Fever Bye Week Notebook
March 18, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release
A little known fact about coach Adam Shackleford. He actually started his career with the Spokane Shock with a 1-2 record. He went on to win 48 of his next 54 games and an arenafootball2 league championship.
He's not making any promises about being able to duplicate that with the Tri-Cities Fever, but after an 0-2 start he definitely thinks things are headed in the right direction into the bye on the schedule this weekend.
"We've been competitive in both of those games against two pretty good teams," he said. "Two teams that will probably be in the playoffs."
Shackleford has given his team some time off to regroup after a tough first two games before getting back to work this weekend in preparation for The Fever's home opener March 27 against the Kent Predators (0-3). Tri-Cities is coming off a 64-50 loss to defending Indoor Football League champion Billings on Sunday, a game that was close until the final minutes before the Outlaws pulled away.
If anything, the week of rest will help heal some of the injured players.
"I think we needed a few days off to physically recover," Shackleford said. "We had a tough two weeks of training camp and two long road trips to open our schedule."
INJURY REPORT: Linebackers Derek Nicholson and Jo Artis Ratti will both have further tests on their injured knees this week. Nicholson and Ratti were both injured in the loss to Billings and their status for the game against Kent is unknown. Ray Little, who suffered a rib injury in the season opener against Fairbanks and did not play last week, is expected to be back against Kent.
STAT SHEET: Running back/kick returner Tyson Thompson leads the IFL with 315 all-purpose yards. Quarterback Andy Collins ranks fourth in the league in passing yards per game at 196.5 Lareylle Cunningham is tied for third in the league with two sacks. Through two games the Fever is averaging 58.5 points per game. Last season Tri-Cities scored over 50 points just one time in 16 games while playing in the af2.
RUNNING WITH REGULARITY: Shackleford said the running game would be a much more vital part to the IFL game than it was in the af2 and the statistics back him up. The Fever has rushed the ball 50 times for 140 yards in two games. That's a huge contrast to last season when the Fever ran for just 146 yards in 16 games. For the season, the Fever had just 91 rushing attempts.
ROSTER MOVES: The Fever has not made any roster moves this week, but Shackleford said moves could be coming depending on the severity of his linebackers' injuries.
AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: Offensive lineman Tavita Thompson will not be suspended for the home opener. Thompson was ejected from the Billings game -- the second straight game he wasejected. But after the league reviewed video of the incident, the IFLoverturned Thompson's suspension.
TICKETS: There are still good seats available for the Fever's home opener. To get your tickets call the Fever office at 222-2215.
• Discuss this story on the Indoor Football League message board...
Indoor Football League Stories from March 18, 2010
- American Idol Contestant To Sing At Storm Home Opener - Sioux Falls Storm
- Fever Bye Week Notebook - Tri-Cities Fever
- Arkansas Diamonds Vs Austin Turfcats Game Notes - Arkansas Diamonds
- Omaha Beef Football On TV - Omaha Beef
- Interviews with Coaches Gilbert Brown and Chris Williams Highlight "This Week In The IFL" - IFL
- Spartans To Host First Annual Season Ticket Holder Party - La Crosse Spartans
- Over a Cup of Coffee - OSC Original by Jerry Hewitt
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
