Another nailbiter, another Shock win
Spokane defense stops Rattlers in opening round of playoffs
The Spokane Shock appeared to be in control midway through the fourth quarter, but that just wouldn’t be their style against the Arizona Rattlers.
The teams played two hotly contested regular-season games and their first-round Arena Football League playoff contest Friday turned into a nailbiter after a Shock trick play backfired with just over 4 minutes remaining.
But the Shock defense came up big, forcing four straight incomplete passes by Nick Davila as Spokane held on for a 57-49 victory at the Arena.
Top-ranked Spokane (14-3) advances to the National Conference championship game Thursday against the winner of tonight’s Chicago-Milwaukee game. The game time hasn’t been set.
No. 7 Arizona finishes 10-7.
After a sluggish start, Spokane quarterback Kyle Rowley tossed seven touchdown passes to four different receivers and the defense came up with four stops to help Spokane to its 12th win in 13 games.
This one wasn’t a blowout, but it probably shouldn’t have been as close as the first two meetings, won by Spokane 63-56 and 37-36.
Spokane led 57-42 midway the fourth quarter, but Arizona pulled within 57-49 on Rod Windsor’s touchdown catch, his fourth of the second half and fifth overall.
Arizona tried an onside kick, but the Shock took possession at the Rattlers’ 6. The Shock attempted a double-pass, but the plan went awry when Markee White was stripped of the football by Alex Guerrero and the Rattlers recovered at Spokane’s 21.
Arizona moved to the Shock 8, but Davila, the former Spokane quarterback, misfired on four straight passes. He tried to connect with Windsor on fourth down, but William Mulder broke up the play in the corner of the end zone.
Spokane scored the last 10 points of the first half to take a 30-20 lead.
Both teams were out of sorts offensively, but managed to overcome fourth-down situations to score on their opening possessions. They traded defensive stops before the offenses slowly warmed up.
Spokane led 20-14 on Greg Orton’s touchdown catch with 1:16 left, setting off a battle to see who would get the last meaningful possession before the half.
After a couple of onside kicks and quick touchdowns, Spokane led 27-20 with 37.4 seconds left. The Shock elected to kick deep and Arizona marched to Spokane’s 11, where Davila’s pass was intercepted by Travis Williams at the goal line. Williams returned the ball to the 15, but a pair of penalties brought the ball back to Spokane’s 3 with 9.5 seconds remaining.
Spokane reached midfield after Orton’s 12-yard reception and a pass interference penalty on Terrance Sanders. Taylor Rowan booted a 39-yard field goal as time expired, giving Spokane a 10-point lead at the break.