Shock, Kiss meet in game both need for turnaround
Spokane, L.A. stand in same desperate position
Spokane and L.A. aren’t exactly heated rivals, but both would probably agree with that old adage about throwing out the records when rivals clash.
L.A. (0-6) is the Arena Football League’s only winless team and has dropped 12 straight dating back to last season. Spokane (1-4) owns the league’s third-worst record entering tonight’s contest with the visiting Kiss.
“We know what’s at stake,” Shock receiver Mike Washington said. “You can never take any team lightly in any game. Records don’t really mean much in this league because there are a lot of wild cards, the ball can bounce off the bars. As long as we take care of what we need to do, everything should take care of itself.”
Spokane didn’t take care of business last week, falling to a 1-4 New Orleans’ squad. Shock quarterback Carson Coffman tossed three interceptions and Spokane’s defense couldn’t slow the Voodoo even after they lost quarterback Adam Kennedy to injury in the second quarter. The Shock yielded a season-high 66 points.
L.A. has scored 46 points in its last two games. The Kiss failed to reach 40 points in four of six games and average a league-worst 34.5 per game.
L.A. is as familiar with rotating quarterbacks as Spokane. Starter Adrian McPherson is out for the season. Former Shock backup Brian Zbydniewski played in two games before being released. He signed with Orlando earlier this week.
The Kiss turned to Matt Bassuener, who played briefly for the Shock in Week 2, on Monday. He was replaced in the second half by Joe Clancy, who went 5 of 19 for 62 yards in a 49-16 loss at Las Vegas.
“I coached Bassuener for a week, Clancy is a rookie. Both are decent quarterbacks, but they just haven’t had enough time to work together,” Spokane coach Andy Olson said. “It’s similar to what we went through earlier this season.”
Warren Smith, who has yet to take a snap this season, is listed as the starting quarterback with Coffman as the backup on Spokane’s depth chart released Thursday.
The Shock offense has improved statistically in recent weeks.
“It’s just a matter of execution,” Washington said. “We scored 63 points, the first three games we were stuck at 43. The offense needs to handle their thing, the defense needs to handle their thing, and special teams needs to handle their discipline and lanes and we’ll be good.”