Shock remain undefeated
Published on May 24, 2009 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Spokane Shock News Release
Spokane, WA: The Spokane Shock defeated the Central Valley Coyotes 43-22 tonight for their eighth win of the season. Spokane remains the only undefeated team in the af2.
Coming into tonight's game, Head Coach Adam Shackleford acknowledged that his defense was going to play a critical role in a victory but he didn't know that they were going to be able to hold Central Valley to their lowest point total of the season (22).
Central Valley was averaging 52 points per game before tonight's loss - their fifth of the season.
The Coyotes rookie QB Ryan O'Hara, who made his first start of the season, was under heavy pressure all night from the Shock's defensive line that had a season-high five sacks. Spokane's DL Ben McCombs, who played for Central Valley last season, led the Shock with 2.5 sacks tonight.
"I'm always going out there 100 miles an hour. You are going to get the same thing from me from every play," McCombs explained. "So, I always expect to win."
Despite this pressure, O'Hara was still able to complete 60 percent of his passes - including three touchdowns - for 225 yards passing. WR Lamonte Jones was O'Hara's primary target with 15 receptions - including two touchdowns - for 149 yards.
Although O'Hara turned in a season-best performance, the number that will haunt him is the one interception he threw with the game still in the balance late in the 4th quarter. With the Coyotes down 22-36, KR Ruschard Dodd-Masters returned Brian Jackson's kick 27-yards and put O'Hara's offense in excellent field position. Three plays later, O'Hara threw an interception that fell into the hands of rookie-DB Stanley Franks and sealed the win for Spokane.
Offensively, the Shock produced some of their lowest numbers of the season, including a season-low of only 43 points. Spokane seemed out of sync and never got in a groove after QB Nick Davila threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game. Davila took a hard hit on the play and sat on the sidelines for most of the first half. He was replaced by QB Casey Hansen who added 70 yards to the Shock's 225 yards of total offense tonight.
Davila returned to the game and accounted for three touchdowns (two rushing and one passing) and a season-low of 127 passing yards. The Shock's receiving corps was lead by Andy Olson who had nine receptions - including one touchdown - for 59 yards.
"We put on a lot of pressure tonight, but we should have put up a lot more points because our defense played so well," Head Coach Adam Shackleford said. "But we are happy with the win."
JLS Ironman of the Game: SPOKANE - WR/Special Teams: SPOKANE Charles Dillon
Aaron's Defensive Player of the Game: SPOKANE - DL Ben McCombs
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game: SPOKANE - WR Raul Vijil
The big Game Catch of the Game: SPOKANE - WR Raul Vijl 4th qtr one handed
Attendance: 10,223
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