Shock look to not get Burned
Spokane Shock coach Adam Shackleford is looking to keep things simple this week.
Tonight marks the first meeting between the Spokane Shock (3-3) and expansion Boise Burn (4-2), and presents a big challenge for the Shock’s injury-exhausted lineup. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. PST at Qwest Arena.
“Our guys are up for the challenge and I expect a great football game,” Shackleford said. “We’ve been doing two-a-days all week to get the new guys caught up and we’re not going to do anything real flashy out there. We’re just trying to keep it simple.”
That could be easier said than done.
Not only are the Shock facing the team tied for the division lead, they are facing a Boise team coming off a dramatic loss last week to Central Valley, which halted a three-game win streak for the Burn.
Burn quarterback Bart Hendricks had a solid performance in the game against Central Valley, completing 20 of 38 passes for 291 yards and nine touchdowns. Receivers Casey Allen and Lee Marks scored three TDs each in the loss.
The Shock will be tested on offense, but did get some good news this week when receiver Antwone Savage, who was listed as questionable after last week’s loss to Bakersfield, was confirmed as being in the lineup tonight.
“We do have Antwone with us,” Shackleford said. “I am not sure how much he will play, but obviously it’s a good thing for us to have him traveling.”
Still injured are receivers Chico Mackey and Raul Vijil. Mackey isn’t expected back for four weeks and Shackleford said Vijil isn’t as healthy as he needs to be to play again. Andre Rector and Jerome Stevens are also injured and will not play.
Quarterback Andrico Hines and the Shock will have to be better this week on getting the offense started. They were hurt last week by several delay-of-game penalties and untimely turnovers that led to a second-half collapse and ultimate loss to Bakersfield.
“We can’t hand it back to them by turnovers,” Shackleford said. “We are without a lot of guys we were heavily relying on to be big-time guys for us, so we have to be better than we have been about protecting the ball – you can’t have as many turnovers as we did last week and win football games.”
Shock newcomer Anthony Brown will make his arenafootball2 debut at receiver. Brown joined the Shock earlier this week along with offensive lineman Jason Karcher and DB/WR Darnell Hood.
“Hopefully, some of our new guys will step in and make it happen for us,” Shackleford said. “We worked hard this week to try and get everyone on the same page and now it’s time to head out and execute the game plan.”
Shock add QB
Quarterback Justin Rummell was added to the Shock roster.
Rummell, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, was recently released from minicamp with the Detroit Lions. He finished his college playing days at Earlham College (Ind.) in 2006. He played in 42 games, completed 58 percent of his passes with 76 touchdowns and 9,341 total offensive yards.
Rummell will assume the backup QB position and will travel with the team today to Boise as the Shock take on the Burn.
The Burn are on top of the division with a 4-2 record, while the Shock are in a three-way tie for second place.
QB Chivalrick Daughtry was placed on recallable reassignment.