Pete McCall has more to worry about than the Surrey Rams these days. The Okanagan Sun coach has his own club to be concerned with, coming off a 24-10 season-opening win in Kamloops last Saturday that left a lot to be desired. Especially offensively, where McCall placed much of the emphasis during this week‘s practices leading up to Saturday‘s home opener against Surrey. Kickoff at the Apple Bowl is 7 p.m. "Definitely, we‘re improving," McCall said. "I don‘t know if it‘s the hot weather or what, but us coaches have been a little short-tempered this week. We‘re trying to get things accomplished and there‘s a sense of urgency. "We want to have it all sharpened up for Saturday night." It all starts with new quarterback Bobby Davis, who was given a vote of confidence by McCall prior to Thursday‘s practice in announcing Davis the starter for Saturday‘s contest. Davis started and played the first half in Kamloops, completing 9-of-15 passes for 193 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing three times for 10 yards. Backup Taylor Potkins, a former Ram, took over in the second half - going 4-of-8 passing for 77 yards and two TDs. But it‘s Davis who will be back under centre come Saturday. Who ends up snapping him the ball, though, remains to be seen. This season‘s projected starter, Derek Kraft, is still sidelined with a knee injury suffered in training camp, and backup Marcus Petkau, who played in Kamloops, hadn‘t practised as of Wednesday night, also due to a knee problem. Third-stringer Rio Fenton, a rookie out of Mount Boucherie, has handled much of the workload this week, while Curtis Demelo, a second-year player from Rutland, has shifted from guard to centre to held fill the void. "If there‘s a time of year to be having some positional problems, this is the time to have it," McCall said. "But those guys have stepped in and things are improving. We are getting our plays off with better timing and people are working together. "We‘re hoping Petkau gets the green light for (Thursday) night and that he‘ll be back snapping on Saturday." Aside from the centre position, McCall deemed his team healthy and ready for battle. Veteran defensive lineman Chris Burleigh, who missed Okanagan‘s opener, is expected to debut on Saturday. While most expect Surrey to present more problems than Kamloops and be a bigger challenge overall, McCall‘s focus was solely on his side of the ball. "We‘re obviously going to watch lots of film on (Surrey), but at this point of the year . . . we‘re still improving every day," he said. "Like last year, we were a much better team as the year wore on. We were a better team at the end than we were at the start, and we‘re hoping for the same thing this year. "We‘re going to focus our attention on getting that timing down and getting all that meshing going on, so that it‘s nice and sharp for Saturday night." Last season, the Sun and Rams split their two-game series, with Surrey winning 34-26 in Kelowna on Sept. 13. Top of Page
