Shock deflate ’Wheelers, cancel travel plans

The word ridiculous came to mind a few times.

From receiver Raul Vijil’s 58-yard kick return for a touchdown, in which he wiggled around five defenders on his fifth trip to the end zone on Saturday night, to 335-pound offensive lineman Kyle Young’s touchdown reception.

From one of defensive back Nygel Rogers’ five tackles – which resembled a WWE body slam – to three recovered onside kicks that featured the kind of hang time you’d expect to see in a slam-dunk contest.

It was absolutely ridiculous, in a delightful circus-meets-sport kind of way.

Thanks to their 78-51 arenafootball2 victory over the visiting Quad City Steamwheelers (7-8), the top-ranked Spokane Shock assured that an indoor version of Monday Night Football could be coming to an Arena near you.

The 78 points were the most scored by Spokane in the Shock’s three-year franchise history and with the win the Shock (14-1) locked up home-field advantage throughout the af2 playoffs.

“It feels good,” Shock coach Adam Shackleford said, “but we’re only guaranteed one game.”

True, but after the Shock close out the regular season at home against Boise on Saturday, they’ll need just three more wins to play host to the ArenaCup championship game on Monday, Aug. 25.

“That’s a great feeling,” said Young, who caught his first two passes of the season. “You can’t ask too much more than having a home game all the way through the championship.”

The fans couldn’t have asked for much more in the stylish victory that earned Spokane that right.

The game started like so many other arena football games. The Shock and Steamwheelers traded touchdowns for a little more than half of the opening quarter. Then, with a 21-13 lead, the Shock proved tricks aren’t just for kids.

After Vijil’s second TD reception, Shock kicker Brian Jackson booted a short ball that Vijil successfully took possession of on Quad City’s 15-yard line and carried an additional 9 yards. Four plays later, quarterback Nick Davila – who completed 19 of 27 passes for 215 yards and scored 10 touchdowns – ran for the second of his three rushing touchdowns and Spokane took a 28-13 lead.

By halftime, Vijil had caught four of Davila’s seven TD passes (including their 29-yard hook up early in the second quarter, a game-high pass play); Rogers had essentially lifted Steamwheelers receiver Kris Peters in the air with one hand before not-so-gently taking him to the ground in one of the Shock’s many thrilling tackles; Young had caught his first pass of the season; and Spokane had recovered three onside kicks in the process of building a 56-27 lead.

“We knew they had a good pass rush, so we thought we might be able to get Kyle Young and slip him out there,” Shackleford said. “We’ve been practicing that play all year and haven’t run it and we picked the right time. And our kicking game, they wouldn’t adjust, so we kept doing the onside kicks.”

After veteran receiver Kelvin Dickens caught a 5-yard TD pass to give Spokane a 42-20 lead, Jackson delivered a regular kickoff as the Steamwheelers looked to begin their sixth drive of the night. The ball sprung off the net and into the hands of Shock lineman Justin Warren at Quad City’s 15-yard line and Warren ran 7 yards before being tackled.

One play later, Davila found Vijil again. Then came another onside kick, this time recovered by Rogers. It didn’t lead to a touchdown, but it didn’t really matter at that point.

“That was a lot of fun out there tonight – I think we all had a really, really good time,” Young said. “We’re not the type of team that really gets down anyway, but we feel pretty good about this one.”

After Quad City successfully drove the ball down the field and scored to open the second half, Vijil – who was questionable coming into today’s game because of a nagging back injury he suffered three weeks ago – danced around five defenders and returned Matt Denny’s kick 58 yards for his final touchdown of the night. On six kick returns, Vijil collected 164 yards.

Shock linebacker Lee Foliaki followed up with a safety and Young caught a 5-yard TD pass in the third quarter.

Receiver Etu Molden, a recent acquisition for Spokane, recovered the second onside kick in the first half and also caught a 6-yard TD pass for the Shock’s final touchdown of the night.

Extra points

Jackson was 10 for 10 on PAT kicks. In 15 games, Jackson is 102 of 113 (90.3 percent) on PATs. … Former Shock linebacker Kelvin Morris, who played for the AFL’s Utah Blaze this season, attended the game. Honorary captains were Seahawks linebacker Will Herring and offensive lineman Kyle Williams, who were in town with the Seattle Seahawks Blue Tour. … The Shock improved to 2-1 against Quad City. … Steamwheelers quarterback J.J. Raterink was 21 for 34 with 235 yards and seven touchdowns. Jesse Schmidt led QC receivers with 108 yards and three TD catches. Jarrett Brooks and Kris Peters had two TD receptions apiece.

Shock 78, Steamwheelers 51

Quad City	13	14	14	10	– 51
Spokane	28	28	16	6	– 78

 Spo—Vijil 27 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

QC—Schmidt 34 pass from Raterink (kick failed)

Spo—Davila 1 run (Jackson kick)

QC—Brooks 19 pass from Raterink (Denny kick)

Spo—Vijil 14 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

Spo—Davila 1 run (Jackson kick)

QC—Brooks 13 pass from Raterink (Denny kick)

Spo—Vijil 29 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

Spo—Dickens 5 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

Spo—Vijil 8 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

QC—Schmidt 5 pass from Raterink (Denny kick)

Spo—Davila 16 run (Jackson kick)

QC—Peters 8 pass from Raterink (pass failed)

Spo—Vijil 58 kickoff return (Jackson kick)

Spo—Safety, Foliaki

Spo—Young 5 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

QC—Schmidt 27 pass from Raterink (Schmidt pass from Raterink)

QC—Peters 2 pass from Raterink (Schmidt pass from Raterink)

Spo—Molden 6 pass from Davila (kick failed)

QC—Jackson PAT return

	QC	Spo
First downs	18	20
Rushes-yards	4-16	13-35
Passing yards	223	215
Passes	21-34-0	19-27-0
Fumbles-lost	1-1	0-0
Penalties-yards	10-63	8-37

Individual statistics

 Rushing—Quad City, Raterink 3-17, Monk 1-(minus 1). Spokane, Davila 5-30, Olson 1-3, McCullough 2-1, Bethay 5-1.

Passing—Quad City, Raterink 21-34-0-235, Team 0-0-0-(minus 12). Spokane, Davila 19-27-0-215.

Receiving—Quad City, Schmidt 7-108, Brooks 7-75, Peters 6-46, Monk 1-6. Spokane, Vijil 6-89, Dickens 5-53, Olson 4-36, Molden 2-21, Young 2-16.