The playoffs are still a week away but for all intents and purposes, linebacker Eli Haynes and his teammates are already in postseason mode.

A first-place finish鈥攁nd home field advantage throughout the BCFC playoffs鈥攚ill be at stake this Saturday night at Westhills Stadium in Victoria when the Sun (8-0-1) battled the second-place Westshore Rebels (8-1-0).

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us from a pride standpoint, first place is obviously something you aim for every year,鈥� Haynes said of the value of a win for his Sun on Saturday. 鈥淔or the playoffs, every team wants to be No. 1 going in. That鈥檚 our goal.

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting into playoff mindset now, not looking too far ahead, just trying to win the next game that鈥檚 presented to us.鈥�

A win or a tie would earn the Sun the conference title, while the Rebels must win outright on Saturday to claim first place.

The teams haven鈥檛 met since opening week of the 2017 season at the Apple Bowl when the Sun prevailed 19-15.

Having made at least a dozen personnel changes to their roster, the Rebels will be a different team than the one Okanagan saw back on July 29.

Still, with both clubs going unbeaten in the eight games since, Sun head coach Ben Macauley is expecting nothing less than a tightly-contested showdown for first.

鈥淲e鈥檙e different teams in a number of ways, we鈥檝e had some roster changes, but they鈥檝e really had a lot of turnover, a lot of new faces we didn鈥檛 see last time, so we鈥檒l see how they work together,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he (Rebels) do some things really well and they鈥檝e improved since we saw them. But we feel like we鈥檝e improved, too, we鈥檙e a more complete team now.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough place to play,鈥� he added. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l be ready and so will we.鈥�

Regardless of the outcome, the Sun will be at home for the BCFC semifinal on the weekend of Oct. 15, against either the Vancouver Island Raiders or Langley Rams.