Shock have no remedy for Fever
KENNEWICK – The defending ArenaCup champion Spokane Shock trotted onto the field amidst a clash of cheers and jeers.
After all, this wasn’t their turf – and the Tri-Cities Fever crowd wanted to make sure the visiting Shock and their fans knew so.
But even the abundance of fans that made the two-hour trek from Spokane to the Tri-Cities to witness the birth of Eastern Washington’s newest rivalry couldn’t prevent this loss – despite their best efforts to drown out the noise of the Fever’s hometown fans – and the Western Division race became tighter with a 39-34 Fever (6-4) win over the Shock in Saturday night’s arenafootball2 action at the Toyota Center.
The night couldn’t have gone much worse for the Shock (7-4), whose four-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt and division lead shrunk to half a game.
The Fever, leading 33-27 in the fourth quarter, secured the victory when receiver/lineman Robert Garth batted the ball out of Shock quarterback Andrico Hines’ hand and recovered the ball inside the Shock’s 4-yard line.
Fever quarterback Brian Baker threw one incomplete pass before dishing the ball to two-way lineman Cornelius Lambert for a 4-yard score that gave the Fever a 39-27 lead with 8 minutes remaining.
Receiver Chico Mackey scored on a 1-yard run in the final minute to pull the Shock within five points, but it was too little, too late.
Hines struggled before being replaced late in the fourth quarter by backup Justin Rummell. Hines completed 8 of 33 passes for a season-low 106 yards.
At times it was simply bad passing on Hines’ part, but other factors contributed as well – including several dropped passes and heavy pressure from the Fever defense.
“We gave up too much pressure, we dropped probably eight or nine footballs and we can’t do that,” Shock coach Adam Shackleford said. “At times our defense gave up big plays – I think there was some miscommunication in the secondary – and we didn’t play well enough to win tonight. We totally took this game for granted.”
“I have no idea, I really don’t know what happened tonight,” Hines said. “We pretty much lost to a better team, that’s what I like to say.
“It’s frustrating, especially when you don’t play up to your potential. You know, we just have to get back to the basics this week and let it go – it’s over, we can’t dwell on the past. Hopefully, we can go next week and prepare and take the next step.”
Shackleford confirmed that the starting QB position will open back up next week.
“(Andrico) just didn’t have much time to throw at times, and other times he missed receivers, and we dropped three or four balls in the first half that we should have caught,” said Shackleford.
Antwone Savage led the Shock receivers – who welcomed Mackey back into the lineup – with five catches for 75 yards and one TD. Mackey had been sidelined for eight weeks with an ankle injury he sustained during the first game of the season, and scored three TDs – two rushing and one receiving.
“It feels great … just to get out there and test my ankle out was good,” Mackey said, admitting his ankle is still sore. “Hopefully, we can get out there and have a better practice and work on what we need to fix this week. This game is behind us, we’re on to Boise now.”
The Fever mixed it up between six receivers and were led by JR Thomas’ eight receptions. He and teammate Deontrae Johnson scored twice apiece, and Baker completed 22 of 36 passes for 201 yards and six TDs.