Westshore Rebels head coach Dexter Jenke may have uttered the understatement of the fledgling B.C. Football Conference season following his club’s 70-10 victory Saturday over the Kamloops Broncos at Starlight Stadium: “We’ve definitely done well and executed our game plan.”
That and so much more as, combined with the opening 69-0 win over the Vancouver Island Raiders in the Island derby last week in Nanaimo, the Rebels have outscored their opponents 139-10 over their first two games.
“We’re working well together right now,” said Janke.
You could say that. And a whole lot more.
The Rebels led 21-3 at the end of the first quarter and 49-3 at the half Saturday and didn’t let up in the second half.
“We were extremely excited to open at home and it was great to do this in front of our home fans and supporters,” said Janke.
The Broncos (0-1 after a first-week bye) won’t get that chance for a while as they open with five straight road games due to renovations at Hillside Stadium. That is the short-term pain to go through this season to get a better facility in the long term for future seasons. Although that will mostly be for runners as a new $3-million track is being installed by the City of Kamloops, according to Kamloops This Week.
Westshore, meanwhile, made the most of its home-field advantage Saturday.
“I thought our defence did well, and on offence, our receivers found situations in which to get open,” said Janke.
But no coach worth his ear phones relies on results from the first two football games of the season. Especially one who is a former CFL defensive back and special-teams player who played in two Grey Cup games with the Calgary Stampeders before winning the Cup in 2019 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“We have plenty of room to improve and need to be more technically sound,” said Janke.
“Penalties need to be addressed.”
That didn’t matter in the first two games of the season but will when the games get more serious against the likes of the Okanagan Sun, the team that defeated the Rebels in the Cullen Cup BCFC final last year.
The Vancouver Island Raiders (0-2) were in Langley on Saturday and lost 54-3 to the Rams (1-1). The Fraser Valley Huskers (1-0) were in Kelowna to meet the Sun (1-0).
The Prince George Kodiaks (0-1) had the bye week before facing the daunting task of facing Westshore next Saturday, even if it is at home.
The Rebels are using the long bus trip up North as a chance to jell off the field. On the field, that appears to be no issue at the moment.
“It will be like a field trip and a chance to bond,” said Janke.
