Shock tame Lightning

STOCKTON, Calif. – Spokane broke open a close game with a four-touchdown flurry in the third quarter and rolled to a 70-51 arenafootball2 win over Stockton on Saturday.

The top-ranked Shock (4-0) led 29-20 late in the first half after Nick Davila’s touchdown pass to Patrick Bugg. The Lightning (1-3) lost quarterback Andy Collins to a knee injury when he was sacked by Shock defensive end Justin Warren, but backup Chad Cavender entered and completed two straight passes, the last for a touchdown that narrowed Spokane’s lead to 29-26 at half.

But it was all Shock in the second half. Spokane scored three touchdowns before Stockton’s offense could take the field. Davila, who finished 22 of 29 with eight touchdown passes, connected with Markee White for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, the football hit the uprights and Spokane recovered. Raul Vijil scored on a touchdown reception as Spokane’s lead grew to 43-26.

Spokane was back in business after recovering Brian Jackson’s pooch kickoff. The Shock scored on another Vijil touchdown catch, the defense held and Vijil hauled in a 7-yard scoring pass to make it 57-26. At that point, Davila was 4 for 4 with three touchdowns in the second half.

The Shock continued to pull away. Harrison Nikolao’s 1-yard TD run put Spokane on top 64-26 before the Lightning scored their first points of the second half on Justin Taplin’s TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Shock defensive end Ben McCombs moved into the top spot on af2’s career sacks list when he dragged Collins down in the second quarter. The sack gave McCombs 45 for his career, eclipsing C.J. McLain’s record of 44.5. Vijil finished with 141 yards on eight receptions, six for touchdowns.

Spokane, a 59-42 winner over Stockton three weeks ago, is 9-0 against the Lightning, with seven of the nine wins by double digits. The Shock lead the West Division by one game over Boise (3-1), which defeated Central Valley 52-45.

Spokane returns home Saturday to face Iowa (3-2), which lost 33-29 to Quad City.

Shock 71, Lightning 50

Spokane	13	16	28	14	71
Stockton	7	19	0	24	50

SPO– Vijil 21 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SPO—Booker 27 pass from Davila (kick fail)

STC—Moppin 2 run (Irvine kick)

SPO—FG Jackson 34

STC—Taplin 11 pass from Collins (pass fail)

SPO—Vijil 24 pass from Davila (run fail)

STC—McBroom 36 pass from Collins (Irvine kick)

SPO—Bugg 7 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

STC—Taylor 14 pass from Cavender (kick fail)

SPO—White 28 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SPO—Vijil 16 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SPO—Vijil 20 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SPO—Vijil 7 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SPO—Nikolao 1 run (Jackson kick)

STC—Taplin 11 pass from Cavender (pass fail)

STC—Moppin 6 pass from Cavender (pass fail)

SPO—Vijil 42 pass from Hansen (Jackson kick)

STC—Taplin 18 pass from Cavender (run fail)

STC—McBroom 3 pass from Cavender (pass fail)

	Spokane	Stockton
First downs	21	22
Rushes-yards	7-7	9-29
Passing yards	291	335
Passes	25-34-0	24-38-1
Fumbles-lost	1-1	0-0
Penalties-yards	6-39	16-114

Individual Statistics

 Rushing–Spokane, Nikolao 4-8, Franks 1-1, Vijil 1-0, Booker 1-minus 2. Stockton, Cavender 4-14, Collins 3-12.

Passing–Spokane, Davila 22-29-0-252, Hansen 3-5-0-49. Stockton, Collins 11-19-1-146, Cavender 13-19-0-209.

Receiving–Spokane, White 12-99, Vijil 8-141, Bugg 3-19, Booker 2-42. Stockton, Taplin 14-216, McBroom 6-90,Taylor 3-43, Moppin 1-6.