EWU players just the ticket

The Spokane Shock don’t have a fight song, but if it came down to a team vote it wouldn’t be close.

Ex-Eastern Washington Eagles comprise roughly one-fourth of Spokane’s roster. Receiver/defensive backs Anthony Griffin and Raul Vijil were on board in training camp. Lineman Kurt Sigler joined in Week 2. Defensive back Jesse Hendrix was added midway through the season. Shortly thereafter, defensive back Isaiah Trufant joined the fold.

They were on the same EWU team in 2001, Griffin’s senior season, though Sigler was sidelined by injury and Vijil, Hendrix and Trufant were redshirts. The five have played key roles in the Shock’s magical season, in part because their recruiting pitches helped bring former Eagles to the team.

“Coach (Chris) Siegfried would ask me about players and what they were doing because he has a pretty good relationship with some of the coaches at Eastern,” said Vijil, who has produced 59 receptions and 22 touchdowns in his rookie season in arenafootball2. “He’d say, ‘I heard about this guy, can you call him up and help me out?’ So I was on the phone calling and seeing what they were doing.”

Some of those calls went to Sigler, who had a tryout with the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and was getting ready to play overseas for a club team in Austria. “Kind of a glorified vacation,” he said. When that fell through and he found himself jobless and sleeping on his brother’s couch, Sigler accepted an offer to join the Shock.

“It was something I didn’t really strongly consider in the beginning,” said Sigler, who played at Coeur d’Alene High. “But things worked out and it’s been a great deal. I’ve had a lot of fun and it’s been the most successful team I’ve played on.”

The top-ranked Shock (15-2) take on fifth-seeded Arkansas (12-6) in the National Conference championship game Saturday at 7 at the Spokane Arena. Griffin won’t play because of a sports hernia injury that has kept him out for more than a month, but he still ranks third on the team in tackles (37.5).

Griffin, with more than four years of arena football experience, has been a sounding board and quasi-coach for af2 newcomers, including the three former Eagles at WR/DB.

“I’ve been playing this game a long time and they didn’t know anything about arena football,” Griffin said. “I was trying to teach them and coach them because I know they have athletic ability, but in this game a lot of the better guys are guys that just know the game. They’ve come a long way already.”

Hendrix talked with Shock coaches early on and attended the home opener in March, but he opted for a tryout with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. After he was released, Hendrix went to work for the Shock.

In a 49-46 win over Albany in late June, Vijil scored four touchdowns and Hendrix and Trufant formed two-thirds of the secondary. That figures to be the case against Arkansas on Saturday.

“It helps us to be more comfortable,” said Hendrix, who recovered two fumbles, broke up two passes and made 24.5 tackles in seven regular-season games. “Isaiah and I have played together so long I know where he’s going to be at times and it’s just a chemistry thing.”

Hendrix and Trufant were roommates during much of their EWU careers and they’re back under the same apartment roof. Trufant was injured most of the Eagles’ 2005 season, but he ran a 4.31-second 40-yard dash for scouts in March.

“I was pretty much just at home (in Tacoma),” Trufant said. “I heard Raul and Anthony were on the team and Jesse had come back from Canada. He called me up and was like, ‘You should come out.’ They gave me a chance.”

Trufant is expected to return Saturday after a two-game absence with a strained hamstring. He has three interceptions and 31.5 tackles, tied for third on the team since arriving in late June.

“I would tell people don’t sleep on this league,” Trufant said. “It’s not a little backyard league. There’s some good talent out here. This is a good way to move up or if you just want to get better as a player.”

Vijil, Griffin, Hendrix and Trufant are 5-foot-10 or shorter, but they possess excellent quickness, a necessity with af2’s smaller field dimensions.

“I remember the coaches telling me the game was built for me and I’d excel at it,” Vijil said. “After I got here and starting playing, I saw what they were talking about.”

One thing the ex-Eags haven’t been able to out-run – ticket requests.

“Oh man, we only get four tickets,” Hendrix said. “I get a lot of calls every week. I try to get what I can. I think I got eight or 10 last week. That was all that was available.”