On paper, the is in precisely the same position as it was at the midway mark of the 2016 season鈥攗nbeaten and standing alone atop the .

But the way the Sun has arrived at its 5-0 start this summer is even more encouraging for head man Ben Macauley and his coaching staff.

鈥淚鈥檇 say we鈥檙e ahead of where we were last year,鈥� said Macauley. 鈥淟ast season we probably won some games that we maybe shouldn鈥檛 have. This season, I don鈥檛 think you could say that, I think we鈥檝e been deserving of all of them.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be 5-0 and the good thing is, we still don鈥檛 feel like we鈥檝e played our best yet. We鈥檙e starting over the second half at 0-0.鈥�

Spearheaded by the defense鈥攚ith a miserly 50 points allowed in five games鈥擬acauley said all three areas of the club have stepped their game up significantly from 12 months ago.

Combined with an extra year of football wisdom for the coaching staff, Macauley said the level of play, both mentally and physically, is up all across the board.

鈥淥ur defense has been really good, week in, week out,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been huge improvement in our special teams, and even though our offense has had its struggles at times, it鈥檚 still miles ahead of where it was last year. We鈥檙e also more experienced as coaches, and we鈥檙e trying to get better every week.鈥�

Macauley called the effort of the Sun defense 鈥渟mothering鈥� of the Vancouver Island Raiders in Nanaimo.

Macauley pointed to Conor Richard, Shaun Robinson, Eli Haynes (nine tackles) and Cole Klughart (2.5 sacks) for turning in particularly solid efforts on defense.

鈥淭he Raiders couldn鈥檛 get anything going, they barely got over midfield,鈥� Macauley said. 鈥淥ur defense gave the offense a short field to work with most of the game.鈥�

Richard and Aldrich Berrios鈥攚ith his fifth interception in the last two games鈥攅ach returned picks for touchdowns.

Offensively, Liam Crane caught a pair of touchdown passes from Nick Wenman to lead the attack, as the Sun blew open a 21-11 game early in the fourth quarter with 24 unanswered points.

While he said there鈥檚 still plenty of fine-tuning to do in the season鈥檚 second half, Macauley likes the buy-in from his players and their willingness to play for each other.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really a team mentality, with all 12 guys on the field working towards the same goal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are always 8, 9, 10 guys around the football, multiple guys making big blocks on offense, and we鈥檙e getting lots of big plays on special teams.

鈥淭he guys are buying in and it鈥檚 really been a group effort. Some guys have been standing out individually for sure, but everybody is getting in on the act. It seems like every game, there鈥檚 someone different stepping up big for us.鈥�

With the Sun now into a bye week, Macauley said it鈥檚 the ideal time to recuperate and reload for the final five games of the regular season.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really good for us to gave a break, a good chance for the guys to take some time and recharge their batteries for the second half. We鈥檙e very cognizant about not burning the guys out, so this will be welcome. It also gives us a chance to plan for how we鈥檙e going to improve every week as the season progresses.鈥�

The Sun (5-0) sits a game up on Westshore (4-1) and two ahead of VI (3-2) at the midpoint of the season.

Okanagan will return to action Sunday, Sept. 10 against the Raiders. Kick off at the Apple Bowl is 1 p.m.