With just one point to show for the first three quarters, the dug a formidable hole Sunday afternoon in 91大黄鸭.
In the end, it was too much to overcome as the Vancouver Island Raiders prevailed 15-8 in the B.C. Football Conference semifinal at the Apple Bowl.
The Sun was hampered by four interceptions, including a pair of key fourth quarter Raiders鈥� picks off Keith Zyla to snuff out potential scoring drives.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 turn the ball over as many times as we did and expect to have success,鈥� said Macauley. 鈥淚 thought we were in a position at the end of the game where we could have won it and we didn鈥檛 get the calls we needed to get鈥e have tremendous effort by guys playing from behind to win and it wasn鈥檛 good enough.
鈥淲e felt we should have capitalized earlier on some of their mistakes and turnovers killed us.鈥�
Late in the fourth quarter and trailing 15-8, Rashaun Simonise returned a punt for an apparent touchdown which would have put the Sun in a position to tie the game. But the play was wiped out by a contacting the kicker call against the Sun, a penalty Macauley contends should have never been called.
鈥淲e got a roughing the kicker on a play where a guy wasn鈥檛 even touching the kicker,鈥� said Macauley. 鈥淚t was a bad call, he鈥檒l see it on film and we鈥檒l see it, too. I鈥檓 not going to sugar coat it, it was a very important call. He didn鈥檛 have to make it and he did, but we shouldn鈥檛 have been in that position to begin with turnovers, we should have been well ahead at that point.鈥�
Down 15-1, Conor Richard scored the Sun鈥檚 lone touchdown on a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter.
Brycen Mayoh scored both the Raiders鈥� majors on passes from quarterback Jake Laberge in the first and third quarters.
The Sun, which finished second the regular season with a 8-1-0-1 record, was beset with key injuries late in the 2017 campaign.
Quarterback Nick Wenman missed Sunday鈥檚 game with concussion symptoms, while Zyla was in and out of the lineup for the better part of the season with injury.
鈥淲e had a real strong start, we battled some serious injuries, we were hampered by quarterback injuries all year and we lost a guy who should have been an all-Canadian (Shaun Robinson) at linebacker,鈥� Macauley said in reflecting on the 2017 season.
鈥淭hat really hurt us down the stretch with consistency and depth but there are so many positives. We鈥檝e got these playmakers that make plays, young guys that we expect to have back. We鈥檝e gotta do a better job of supporting them in big games, they weren鈥檛 ready to play for the first three quarters.鈥�
In an all-Island BCFC final, the Raiders will battle the defending champion Westshore Rebels next weekend in Victoria.
The Rebels disposed of the Langley Rams 57-14 Saturday in the other conference semifinal.
