Spokane is nearly halfway through the AFL season. The Shock reach the midpoint after Friday's home showdown with No. 2 Philadelphia and there's a lot at stake. Read more in my game preview that will run in Friday's S-R.

Chris Pino, one of the more talented and popular players to ever wear a Shock uniform, is back for his third stint with Spokane. See what he left behind to return to the AFL in my notebook that will run in Thursday's S-R.

It wasn't exactly how you draw it up.

Spokane survived a sloppy, penalty- and turnover-filled game to pull out a 68-62 win over New Orleans on Friday night. Some of the uneven play was to be expected with Spokane working in seven new starters and losing standout receiver Brandon Thompkins to injury for most of the game. Some miscues simply couldn't be explained, such as a New Orleans' receiver getting behind three defensive backs for a 28-yard touchdown catch on the final play of the first half and Spokane messing up a potential game-winning PAT.

The Shock won it overtime when Terrance Sanders made his second interception of the game, to go along with two kick returns for TDs. Sanders' OT pick and 31-yard return set up Kyle Rowley's game-winning 1-yard TD run.

My unedited game story is below.

It's been a while since Spokane played an AFL home game. It was April 14 when the Shock thrashed Milwaukee. The Shock then had a bye, defeated Jacksonville on the road before losing big at Utah last Friday.

Now they're back home with several new faces on the roster. More on tonight's game with New Orleans.

The moves keep coming for the Spokane Shock. The team put OL Palauni Ma Sun (knee) and DL Jonathan Williams (shoulder) on injured reserve and signed three players, including two who have worn Shock jerseys in the past.

Spokane is bringing back LB Levi Madarieta, who played on the Shock's 2006 arenafootball2 championship team before joining the Boise Burn, and DL Mike Alston, who was on last year's squad. DL Chris Tucker also signed with Spokane.

Spokane is one beat up football team.

The team practiced Tuesday at the Arena with the number of sidelined players (11) chasing the number that suited up (20). There were several new faces and probably will be a few more before the Shock take the field against New Orleans on Friday. The practice was sloppy and head coach Andy Olson gave the players time to reflect on that fact afterward with some extra conditioning.

More here.

Spokane made changes to nearly 1/3 of its roster Monday, most notably signing OL Chris Pino (a familiar name to Shock followers), putting LB Beau Bell on injured reserve and placing WR Adron Tennell and DL Brandon Sharpe on league suspension.

I'm heading out to Shock practice in a couple minutes and I'll post a notebook later tonight.

More on Monday's moves below.

Spokane's struggles against the West Division continued Friday night when Utah hung an 84-63 loss on the visiting Shock.

Game recap below.

The standings and AFL rankings tell the story. Arizona, San Jose and Utah are 5-2; Spokane 3-3. Combined record: 18-9. In terms of rankings, Arizona is No. 2, San Jose is No. 3, Utah is No. 5 and Spokane is No. 10 — four in the top 10 in a 17-team league, all from the West Division.

Spokane can make up some ground on the top three tonight if it can pull off a road win over Utah. Not only would Spokane close in on the Blaze, it would move closer to Arizona or San Jose. Those two tangle in Arizona tomorrow in Arizona..

It'll be a tough task against Utah's high-powered offense, led by 6-7 quarterback Tommy Grady. More on the matchup in my game preview here and another in the Salt Lake Tribune. In-game updates at twitter.com/srjimm.

Stanley Franks would rather be playing football. However, a horrific injury put an end to his playing days — at least for the short term — so Franks accepted a position as defensive backs coach with the Spokane Shock.

More on Franks' injury and how he's adapting to the coaching profession here.

Spokane snagged its second road win of the season and evened its record at 3-3 with a 56-48 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday.

Spokane led by as many as 21 points, but the Sharks rallied in the second half to close within 49-48. Beau Bell's interception, Spokane's fourth of the game, sealed the victory with 10 seconds left.

