Shock cruise but lose Meyer
Receiver comes to the rescue at quarterback
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Spokane roughed up the L.A. Kiss, 70-21, at the Honda Center on Sunday but the Shock suffered a big loss of their own.
Quarterback Erik Meyer, the Arena Football League MVP last season, went down with an injury – possibly a broken collarbone, according to ESPN2 commentators – midway through the second quarter.
Spokane led 28-0 when Meyer was sacked by former Shock linebacker Beau Bell and landed hard on his right shoulder. Backup quarterback Jarrett Brown suffered an injury in practice earlier this week so the Shock turned to wide receiver Rashaad Carter, who played quarterback in high school.
Carter was impressive, tossing a 45-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Thompkins and a 13-yarder to Adron Tennell in the final 35 seconds of the half, boosting the Shock’s lead to 42-14.
Carter ran for four touchdowns in the second half as Spokane (5-2) won its third straight road game. He threw a couple of pretty deep passes but the Shock generally stayed with basic running plays for most of the second half. Carter finished with 12 carries for 46 yards.
L.A. (2-5) had another miserable night offensively and dropped its fourth straight game. J.J. Raterink completed just 9 of 30 passes. He was 0 of 3 as the Kiss turned the ball over on downs on their first possession. Bryant Nnabuife intercepted Raterink on the first play of the ensuing series.
L.A.’s initial first down came with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Raterink was replaced by Tyler Hansen in the fourth quarter.
One of L.A.’s three touchdowns came on A.J. Cruz’s 53-yard return of a missed field-goal attempt. L.A. has averaged just 23.8 points in its last four games.
Terrance Sanders and Paul Stephens had interceptions, giving each member of the Shock secondary a pick. James Ruffin and Jeremy Geathers both recorded two sacks. The Kiss managed just 10 first downs and 134 total yards.
Meyer had two TD passes and two scoring runs prior to his injury.
Thompkins finished with 93 yards on seven catches. Tennell had six receptions for 61 yards and three touchdowns.
Taylor Rowan was 10 of 10 on PATs and added two bar-ball kickoffs that Spokane recovered inside L.A.’s 3-yard line and capitalized with touchdowns.
The Shock will probably try to sign a quarterback in the next few days but there’s a time pinch with Spokane entertaining Pittsburgh on Friday.