Image credit: CFJC Today/Anthony Corea

By Marty Hastings

B.C. Football Conference

Broncos hang with Huskers but fall out of post-season contention with loss

Sep 16, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Head coach Braden Vankoughnett was buoyed by his club’s effort in defeat on Sunday (Sept. 15) at Hillside Stadium, where the Valley Huskers of Chilliwack bested his Kamloops Broncos 53-36 in B.C. Football Conference action.

“I’m proud of the guys,” said Vankoughnett, whose club fell to 1-and-6 and out of post-season contention. “I’m proud of the way we came out. It’s definitely frustrating because this was a playoff game for us and we played like it, man. We’ve got to regroup and finish the next three games strong.”

The final scoreline is not indicative of the home team’s performance, a bounceback effort after dropping the first meeting between the clubs in blowout fashion – 51-7 on July 27 in Chilliwack.

Kamloops led 22-10 at halftime and trailed by three points with three minutes and six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

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“We’re definitely fighting,” receiver Corey Jeeves said. “We’ve had players leave, but the 45 guys who are left here, they’re committed to coming every day. We’re fighting as much as we can and we’re showing improvement.”

Receivers Jeeves, Brock Dufort, Coltin Peterson (one touchdown grab), Kaleb Senz (who returned a punt for six) and B.C. Lions’ prospect Colton Meikle (two touchdown catches) helped push the Broncos to the brink of victory, along with backup quarterback Clark Snider, who put together a gutsy outing after a rocky start.

Kamloops running back Owen Stockbruegger scampered in for one rushing touchdown.

“It probably stings just a little bit for everybody,” Broncos’ defensive lineman Michael Fields said when asked about the defeat’s impact on post-season aspirations. “A loss always stings. But we just keep our heads up because we came really close.”

After Meikle hauled in a bomb from Snider to make it close late in the fourth quarter, Valley quarterback Tyran Duval found Colby Johnson with a decisive dart – a touchdown pass that put the game to bed.

The Huskers added a garbage-time rushing major to round out the scoring.

Valley improved to 4-3 and sits fourth in league standings, behind the third-place Westshore Rebels (5-2) of Langford, second-place Langley Rams (6-2) and first-place Okanagan Sun (8-0) of Kelowna.

Kamloops has three games remaining on its schedule, two against the Prince George Kodiaks (1-7) and one next weekend versus the Vancouver Island Raiders (1-6) in Nanaimo.

“We’ve got to go 3-0,” Vankoughnett said. “One game at a time. Go 1-0 every week. At VI, a revenge game. They came into our place last time and kicked our butts. Now we get a chance to go to their house and put a W up. Then we get back-to-back games against PG, a good team.”