Unbeaten Shock invade Boise

They have the top ranking – at least for now. They are also the last unbeaten team in the arenafootball2 league.

Coach Adam Shackleford thinks that’s great and all, but that’s not what he puts stock in. The top priority for the Spokane Shock is still to win a third straight West Division title.

“I would love to be able to clinch the division early,” Shackleford said.

They’re getting pretty darn close.

While the Shock (9-0) can’t lock up the division crown in Boise today, they can extend their already commanding lead over the Burn (5-4) in the division standings to five games with a victory today at Qwest Arena.

Boise will also be hungry for the win. The Burn have dropped two straight division contests in as many weeks – last week to the Tri-Cities Fever and two weeks ago to the Central Valley Coyotes.

“We need to get a couple wins here on tough road games in the next two weeks,” Shackleford said. “We know that Boise is an improving football team. I think they’ve made some changes that are going to help them.”

The Burn have been busy making roster moves this week.

Boise coach Lee Leslie added former All-Big Sky Conference and Idaho State center George Yarno, son of ex-NFL player John Yarno, linebacker Brad Stewart (Weber State) and three-time Big Sky champion wide receiver Eric Allen (Montana).

All three are expected to play today.

“We’re bringing guys in to fill three huge holes with the loss of (George) Williams, (Joe) Critchfield and (Dustin) Rykert,” Leslie said in a release.

Williams, who set the af2’s record for career points (1,084) and touchdowns (179) while with the Burn this season, caught four touchdown passes when the Shock beat Boise 62-42 on May 10 in Spokane. He was released from the team for unspecified reasons in late May, along with Critchfield.

Rykert has been on the injured-reserved list since May 30.

Fullback/defensive lineman Derek Beardall, fullback/linebacker Kelly Gilchrist, two-way linemen Mike Peko and Philemon Wilson were all released by Leslie this week.

Fullback/linebacker Chris Bruhn (Washington State) has been placed on team suspension.

Shock wide receiver Raul Vijil, who is second in the league in scoring and sat out of Spokane’s victory over Stockton last weekend to rest several injuries, will play today along with quarterback Nick Davila, who dealt with a sore back this week in practice.

Davila made his first start of the season when the Shock and Burn played on May 10. Since taking over for Jason Murrietta, Davila has thrown 27 touchdown passes and two interceptions in four starts. He comes into the weekend with a 126.2 quarterback efficiency rating and is completing 69 percent of his passes. Both marks rank second in the league.

“The lack of (total) yardage is because our starting field position has been past the other teams’ 25-yard line so many times with our good defense,” said Shackleford. “I worry more about completion percentage and making the right decisions and he’s doing that most of the time.”

Extra points

Former Shock defensive back Isaiah Trufant (Eastern Washington) was named the AFL defensive player of the week after recording six tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception in the Arizona Rattlers 60-53 victory over the Orlando Predators last Saturday. … Former Shock lineman Kelvin Morris can make AFL history when the Utah Blaze host the Los Angeles Avengers on Monday. With two games remaining, Morris is tied with three players for the league lead in defensive fumble recoveries and needs one more to set the rookie single-season record with six.