Empire lose top running back Kennedy to broken leg

Spokane Empire standout Trevor Kennedy suffered a broken right leg in Saturday’s win over Billings and will miss the rest of the season, coach Adam Shackleford said.

Kennedy, the Indoor Football League’s most productive running back, went down early in the third quarter when he was tackled by 300-pound defensive lineman B.J. Butler. Kennedy suffered a fibular neck fracture as well as tension wire rupture causing a separation of the tibia and fibula.

After the swelling subsides, Kennedy will have surgery and faces a recovery “beyond two months,” Shackleford said.

“As soon as I saw it, I knew it was probably a season-ending deal,” Shackleford said. “He’ll still be a big part of this team off the field.”

Kennedy leads the IFL in rushing yards (720) and rushing touchdowns (28). He’s the league’s top scorer with 39 touchdowns, seven more than Sioux Falls’ Korey Williams. Kennedy is fourth in all-purpose yardage (124.1 per game) and ninth with 525 kick return yards.

Josh Ferguson, a starting defensive back, is the No. 2 running back. He has scored one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown in limited duty.

“Josh will be the running back this week,” said Shackleford, whose team visits Nebraska on Friday. “You’ll see ‘Ferg’ on both sides of the ball. Josh has been playing running back since Day 1 in training camp.”

Spokane has some depth in the secondary with Ferguson, Robert Brown, Tyree Robinson, Lorenzo White Jr. and Adrian James.

Andrew Pierce, a second-team All-IFL running back last season for Shackleford with Tri-Cities, is a potential long-term option. Pierce is on Spokane’s refused to report list, which would require him to sit out three weeks if he joins the active roster.

Spokane (11-2) has three more regular-season games followed by two bye weeks. The Empire will host the Intense Conference championship game Saturday, July 16, with the United Bowl the following weekend.

“It’s a possibility,” Shackleford said of Pierce, who led the IFL in scoring in 2015. “After this game, if he were to come in he would sit out the last two regular-season games and be eligible for the conference title game but we won’t know until probably Sunday or next week.”