Shock rank late-game heroics higher than playoff experience

The question stumped Spokane Shock defensive back Rob Keefe.

“Wow, I don’t know,” said Keefe, turning to quarterback Kyle Rowley nearby. “Hey, do we have anyone with (arenafootball2) playoff experience?”

Rowley didn’t hesitate. “I have tons of playoff experience … Pop Warner, high school,” Rowley offered, chuckling.

Head coach Chris Siegfried eyeballed his players, scanning their backgrounds in his mind.

“Hmm. Arena football playoff experience?” Siegfried said. “I know we have plenty with college bowl experience.”

And that, along with the fact that Spokane reeled off numerous tense wins while compiling an af2-best 14-2 regular season stokes Siegfried’s belief that his players can handle a pressure-packed playoff environment, where momentum and mistakes are magnified compared to the regular season.

The Shock’s first playoff game will be Saturday when No. 6-seeded Bakersfield (10-7) visits the Arena. The Blitz advanced by defeating No. 3 Central Valley last Friday.

“I don’t think it’s a different game (in the playoffs), but there’s more pressure on players to perform, knowing if they have a bad night they’re done,” said Siegfried, who is 3-3 in the postseason and reached the American Conference title game in 2002 with Cape Fear. “As many close games as we’ve played and pulled out in the fourth quarter, I’m hoping it’s to our advantage. The main thing is to go out and play to the best of our ability.”

Added defensive lineman Neil Purvis: “I don’t think (playoff experience) matters. It’s your frame of mind and what you do when you get there that matters.”

Spokane has players with experience in the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl.

Receiver Antwone Savage played on a national championship team at Oklahoma.

Johnny Lamar played in Orange and Outback bowls for the University of Florida.

Receiver/defensive back Kevin Beard caught passes from Ken Dorsey and played alongside Andre Johnson at Miami, a perennial bowl participant. Johnson, now with the Houston Texans, was a 2004 Pro Bowler.

“We’re going to take this as a regular-season game,” Savage said. “We’re practicing hard and we want to go out Saturday and play to our potential. Then we’ll have playoff experience.”

Spokane has demonstrated an uncanny ability to make plays when games are on the line. Charles Frederick returned a kick 50 yards to set up a late touchdown and former Shock player Nian Taylor then returned an onside kick 30 yards for the game-winning score in Spokane’s 49-45 win over Bakersfield in early April. Taylor was traded to Bakersfield and subsequently released by the Blitz.

Last-minute defensive stands aided wins over Albany and Everett. Raul Vijil hauled in a 30-yard touchdown reception in the closing seconds to carry Spokane to another win over Everett.

“The record speaks for itself,” Bakersfield coach Gary Compton said. “To be able to take a group of guys who don’t have a ton of experience and have the kind of year they’ve had, that’s a credit to Coach Siegfried.”

Despite numerous personnel changes throughout the season, Siegfried has found a way to blend newcomers and veterans into a polished unit. As important, team chemistry has been strong all season.

“We’re doing a little bit more with film (study) than we normally do, but we can’t transfer that over to where we get tight,” fullback/linebacker Levi Madarieta said. “This is probably one of the goofiest teams I’ve ever been on. Guys are always joking around and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve done as well as we have.

“The last thing we need is for everyone to get too serious. We’re serious, but at the same time, everyone is lax and joking around and that’s got to stay the same. As much turnover as there has been, it’s kind of amazing. … For a pro sports team, we’re very close.”

And they’re closing in on their ultimate goal – an ArenaCup title.

“Everyone knows what it comes down to and I think everybody here knows how to win,” Keefe said. “It’s real business-like and real professional. We’ve prepared well. We’re ready to go.”