker. "When you come home after a road trip and you have a 52-19 win over the South Surrey Rams, you'd think most guys would be pretty happy. We had a pretty sombre group after the game. That's great. We know we have a lot to work on and we're excited about that. We're so glad we're not peaking right now. There's a ton for us to work on and there's a lot of potential out there."

Blokker said the team will have most of the week off this week before they start preparing for the Vancouver game.