VIDEO: Langley Rams fall to Westshore Rebels in first game of BCFC season

Langley Rams coach Cory Philpot was unruffled following a 16-point loss to the visiting Westshore Rebels at McLeod stadium on Saturday, July 23, their first game of the new season.

Philpot said he’s warned his players that, as the defending Canadian Bowl champions, Rams can expect “every team is going to come after us.”

With “a bunch of new guys [on the roster this year]” Philpot told the Langley Advance Times, “it’s just a matter of putting things together.”

In December, the Rams, coached by Philpot, won the Bowl by shutting out the Ontario Conference champion London Beefeaters 37-0 in London, Ontario for the first national title in franchise history.

READ ALSO: Langley Rams win Canadian Bowl

On Saturday, Rebels took an early lead and maintained it all the way to a 36-20 win.

The 36 points the Rebels scored was more than the Rams allowed all of last season, when Langley permitted just 32 points in eight regular season games in 2021.

Rebels jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

While the Rams battled back to bring the score to within two points at halftime, they couldn’t hold down the Rebels in the second half.

Langley scored a pair of ground touchdowns, courtesy of Caleb Wheeler and Steven Dilorenzo.

Next, Rams will host the Okanagan Sun on Saturday, July 30 at 4 p.m. in a rematch of the 2021 Cullen Cup that saw Rams win a rain-soaked defensive battle with the Sun at McLeod Stadium by grinding out a 7-4 win in the British Columbia Football Conference (BCFC) final.

READ ALSO: Langley Rams win Cullen Cup

The two teams clashed three times in 2021, with the Rams taking two of the three games.

This season, BCFC returns to a 10-game schedule (eight games were played in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season), and adds a seventh franchise, Prince George Kodiaks.

Aftder the semifinals on Oct. 15, the Cullen Cup will be played on Oct 22.

BCFC champions will play the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) champion on Oct. 29th in the Canadian Junior Football League National semi-final game, and the Canadian Bowl National Championship game will be held November 12th.