More game details below.

Spokane returns from a bye week with a long road trip and a key AFL game against Jacksonville tonight. Kickoff is at 4 Pacific time.

Here's my preview that ran in today's S-R and another in the Florida Times-Union. In-game updates at twitter.com/SRjimm.

One clarification: There was a mix-up reporting the status of former WSU lineman Andrew Roxas between the Shock and the AFL office earlier this week. Roxas is on the practice squad (not released as reported earlier this week).

Turns out defensive lineman Jeremy Geathers will wear a Spokane Shock jersey at least one more time.

Geathers will return, likely for just one game, when Spokane visits Jacksonville on Saturday, before resuming preparations for training camp with the CFL B.C. Lions.

Spokane planned on Brandon Sharpe replacing Geathers in the lineup, but Sharpe suffered an injury earlier this week. Shock officials phoned Geathers, who agreed to play Saturday. Geathers, who had six sacks in five games, will probably be placed on Other League Exempt next week.

In other moves, offensive lineman Andrew Roxas, who played at Washington State, was released and defensive back Patrick Stoudamire was placed on injured reserve. Spokane signed former Washington Husky DB Vonzell McDowell earlier this week.

I went to Shock practice Tuesday, but my weekly notebook was held for a day and will run in Thursday's S-R.

 Here's a link. One item that will be in the print edition but probably not on the link: OL Ben Ossai has signed with B.C. of the CFL and has left the Shock. Cory Brandon, who was activated earlier this week, will likely replace Ossai in the lineup.

Spokane has placed linebacker Terence Moore on injured reserve, a mandatory four-week stint.

Moore, an Arena Football League rookie from Troy University, hurt his knee during Saturday’s victory over Milwaukee. His injury won’t require surgery.

Moore has three interceptions and a fumble recovery. He’s had an interception return for a touchdown in each of the last two games.

Erik Meyer, sidelined since late in the season opener by an illegal hit, will remain on injured reserve. Meyer is getting better, but not to the point where he's ready to be activated. 

Head coach Andy Olson isn't sure when Meyer will be able to return. An update on Meyer and other notes in this week's Shock notebook that will run in Thursday's S-R.

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.

Quarterback Kyle Rowley gave the offense a boost in his first game back, but Spokane committed four turnovers, including a botched center-quarterback snap with just over 1 minute left and Arizona rallied for a 57-53 win Friday in Phoenix.

Spokane led most of the game and had several chances to put the Rattlers away, but the Shock couldn't overcome their turnovers, including two committed inside Arizona's 5-yard line.

Spokane (1-3) has dropped two in a row and is in last place in the West Division. Arizona (3-1) and San Jose (3-1) are tied for first. Utah is 2-2.

Game recap below.

Game day for the Shock in Phoenix where they'll face the second-ranked Arizona Rattlers. Most consider Arizona one of the favorites to win the ArenaBowl. The Rattlers were loaded a year ago and may be even better this season, but they are missing two key linebackers — ex-Shockie Kevin McCullough (dislocated elbow) and Cliff Dukes.

Here's my game preview and the Arizona Republic's preview.

Kyle Rowley is back for his third stint with the Spokane Shock.

Rowley, who helped Spokane to an arenafootball2 title in 2006 and an Arena Football League crown in 2010 before losing the starting job to Erik Meyer in 2011, officially rejoined the Shock on Tuesday. With Meyer on injured reserve and Adam Froman tossing six interceptions in two-plus games, Spokane brought back Rowley, who was released by Pittsburgh prior to the season opener.

“Kyle knows this offense and I expect him to compete for the starting job,” coach Andy Olson said. “It’s rare to have a veteran with his experience available this late in the season and so we felt like we had to jump on the opportunity.”

Rowley is Spokane’s franchise leader in passing yards (8,691), passing touchdowns (182) and rushing touchdowns (14).

Spokane faces Arizona in Phoenix on Friday.