Shock drown out thoughts of upset

Hard to know what was louder – the inevitable din of the Cheerstix handed out by the Spokane Shock on Saturday, or all the teeth-gnashing during the week over sluggish ticket sales lest those noisemakers go to waste.

A close third: Shock defensive back Roshawn Marshall’s constant conversation with opposing receivers.

Hey, someone had to lighten things up.

Eventually, there were some good times to be squeezed out of the Shock’s 42-14 first-round af2 playoff victory over the Austin Wranglers at the Arena, but atypically it was more chore than amusement.

Not much of a resemblance to the romp through a 15-1 regular season. Not the unbridled beer bust of the traditional sellout.

It’s the playoffs and nerves – even down here in the lower reaches of the Always Fun League – are a little frayed.

Of course, it could get worse next weekend, if Arkansas is able to survive today’s first-rounder against Central Valley and Twisters coach Chris Siegfried – who steered the Shock to the af2 title in their inaugural season of 2006 – brings his merry brand of psychological warfare back to Spokane.

“It would be fun to see him,” said Shock receiver Raul Vijil, eyebrows cocked to indicate he still needed to be convinced.

However it works out, the Shock would be well to bring a more complete game to Round 2 if they expect there to be Rounds 3 and 4.

Clearly, you cannot fault the performance by the Shock defense, which not only made three fourth-down stops but also checkmated the Wranglers into two early no-hope field-goal attempts from well down the field and ended yet another drive with an interception. Marshall had another pick taken away by an offsides penalty, but he got in his yaps nonetheless.

“I never try to disrespect an opponent, but I can’t play on mute,” he said. “I can’t do it. I’m not going to do anything to hurt my team, but I’m definitely going to talk to you all game.”

Austin wasn’t going to keep him quiet. So dismal were the Wranglers on offense that coach Ben Bennett hoisted the white flag by ordering another field-goal attempt down four touchdowns with 140 seconds to play.

Still, it wasn’t the worst offensive showing in af2 playoff history. Back in 2002, the San Diego Riptide fell to Peoria 22-12 in the National Conference semifinals and somehow were not drummed out of the league for violating the Fan’s Bill of Rights.

Yet even with this stifling effort, the Shock led just 14-7 at half – having been thoroughly discombobulated by a fumble at the Austin 2-yard line by backup quarterback Jason Murrietta late in the first quarter. Spokane had a chance to go up 14-0 and would have followed with an onside kick, but instead had to briefly relive the nightmare of 2007’s opening round, when six turnovers led to a 62-35 thrashing here at the hands of Louisville.

“That kind of thing got us beat last year,” said coach Adam Shackleford, enjoying the glow of his first playoff win. “Thankfully, we were able to overcome that.”

The feel was less than ideal all around. Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi was here to play some political football and strolled out to handle the coin toss – surely Gov. Chris Gregoire will be given equal time next week. Tri-Cities voters may want to note that Dino wore a Shock jacket.

Then the Wranglers decided both on their first kickoff and the two end-zone field-goal attempts to boot the ball into the stands where the dangerous Vijil would have to outduel someone in an orange fright wig to make a return.

Sound strategy? Probably. A miserable killjoy? Absolutely.

But mostly the Shock had to overcome the worst circumstance of all: home-field advantage.

“We’re glad we’re here and playing in front of all our fans,” Shackleford said, “but it also raises the expectation level.”

For one and all. The Shock are spoiled by sellouts, but of course the businesses that buy six season tickets may only re-up come the playoffs for a pair for Mr. and Mrs. Bossman. So there had to be a late rush to peddle 8,872 for this game – which Shock co-owner Brady Nelson still reported to be the best first-round sale in franchise history, a good many of the 9,682 announced in 2006 apparently being, uh, discounted.

This after much hand-wringing during the week, never mind that only 21 times in 85 previous af2 playoff games has the host team topped its average attendance. It’s a given in minor league baseball, minor league hockey and, yes, minor league indoor football.

Shackleford wasn’t doing the math, but he knew this much: “There were some fourth downs tonight when it was as loud as I’ve ever heard it.”

But there’s another playoff stat unique to af2 – the home teams had just a 50-35 advantage in games dating back to the league’s 2000 start, hardly the advantage you’d expect.

“I think our guys were a little nervous,” Shackleford admitted. “They knew what was at stake and they certainly don’t want to go home. And, simply, there’s more pressure on the team that is ‘supposed’ to win.”

He knows that from the debacle of a year ago – the echo of which was finally drowned out in the clamor of another Shock Saturday night.