Spokane's defense dominated and its offense was efficient as the Shock routed visiting Milwaukee 57-26 on Saturday night at the Arena.

Here's a link to my game story.

New league, same old Shock.

Spokane will play in its fourth title game in its five-year existence after knocking off Milwaukee 60-57 Thursday to advance to the ArenaBowl. The Shock played for the arenafootball2 championship three times, winning two, before moving into the reconfigured Arena Football League in 2010.

The Shock will face the winner of Saturday’s Tampa Bay-Orlando game.

Here’s a link to my game story that will run in Friday’s S-R.

Kickoff in about 5 1/2 hours for the Shock-Iron showdown at the Arena. Here’s the S-R preview, one from Milwaukee and John Blanchette’s column on Kurt Warner, who will be an analyst on NFL Network’s broadcast.

Spokane will face Milwaukee in the National Conference championship game Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Spokane Arena. The game will be televised live on NFL Network.

Milwaukee defeated visiting Chicago 64-54 in a first-round playoff game Saturday. Top-seeded Spokane (14-3) split two games against No. 2 Milwaukee (12-5), losing the season opener 74-62 before winning the rematch 62-48 in June.

Tickets can be purchased through TicketsWest (1-800-325-SEAT or www.ticketswest.com).

Tampa Bay will entertain Orlando for the American Conference championship. The third-seeded Storm thumped No. 2 Tulsa 68-38 on Saturday. No. 4 Orlando upset No. 1 Jacksonville 73-69 on Friday.

Spokane had travel issues Friday and eventually had to bus from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, arriving at 4 a.m. Saturday. It didn’t seem to bother the top-ranked Shock on the field as they toppled Milwaukee 62-48 Saturday night to improve to 9-2. 

The Shock’s seventh straight victory sets up a big showdown with No. 2 Arizona, which knocked off Jacksonville 66-50 on the road Saturday night. Arizona (8-3) has won six straight after a 63-56 loss to Spokane in Phoenix.

UPDATE: Not sure what the circumstances were, but this game story indicates Arizona QB Nick Davila was kicked out of Saturday’s game in the third. Also, John Booker, a former Shock lineman, is playing fullback now for the Rattlers. Looks like Davila threw a punch after scoring a rushing touchdown.

Click here for more details on the Shock’s latest win. UPDATE: And click here for the view from Milwaukee in this Journal-Sentinel article.

Spokane and Milwaukee hook up Saturday night in a rematch of an early April game won by the Iron 74-62 at the Spokane Arena. Here’s a link to the preview article.

Spokane lost to Milwaukee 74-62 in the Arena Football League debut for both teams Friday night. Read on for my unedited game story.

And click here for John Blanchette’s column on opening night.