The Langley Rams' defence eclipsed the Okanagan Sun Saturday at McLeod Stadium.

The junior Rams gave up a field goal in the first quarter, and then shut out the Sun the rest of the way in a 34-3 victory.

Okanagan's offence was held to just two first downs during the second half.

Jordan Linnen and Joe Lester had interceptions for the Rams.

Linnen returned his interception for 65 yards and a touchdown. His major, to go along with a successful conversion from kicker Nick Naylor, fattened the Rams' lead to 20-3 just before halftime.

Lester brought his interception back 18 yards before being brought down.

Rams' defensive back Adam Konar was in on six tackles.

"It was outstanding," Rams' head coach Jeff Alamolhoda said, describing the performance of his team's defence. "The reason was, they work together as a whole unit. It wasn't the defensive line, it wasn't the linebackers or the secondary, it was all of them working together in a collective effort. The biggest challenge for an offence is when 12 guys [on defence] are playing together at the same time. They've stepped up, really started to improve in practice, and fly around the ball."

Alamolhoda said the Rams possess an aggressive, detailorientated defence. It was also a defence that needed a few players to fill bigger roles.

"We were playing with multiple backups with a few of our starters, including all-Canadian linebacker Arie Nakagawa out of the lineup with injuries," Alamolhoda said. "We started two 18-year-olds, and they stepped up to the plate and really performed."

On the other side of the ball, Langley quarterback Greg Bowcott completed 14 of 21 passes for 196 yards. Bowcott threw touchdown passes to Greg Patko and Malcolm Williams, and ran the ball in for a major score.

Naylor kicked a 26-yard field goal and converted all four Langley touchdowns. As well, Steve Thomas booted a 47-yard field goal for the Rams.

Langley running back Daniel Xavier carried the ball 16 times for 83 yards.

Langley led 10-3 after the first quarter and 20-3 at the half. Neither team put points on the scoreboard during the third quarter. The Rams finished with a flourish by outscoring the Sun 14-0 in the fourth stanza.

The win improves the junior Rams' record to 3-0-1 in B.C. Football Conference play.

They are tied with the Vancouver Island (Nanaimo) Raiders for top spot in the BCFC standings.

The Rams and Raiders, who met in the 2011 B.C. playoff final last October, have identical records and seven points each.

Alamoholda said, despite the record, overconfidence isn't creeping into the players' psyches. If anything, they're even more focused than before.

"Confidence is one of those things that's hard to judge," he said. "We understand that at any given moment, if we take for granted the position we are in, we're going to find ourselves not in the position we want to be. We're really focused on staying hungry and our ultimate goals. It's still going to take work to get to where we need to be."

The Rams have a two-week break between games before hosting the Kamloops Broncos Saturday, Sept. 8 at McLeod Stadium.

sports@langleyadvance.com