Just over a week before the Grey Cup, there will be another national football championship being contested at Mosaic Stadium.
The Regina Thunder will host the Okanagan Sun in the CJFL Canadian Bowl after both teams completed successful undefeated regular seasons.
The Thunder advanced to the championship final after a win on home turf against the Saskatoon Hilltops in the PFC final on October 30.
Special teams coach for the Thunder, Dave Jackson was a guest on Tuesday’s edition of the SportsCage, as the Thunder gear up for the Canadian Bowl matchup on Saturday, when they host the Okanagan Sun.
The Sun emerged victorious from the BC Conference and then picked up win the National semi-final against the St. Clair Saints.
Jackson feels that Okanagan will provide a tough test for the Thunder.
“Their o-line is quite big, so that’s something we’ll have to deal with, they have some talented receivers, they got some guys with some size there”
Along with their size, Jackson says the Sun also possess plenty of skill.
“They’re an athletic team, that will present some challenges, we’ve got to be fundamentally sound, tackle well, take care of the ball, and hopefully things will go our way.”
A win on Saturday would mark an major achievement within the Thunder organization, Jackson says that team led by head coach Scott MacAulay and President Murad Al-Katib began establishing a winning culture within the squad during the 2019 season, the year lost by the COVID pandemic.
“That’s really where Scott and Murad really had the team buckle down and we put emphasis on things like culture, and strength and conditioning, and developing relationships and recruiting, and you know we practice hard and we really set a foundation during that time because that was the only thing that the kids had available to them, they weren’t allowed to do anything else.”
Saturday’s Canadian Bowl will be on the airwaves on 620 CKRM, Michael Ball and Pete Paczko will have the call from the broadcast booth with Daniella Ponticelli on the sidelines. The pregame show goes at 12:45, with the opening kickoff at 1:00.
