The bitter taste of last year乌鸦传媒檚 playoff elimination still lingers for Tyler Going.
As the Okanagan Sun defensive back enters his third season with the club, that hint of defeat still remains from last season as Going and his teammates focus on a new season bidding to reach the Canadian Bowl junior football championship.
乌鸦传媒淭he expectation is the same thing every year, it乌鸦传媒檚 to win a championship,乌鸦传媒� said Going.
乌鸦传媒淭he players are going everything we can, and our coaches are doing everything they can to get us to that point.乌鸦传媒�
Going is using last year乌鸦传媒檚 39-7 BCFC loss on their Apple Bowl home turf as motivation to succeed this season.
乌鸦传媒淵ou can乌鸦传媒檛 be a champion if you don乌鸦传媒檛 know what it乌鸦传媒檚 like to be defeated before. We乌鸦传媒檝e got to forget about last year,乌鸦传媒� Going said.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a whole different team and whole different atmosphere. I think it乌鸦传媒檚 looking good.乌鸦传媒�
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The Sun started their season on Aug. 3 with a 26-3 victory against Kamloops, and although the win wasn乌鸦传媒檛 pretty, it was still a win.
The season-opener win came right after Going was named the eighth-best player in the league by the Canadian Junior Football League.
He乌鸦传媒檚 one of two Sun players to rank in the top 10 rankings of the entire league, which has 18 teams and well over 900 players.
乌鸦传媒淚 was a bit surprised, to be honest, I didn乌鸦传媒檛 think I was gonna go eighth, but it乌鸦传媒檚 a big honour to be recognized by the league as one of the top players,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淣ow, I need to go out there and prove to people why the league was right.乌鸦传媒�
DB Tyler Going of the had a breakout season and lands at #8 on the list. Photo: Jason Harding
乌鸦传媒� CJFL News (@CJFLnews)
Head coach Jamie Boreham has said from the season乌鸦传媒檚 outset it would take the mixture of veteran leaders and newcomers to blend together to revive the Sun乌鸦传媒檚 championship hopes.
And Going knows that he will be called upon as one of those veterans to provide leadership.
乌鸦传媒淓very day at practice we乌鸦传媒檙e working hard towards our goal of a championship,乌鸦传媒� said Going.
乌鸦传媒淔or me, it乌鸦传媒檚 leading by example. It starts with practice, it starts with being in the locker room and being a brotherhood.
乌鸦传媒淭here are lots of guys doing a good job with that.乌鸦传媒�
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The Okanagan Sun take on the Valley Huskers in their next matchup on Saturday night.
After the first-game jitters against Kamloops which led to penalties and turnovers, Going is ready to learn from the mistakes moving forward.
乌鸦传媒淚t was nice after not playing football for (almost) eight months, to get that win. We were a little loose and we screwed up here and there,乌鸦传媒� said Going.
乌鸦传媒淏ut now that we and all the other teams got the first-game jitters out, all the teams are going to be better.
乌鸦传媒淲e got to be ready to go, it乌鸦传媒檒l be a first road game for a lot of our team. We have to go in there and do our jobs.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淰alley has some good players, but I think we have better football players and a better team.乌鸦传媒�
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Going looks to repeat as a B.C. conference all-star team again this season and aspires to earn his first All-Canadian nod.
But above all else, Going said that earning a spot in the Canadian Bowl remains the ultimate goal.
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