Shock vs. SaberCats - Game Preview

Published on May 29, 2013 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Spokane Shock News Release


SPOKANE, WA - The Spokane Shock return home to face their National Conference-West Division rivals, the San Jose SaberCats, in the CBS Sports Network Game of the Week this Saturday, June 1st at 7 p.m. (PST) at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

It will be a critical matchup with playoff implications for the Shock (7-3, 2-1) who find themselves one game behind the second-placed SaberCats (7-2, 1-2) in the West Division standings with eight games left to play. With a win on Saturday, Spokane would own sole possession of second place in the Division and own the tiebreaker against San Jose with the better record in head-to-head matchups between the two teams in the case of identical records at seasons end. Spokane would also inch closer to catching the Arizona Rattlers (9-1, 3-1) who currently have the best record in the AFL and sit atop the West Division standings.

The Shock seem to have rediscovered their rhythm winning two straight games after a brief three game losing skid. Spokane quarterback Erik Meyer is coming off a dominant performance last Friday against the San Antonio Talons in which he completed 23-of-29 pass attempts for 255 yards and 7 touchdowns to go along with two rushing scores in the 61-48 win. As they have done all season, Meyer and wide receiver Adron Tennell continued to exploit opposing secondaries with an unstoppable connection as Tennell hauled in 12 receptions for 177 yards and four touchdowns, his 15th straight game with multiple receiving touchdowns.

However, the Shock will be facing a red hot SaberCats (7-2) team that has ripped off five straight wins since the two teams last met in mid-April. San Jose continued their ascent in the West Division standings with a 35-34 nail biting win last Saturday night against the Utah Blaze. Quarterback Russ Michna completed 22-of-38 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns. He spread the ball around his receiving corps connecting with Fred Williams 10 times for 124 yards and a score, Huey Whittaker six times for 46 yards and a touchdown and Jason Willis five times for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

Last season Spokane and San Jose split the season series with the SaberCats taking the first game 69-35 in Spokane, Wash., while the Shock returned the favor winning 90-63 in San Jose, Calif.

And although Spokane beat San Jose 69-47 earlier this year, that game has proven to be a turning point in the SaberCats season and may be directly responsible for the teams rise into playoff contention.

During the first meeting between the teams, Shock defensive back Paul Stephens picked off struggling SaberCats quarterback Aaron Garcia an AFL record five times which helped drop San Jose to a 2-3 record. The next week San Jose traded Garcia to the Orlando Predators and decided to attempt to sway former Chicago Rush quarterback Russ Michna, who had retired and had become a manager of sales and finance at the Higher Gear Group in Schaumburg, Ill., out of retirement to take over the starting gig.

Michna, who set a Rush franchise record in 2012 with 4,470 passing yards and 89 touchdowns in 2012, agreed to a two-year deal with the SaberCats and has been instrumental in San Jose's turnaround. Since taking over as the starter in mid-April, Michna has thrown for 24 touchdowns and only four interceptions while leading the SaberCats to five straight victories.

Michna will look to extend this winning streak against Spokane, a team in which he has had recent success against. Last season Michna threw for a Chicago single-game franchise record 400 yards and nine touchdowns against the Shock in the only meeting between the teams.

He will be facing a Shock defensive unit that has struggled to this point in the season giving up 54.8 points per game and are currently rank dead last in the league in total defense giving up 346.6 yards per contest. And even though they were able to force five turnovers in the first meeting, Spokane's secondary still allowed a combined 20 receptions for 249 yards and four touchdowns to receiver's Jamarko Simmons (currently on Inactive Reserve) and Willis.

While the Michna acquisition will certainly be an intriguing factor in Saturday's pivotal game, the most significant matchup will undoubtedly be Spokane's second ranked-scoring offense pitted against the SaberCat's fifth-ranked scoring defense.

Spokane's offense headed by Meyer, who currently leads the AFL with 2,926 yards passing and 70 touchdowns, scores 66.2 points per game and has only failed to reach the 60-point mark once this season. Meyer torched the SaberCats for 242 yards and eight touchdowns in the first matchup while Tennell, who leads the league in receiving with 1,221 yards and 35 touchdowns, added nine catches for 117 yards and three scores.

However, this is not the same SaberCats defense that the Shock faced on April 19.

San Jose has shored up their defense significantly since the April meeting as they have held their opponent to under 40 points in five consecutive games. They currently stand second in the AFL with 22 sacks and boast a secondary that only allows 241 yards passing per game. They are led by defensive back Clevan Thomas who is tied with Stephens for the league lead with eight interceptions and was named the Riddell defensive player of the week after collecting two interceptions, including one returned for a 50-yard touchdown, four tackles, and three pass breaks last Saturday against the Blaze.

Saturday's game will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network and will also be Military Appreciation Night at the Arena. Fans will receive bandannas courtesy of Century Link and can use the promo code ‘Military' via TicketsWest for $7 tickets to game. This week's game will also be featured on 700AM ESPN radio.

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