Vengeance is theirs

Spokane Shock coach Adam Shackleford approached Andrico Hines on the field after the game.

“I’m proud of you,” Shackleford told the South Georgia quarterback.

“It makes me sick – but I’m proud of you.”

Hines was proud, too.

He accounted for six touchdowns on Saturday – five passing and one rushing – as the former Shock quarterback led South Georgia to a 57-55 arenafootball2 victory at the Arena.

The Wildcats trailed by one point with 3 seconds remaining in regulation when kicker Scott Hode – who had missed two extra-point kicks earlier in the game – booted a 20-yard field goal to give South Georgia the win and hand the top-ranked Shock (11-1) their first loss of the season.

“It’s special just to come in and put the ‘L’ in the undefeated season,” said Hines, who completed 18 of 31 passes and threw two interceptions. “Just to come in here, the way I was treated the last game (I played in Spokane last season) and to shut some of the fans up, it just leaves a smile on my face.

“They’re a great team, and they’re going to make it in the playoffs – hopefully, we can see them down the road again.”

Besides beating the playoff-bound Shock, Hines was forced to take a drive down memory lane on Saturday.

As Spokane’s quarterback last season, Hines threw 62 touchdowns, eight interceptions and the Shock finished the regular season by winning nine of 10 games for their second straight Western Division championship before a first-round playoff loss to Louisville.

Hines and the Shock started the year with a shaky 3-3 record, though, and the Spokane fans rode Hines for the rest of the season – calling for backup Justin Rummel during games.

After Hines’ last game in Spokane last season, a small group of fans came down by the field and were said to have yelled racial slurs at Hines, Antwone Savage and Shock lineman Rico Ochoa.

“We never hope for a loss,” Shackleford said. “But you know, Andrico did a lot for this town, too. Here’s a kid that came back and knew he was going to get booed and knew he was going to deal with a lot of adversity.

“He came out and played poorly, I think, in the first half and then bounced back pretty well in the second half. Once the game’s over, part of me is proud that he was able to play well.”

Savage, who played the previous two seasons in Spokane and was with the Shock when they won the ArenaCup in 2006, also made his first return to Spokane.

Hines found Savage in the end zone three times – including two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

South Georgia’s leading receiver P.J. Berry also caught a touchdown pass from Hines and ran back the opening kick of the second half 58 yards for another score.

On the Wildcats’ final drive of the game, Berry returned Brian Jackson’s kick 17 yards that gave the Wildcats solid field position.

Hines found Berry for a 3-yard catch before the Wildcats were called for offensive holding and pushed back to their 10-yard line.

On third-and-17, Hines and Berry hooked up for a 28-yard catch and Berry gained 4 yards on the ensuing play to put South Georgia on Spokane’s 8-yard line. But a pass interference penalty dropped them back another 10 yards to the Shock’s 18.

Berry caught a 10-yard pass and Hines ran the ball 3 yards before Hode nailed the game-winning kick.

“I don’t care how we win – if it’s a field goal, if it’s a fumble recovery, I don’t care,” said Hines. “Just to get the win, that’s all that matters.

“We couldn’t stop them at the end,” said Shackleford. “I really thought at the end we were going to get a pretty good push and block (the kick) – we’d been getting good pushes on them all night. But hey, they made a nice play.

“We were sloppy at times – I thought we looked real good or real bad, there was no in between. We dropped footballs making a long read at quarterback, we had no pass rush in the second half, the defensive back’s were getting beat – it wasn’t just one person. If this refocuses us, and that’s what we needed, then we’ll turn around and move on next week.

“We will learn from this, there’s no doubt.”

Extra points

Shock receivers Raul Vijil and Andy Olson each caught two TD passes and Lee Foliaki added another. … Katon Bethay ran in two touchdowns for Spokane and quarterback Nick Davila finished 28 for 37 for 272 yards and five touchdowns. … Spokane’s Kevin McCullough and Roshawn Marshall each finished with an interception. Defensive back Sergio Gilliam, who leads the league in interceptions, failed to pick off Hines and remains one shy of tying the af2 record – set by Tennessee Valley’s Kelly Snell in 2002. … The Shock clinched a playoff berth last week with a 54-33 victory over the Tri-Cities Fever.

Wildcats 57, Shock 55

Spo—Foliaki 3 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SG—Lloyd 3 run (Hode kick)

Spo—Olson 13 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SG—Savage 11 pass from Hines (Hode kick)

Spo—Vijil 12 run (Jackson kick)

Spo—Vijil 1 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SG—Ibeh 1 pass from Hines (kick failed)

SG—Hines 1 run (run failed)

Spo—Olson 9 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SG—Berry 58 kickoff return (Hode kick)

Spo—Bethay 2 run (Jackson kick)

SG—Savage 18 pass from Hines (Hode kick)

Spo—Vijil 7 pass from Davila (Jackson kick)

SG—Savage 23 pass from Hines (Hode kick)

Spo—Bethay 1 run (pass failed)

SG—FG Hode 20

Individual Statistics

Rushing—South Georgia, Hines 3-4, Lloyd 2-4. Spokane, Vijil 1-12, Dickens 1-4, Bethay 3-4, Davila 1-3.

Passing—South Georgia, Hines 18-31-2-216, Team 0-0-0-(minus 6). Spokane, Davila 28-37-0-272, Team 0-0-0-1.

Receiving—South Georgia, Berry 8-107, Ibeh 6-31, Savage 3-52, Cloman 1-26. Spokane, Olson 12-121, Vijil 12-93, Dickens 1-37, Davila 1-12, Bethay 1-6, Foliaki 1-3.