Instant replay

Some of the names have changed: Kelvin Morris, Marquess Ledbetter and Andrico Hines, for example. Some haven’t: Rob Keefe, Antwone Savage and Raul Vijil. One thing remained the same: the Spokane Shock’s winning ways continue.

The Shock kicked off their second season Saturday with a touchdown – literally. The defending arenafootball2 champions scored on a fumble recovery on the opening kickoff, quickly built a 20-point lead and hung a defense-driven 51-35 loss on the Stockton Lightning before an announced crowd of 10,639 at the Spokane Arena, a record for a Shock home game.

“It kind of brought back old memories,” said receiver Savage, a standout from 2006 who finished with a team-high 10 catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns. “The defense flying around, the offense making plays, Coach making calls – what more can you ask for?”

The Shock certainly couldn’t have asked for a better start in Adam Shackleford’s coaching debut. Jon Koker’s opening kickoff had plenty of hang time and bounded off the hands of Stockton’s Clarence Cunningham. Morris pounced on the loose ball in the end zone, giving Spokane a 7-0 lead in the first few seconds.

“I was so excited; it actually kind of rolled on from last year and you could just feel the fans,” said Keefe, who came up with two interceptions and, keeping with tradition, chucked the footballs into the crowd for souvenirs. “That was storybook.”

And it set the tone for the first half. Morris said he was going for the hit, “but then I saw the ball on the ground, so why not go for the ball?”

Morris, who later left with a knee injury, was impressed with the loud atmosphere in his first game with the Shock.

“It was even more than I expected, to be honest,” said Morris, who played at Clemson before finishing up at West Georgia. “Being from a smaller town, 10,000 fans that were very supportive, I was loving it.”

Stockton was poised to answer but former Shock reserve quarterback/receiver Derrick Crudup, making his first af2 start, overthrew Kenyatte Morgan and was picked off by Keefe in the end zone. Spokane marched deep into Lightning territory as Hines completed his first five passes. Facing fourth-and-goal at the 6, Hines found Savage in the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown.

The margin grew to 20-0 when Hines scored on a keeper early in the second quarter. The teams traded mistakes and points for the remainder of the quarter.

Spokane recovered another Stockton fumble on a kickoff, but returned the favor when Hines was sacked and fumbled. Crudup floated a 21-yard TD pass to Morgan to get Stockton on the scoreboard.

Spokane scored on the next play from scrimmage when the Lightning didn’t bother covering Vijil, who caught a pass near the dasherboards and raced 44 yards for the touchdown. The same thing happened to Spokane’s defense on the ensuing play as receiver Sale’ Key roamed through the secondary unguarded and caught a 36-yard scoring pass.

After a Hines’ interception, Spokane’s defense held, setting up Koker’s 21-yard field goal on the last play of the half, boosting the Shock’s lead to 30-14.

Hines, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for two, scored on a 1-yard keeper early in the third quarter. The defense took over, stuffing the Lightning on three straight downs from the Shock 1-yard line. Linebacker Ben Brown made the initial hit on Crudup’s fourth-down sneak.

“It let the steam out of their sails,” Shackleford said.

The defense kept Stockton scoreless in the second half until midway through the fourth quarter.

By then, the Shock was comfortably on top 44-14. Stockton scored twice in the final 2 minutes to close within 16.

Quad Cities, an 81-21 winner over Cincinnati, visits Spokane on Saturday.