Blaze Extinguished by Shock
Jeffrey Giuliani
Monday June 24, 2013
Fans of the Spokane Shock definitely get their money’s worth when they hit the turnstiles at the Spokane Arena. Three consecutive home games have resulted in blowouts, with the Shock winning by at least thirty points. Their latest victim was the Utah Blaze, who they toppled by a score of 80-41. Minus a poor showing in Phoenix against the Arizona Rattlers, Spokane has been unstoppable the past four weeks.
The Shock took control of the game early. After trading touchdowns with Utah on their opening possessions, Spokane recovered the ensuing kickoff. The ball hit the bar and awkwardly bounced away from the Utah return unit, into the hands of Shock LB Terrance Moore. Moore would have a very productive game, scoring two touchdowns on fumble recoveries in addition to recovering the aforementioned bar ball.
Spokane’s defense has played very well at home these last few weeks. Every team that comes into the Spokane Arena faces a tall task. A passionate and raucous crowd makes communication at the line of scrimmage difficult for opposing offenses. Turnovers are now commonplace for the Spokane defense. Four consecutive Utah drives ended with turnovers on two fumbles, an interception and downs.
Head coach Andy Olson was asked about the recent influx of turnovers and responded, “We’re just trying to be more aggressive, plain and simple. Arizona really out physicaled us last week and we’re just trying to more aggressive.”
The extra aggressiveness is paying off big time. Olson mentioned that the Shoock are emphasizing jamming opposing receivers at the line of scrimmage. While that can sometimes backfire and give up big plays, it’s working in Spokane's favor right now to produce turnovers.
The offense rebounded after a subpar showing against the Rattlers. Quarterback Erik Meyer was efficient, completing 74 percent of his passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns. He was pulled late when the outcome had already been decided, denying him the chance to rack up even more impressive numbers. Backup quarterback and wide receiver Arvell Nelson would come in and throw a touchdown on the final play of the game. He also caught a touchdown playing wide receiver. Brandon Thompkins also had a big night, as playing against his former team gave him plenty of motivation. He tallied eleven receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Thompkins also had one fumble on the evening, one that caused quite a bit of controversy. On a routine pass completion, Thompkins ran towards the dasher boards and pushed the ball over into the crowd. Thinking he was out of bounds, he started back towards the huddle when a Blaze defender slapped the ball out of his hands and it was recovered by Utah. An irate Olson immediately challenged the play, but to no avail. The head referee announced that no whistle had been blown, thus the ball was still live. The play stood, much to the dismay of Olson and the 9,965 fans who saw otherwise.
Olson would lose another challenge later in the game. It took multiple players to get him off the field and separate him from the officials.
Spokane has blown out a couple opponents this season. Once the game is clearly won, Olson takes Meyer out and plays it conservatively until the clock hits zero. But on this night, he let his emotions get the better of him.
After recovering Utah’s onside kick attempt, with 1:44 left in the game, reporters in the press box were starting to gather their things. A few running plays were expected. Instead, Olson calls a passing play where the primary receiver ran a fade into the back corner of the endzone. Meyer lofted the ball to Adron Tennell and it was caught for a touchdown. After Utah turned the ball over on downs, Olson went end zone for a second time. Again, with only seconds remaining, a quarterback kneel down was expected. Another reporter and I had already left the press box when we realized the Shock were going to run an actual play. We watched from the catwalk as Kamar Jorden caught a touchdown pass with no time remaining.
There are two camps when it comes to running up the score, and I tend to lean towards thinking it’s unnecessary and disrespectful. Run conservative plays that take time off the clock, don’t go for the jugular when the contest was decided long ago. Olson let his emotions take over. That kind of coaching could affect the Shock in a negative fashion at some point.
Still, if the only complaint against the Shock is that they ran up the score, they had a pretty good night. This was a great rebound from the disappointing loss against the Rattlers. Last time the Shock lost a game, they lost the following two as well. Spokane has a well-deserved bye week coming up. After that, it’s a two-game road trip. First up is Tampa Bay, who delivered the Shock’s first loss of the season. Kickoff for that game is set for July 6th at 4:30 PST.
