A new rivalry will be born tonight. Gone are Derek Mann and Cam Clark, the focal points of the Okanagan Sun and Surrey Rams over the past few seasons. With the BCFC‘s two most prolific passers moving on, the ball will be in new hands tonight for the Sun‘s home opener against the Rams (Apple Bowl, 7 p.m.). Bobby Davis, a third-year pivot out of Mount Boucherie, will make his second start for Okanagan - his first at the Apple Bowl as a junior - after leading the Sun to a 24-10 season-opening win in Kamloops last weekend. Surrey will likely counter with Marcus Fischer, a 5-foot-11, 240-pound Saskatoon product who played with the now defunct Vancouver Trojans last season. The Rams dropped their opener, falling 37-13 to the defending national champion Vancouver Island Raiders in Nanaimo. So should fans expect the usual offensive showdown when these contenders clash? "It‘s going to be a different look," said Sun coach Pete McCall, in his sophomore season as Okanagan‘s bench boss. "We‘ve both got young quarterbacks, so that puts the onus on all the other skill positions and other facets of the game. Our defence is very strong and their defence is very strong, so this could be more of a grind it out kind of game with field position being an important factor." McCall‘s anticipating a defensive battle with big plays being the difference, adding, "If we can come up with more big plays, I think we‘ll be the winners." It will be up to Davis to produce some of those big plays. Mann, who graduated last season and is taking this year off while exploring university options, was famous for his big-play ability through the air in finding All-Canadian receivers Matt Scheurwater and Dan Turek. That dynamic duo still exists in Davis‘ arsenal, though he also has the ability to call his own number. "We‘re more dynamic with Bobby at quarterback," McCall said. "There are more options. He‘s not afraid to tuck it in and run when he has to, and I think he will have to do that at times. "It‘s an exciting time for him, and we‘re hoping he‘ll be up to the challenge." Less is known about Fischer‘s skill-set. He has big shoes to fill with Clark leaving the Rams to join the University of Manitoba Bisons in the off-season. A former teammate and understudy to Mann in the Surrey minor ranks, Clark was second only to Mann in BCFC passing yards last season - throwing for 2,110 yards to Mann‘s 2,434. It seems Surrey is taking a similar approach with Fischer under centre. "Just from looking at film, they are throwing the ball a lot," McCall said. "They have some nice targets to throw to in (Nick) Downey and (Matt) Chapdelaine. And they‘ll definitely be looking for matchups. They like to get a bunch of people on one side of the field and isolate somebody on the other side. "With guys like Downey and Chapdelaine, that poses some concerns for us. But we‘ve made sure we‘re well aware of the plays they‘re running." Defensively, McCall said Surrey is much the same as Kamloops. If that‘s the case, Davis will be under constant pressure tonight, as the Broncos blitzed more often than not last Saturday - sacking Okanagan quarterbacks five times. "(The Rams are) a team that likes to stack the box and bring all kinds of guys off the edge," McCall said. "It‘s going to be another week for us to work on our blitz pick-up and look at some schemes to get the ball out of the box a little quicker. "Looking down that (Surrey) roster, I see a lot of familiar names. They‘re always tough and everybody plays well against us in Kelowna, so we‘re going to have our hands full." Top of Page
