May 31, 2006 in Sports

Injury won’t keep defensive star Keefe out of Shock lineup

• Print
• Email
• Share

Spokane Shock defensive back Rob Keefe has been lucky on the injury front most of his football career, but he was starting to wonder in the fourth quarter Saturday night.

Keefe was shaken up after a collision with the dasherboards in the Shock’s 68-63 win over Quad City at the Arena.

“It really felt like I got hit by a bat,” Keefe said. “I watched it on tape and what happened is the pad (on the dasherboards) slid up and I hit my leg underneath the pad.”

Keefe had X-rays Sunday and heard the welcome news that he’d suffered a deep quad bruise, just above the knee. He said the swelling has gone down considerably and he expects to be at full speed for Saturday’s home game against Central Valley. He’ll probably practice today or Thursday.

“It was swollen so bad that it was more debilitating than painful,” he said. “It felt like I had a pad on my knee but that was just the muscle swelling up.”

Keefe has seven interceptions, tied with Bakersfield’s Alex Wallace for most in arenafootball2.

Keefe was honored Tuesday as the league’s Defensive Player of the Week for his play against Quad City. He had 10 tackles and two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown.

Sick bay

The Shock were without leading receiver Antwone Savage for most of the game, making the return of Charles Frederick even more timely. Savage tweaked his hamstring in practice last week and played just a handful of downs.

“He was at 90 percent, which is about the threshold for a hamstring injury,” coach Chris Siegfried said.

Frederick was expected to miss the game, but his tryout with the Miami Dolphins was rescheduled and he flew back to Spokane Friday. He scored four touchdowns. He was honored by the league as its Ironman of the Week for his play on both sides of the ball. He scored twice on fumble recoveries, once on a reception and once after recovering an onside kick attempt.

Kicker Jon Koker, battling a sprained ankle, missed his first three PATs, but made 5 of his next 7 and added a crucial 36-yard field goal in the closing minute to give Spokane a two-possession lead.

“He’s going to have an MRI,” Siegfried said. “It’s definitely affecting him. I’d like to attempt more field goals and it’s frustrating not having that as a legitimate option, but he did nail a huge field goal in that game.”

Fast starter

Lineman Ed Ta’amu, who joined the Shock last week, started and played nearly every offensive snap. The former Utah Ute made an impressive debut.

“He played very well,” Siegfried said. “He was our offensive line specialist. He didn’t play any defense. He can be a two-way guy, but we want to keep him on offense every series. He’s pretty talented.”

Ta’amu was a 2002 fourth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings.

No. 1, yawn

Spokane will probably move from No. 3 to No. 1 when the coaches poll is released today. Siegfried isn’t planning a parade.

“I don’t put much stock in the rankings,” Siegfried said. “The reason is the playoff scenario goes by record and that’s all you concern yourself with. I told the team if they do rank us No. 1 that it doesn’t mean anything and don’t let it go to your head, because every No. 1 team has lost.”

Four teams have held the top spot and their stays haven’t been long. Oklahoma City was the latest victim, a 53-50 loser to Bossier-Shreveport. Battle Wings quarterback J.J. Raterink, who was in training camp with Spokane, fueled the upset with 296 passing yards, five touchdown passes and two TD runs.

“I called J.J. and congratulated him,” Keefe said. “He said something clicked with his receivers. I’m glad he’s doing well …”

Spokane (7-1) has the best record in the league. Siegfried coached Cape Fear to the best record in af2 in 2002, but there was no coaches poll at the time.

No comments on this story so far. Add yours!