Okanagan Sun's near-perfect season comes to an end in agonizing defeat

The Okanagan Sun were nearly one quarter away from completing a perfect season and claiming the 115th Canadian Bowl, but instead, the St. Clair Saints proved to be too much and pulled ahead for the 37-22 win yesterday.

The Sun came into Windsor, Ont., with a 13-0 record after winning all 10 British Columbia Football Conference (BCFC) games, two BCFC playoff matches and their national semifinal over the Regina Thunder to earn a berth in the national championship.

Saturday’s match saw the Sun take a 15-6 lead over the Saints going into halftime.

After the Saints kicked a field goal to open the scoring in the third quarter, Ty Walker caught the ball and ran more than 70 yards for the score, putting the Kelowna-based team up 22-9.

The Saints then began to claw away at the lead and put a pair of majors on the scoreboard.

Down 23-22, the Sun fumbled the ball early in the final frame and the Saints capitalized on the mistake, eventually scoring to go up 30-22.

The next Sun drive stalled and the Saints got the ball back. St. Clair proceeded to march down the field and take a 37-22 lead with a little more than 7 minutes to play.

The Sun got the ball back a few times before the end of the game but were unable to score as St. Clair held on for the win.

Linebacker Jacob Bond from the Sun was named defensive player of the game.

The win for the Saints marked the first time since 1999 that a team from Ontario won the Canadian Bowl, with the last time being the Saints over the Sun in 1999.

Elelyon Noa was named the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) outstanding offensive player of the year after putting up 1612 rushing yards in the regular season, a BCFC record.

Sun Quarterback Marek Filipek was named the CJFL offensive rookie of the year after posting 1316 passing yards and nine touchdown passes in the regular season.