Spokane had an excellent game plan to combat the explosive Rattlers offense. Its main objective was to keep talented Rattlers’ QB Nick Davila off the field. The Shock held the advantage in time of possession and converted five of eight on third down. Spokane masterfully controlled the clock in the waning minutes of the 1^st half. Although the offense did not score and went into the locker room tied at 28, it kept Davila from having a shot at the endzone. The Shock offense came out at half time and continued to control the football. Erik Meyer and the offense led a drive that took six minutes off the clock, a rare occurrence in arena football. Spokane controlled the tempo all game and it helped in their eventual victory.
 

                However, it did take a while for Spokane to really grab hold of this football game. A rash of penalties and miscues stopped the Shock from grasping control earlier. There was a fumbled snap between quarterback Erik Meyer and his center Palauni Ma Sun early in the football game, which could have spelled disaster for Spokane. Later, Meyer rolled out and tossed a touchdown pass, but it was brought back due to offensive holding. Spokane had totaled seven penalties for 83 yards. They’ll have to clean that up in the future.
 

                Head coach Andy Olson knew he’d need something to swing the game in his favor after Spokane and Arizona had traded touchdowns back and forth through the 1^st quarter. Early in the 2^nd quarter, he saw his opportunity. A surprise onside kick caught the Rattler’s special teams unit off guard and the Shock recovered the ball. A few plays later, they took the lead and momentum.
 

                At this point, the fortunes turned in the Shock’s favor entirely. Arizona was now the team making mental errors. Quarterback Nick Davila started missing open targets. His receivers were dropping passes. Now Arizona had to play catch up, a tall task with over 10,000 orange clad fans roaring in the stands. When asked about the crowd, Beau Bell responded, “Oh man I’m telling you, we got the best fans in the AFL.” Much of the Shock’s success on Friday could be attributed to the relentless crowd in the Spokane Arena.
 

                Spokane’s offense was once again dominating. Meyer continued playing mistake free football, tossing another eight touchdowns for 351 yards. He also scored a rushing touchdown. Meyer has still yet to throw an interception in his potential MVP campaign. His protection wasn’t quite up to par with previous weeks; Arizona’s pass rush was relentless. However, Meyer showed excellent movement in the pocket, often ducking and dodging pass rushers and completing passes from varying platforms. His talented receiving corps stepped up in a big way. Newcomer Duane Brooks had an impressive AFL debut, catching nine passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. Adron Tennell came up big with 10 catches for 138 yards and four touchdowns. He showed some veteran savvy on one of his touchdown catches, using the wall as a springboard to propel himself away from the defender. Spokane’s receivers were excellent at picking up yards after the catch all evening.
 

                Spokane’s defense came up big at the right times on Friday. Nick Davila was held to season lows in completion percentage and touchdown passes. Shock LB Beau Bell was the key.  According to Andy Olson, “He’s so aggressive and he keeps going. He’s never tired.” Bell came up with a big sack and later picked off to put the game out of reach and ice a Spokane victory.
 

                Andy Olson stated after the game that, “I set one goal this season, that’s to win every game we play this season. Every game we play. We’re 4-0. We’re going to be at five next Friday, six after that. We’re going to win every game, that’s our goal.” So far, so good for the Spokane Shock. Spokane will travel to San Jose to take on the Sabercats on April 19^th. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PST. 

Jeffrey Giuliani is a sports journalist from Renton, Washington. He is a senior at Western Washington Univeristy where he is studying journalism. Giuliani is currently the sports editor for his college paper, The Western Front and hopes to move on to a daily after obtaining his degree. This will be his third season covering the Spokane Shock for ArenaFan.