A "Wiser" game plan for the Fever on Saturday
April 8, 2006 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release
The Tri-Cities Fever, coming off a humiliating defeat to the Wyoming Cavalry last week, are looking to rebound against the Big Sky Thunder Saturday night in the Toyota Center.
Fever quarterbacks struggled to get any consistent production out of the offense against Wyoming before injuries would sideline both of them. Lemuel Adams and DeMarcus Morris are both out of action this week with a broken collarbone and a sprained throwing hand respectively. Adams is likely done for the season, while Morris has been put on Injured Reserve and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. In comes Joe Wiser.
Wiser was signed by head coach Dan Whitsett last week, just a day before the team left to go to Wyoming. He stayed behind and did not travel to Casper. He will be under center Saturday night for Whitsett with just over a week to learn the system. "Joe is really coming along pretty well," Whitsett said. "We brought (Doug) Coleman in on a Wednesday last year and he started on Saturday against an undefeated team (River City Rage). It is basically the same system (as last year) and we will focus on the easier reads Saturday night."
Wiser comes to the Fever from the Colorado Crush of the Arena Football League. Prior to his time with the John Elway owned Crush organization he was a member of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. In 2005 he signed with the Alouettes after having a very successful college career with Division I-AA Portland State (PSU) Vikings.
At PSU Wiser would throw for 4,303 yards his junior and senior season. His senior season he was a team captain and led his team to a 7-4 overall record. He finished his career in the top 10 in passing in Portland State history.
Backing up Wiser will be local Southridge High School product Blake Kluse. Kluse played his college ball at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Two other additions will be seeing their first action this season in a Fever uniform. Defensive backs Sullivan Beard and Muhammad Shamsid-Deen will be in uniform Saturday night against the Big Sky Thunder. Beard is no stranger to the Fever organization as he was brought in last season with Doug Coleman. It was Beard that sealed the playoff victory against Odessa with an interception in the final seconds of the game. Shamsid-Deen was signed late last week and came into camp the same day as Wiser. He beat out Elton Seals in practice this week. Shamsid-Deen played his college ball at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. Released by the Fever to make room for these additions were rookie defensive back Terrance Turner and Seals.
Game time for the Fever Saturday night against the Big Sky Thunder is 7:05 p.m. (PST). Tickets are available at the Toyota Center Box Office or by contacting TicketsWest at 1-800-325-SEAT.
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National Indoor Football League Stories from April 8, 2006
- A "Wiser" game plan for the Fever on Saturday - Tri-Cities Fever
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