Taylor steals win for Shock

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Nian Taylor of the Spokane Shock stole several valuable items from the Bakersfield Blitz in the final minutes of Saturday’s game.

He stole the ball away from the Blitz’s return team on an onside kick. He stole a victory by returning the ball 30 yards to the end zone.

And, perhaps most importantly, he stole momentum from a team fighting to establish a solid local fan base during its first home game of the arenafootball2 season.

The Shock won 49-45 at Rabobank Arena after trailing the majority of the game.

“That’s the nature of this game,” Bakersfield coach Gary Compton said. “You’ve got to expect the unexpected.”

The Blitz (1-1) took a 45-36 lead on quarterback Mike Wall’s touchdown pass to Eric Mahanke with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Shock (2-0) responded with a 50-yard kick return by Charles Frederick, setting up a first-and-goal situation at the Bakersfield 5-yard line.

Two plays later, Anthony Griffin scored. The point-after attempt was blocked by DeRonn Finley, but the damage was done – the touchdown cut the lead to 45-42 and set up Spokane’s onside kick.

Bakersfield’s Nick Onaindia initially made contact with the ball, but it was knocked out of his hands. The ball was swatted and bounced across the field, where it was picked up by Taylor, almost in stride.

Taylor ran untouched into the end zone.

“That was perfectly executed by them – you gotta give them credit for that,” Wall said. “It just didn’t bounce our way. … We wanted to get the wins going so we could get this place packed and get these Bakersfield fans a quality product that they can be proud of.”