"Shock and Awe" in Fort Wayne
Randy Snow
Tuesday April 17, 2007
The defending ArenaCup Champion Spokane Shock invaded Fort Wayne on Sunday afternoon, but it was the 4,477 fans in attendance at the game that left in awe. In a game that saw seven lead changes, three kickoff returns for touchdowns and was not decided until the final play, the Fusion came out on top with an exciting 63-56 win.
It was Fusion QB Cody Hodges who ignited the team and the crowd with his seven touchdown performance, three passing and four rushing.
Fusion head coach Eddie Brown did not intend for his quarterback to run as much as he did during the game, but he was definitely happy with the results. “The thing that we stressed this week (in practice) was just to make good decisions,” Brown said. “(Spokane) did a great job with coverage. What (Hodges) ended up doing was making plays. We were very fortunate that he did. It’s a great credit to him. Our offensive line and offensive team all did a great job of finishing plays. That’s a great credit to the whole offensive staff.”
Hodges completed 15 of 28 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran nine times for 54 yards and four touchdowns of 2, 11, 25 and 9 yards respectively. The last three rushing touchdowns occurred in the second half. For his performance, Hodges was named the Offensive Player of the Game.
“My philosophy is, there’s no reason to throw the ball away if you can pick up 15 yards,” Hodges said. “I think it helps us. In the future, teams are going to see the film and see me run with the ball. It’s going to help the passing game down the road, so I think it’s just another element that’s going to help us be successful.”
Not to be outdone, Fusion WR/DB R.J. Harvey had two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the game, one in the second quarter and another in the fourth. “I’ve been waiting for him to show up, it’s about time,” joked Brown. “Seriously, R.J. is a young man I watched grow up in Albany when I was playing. I always vowed that if I ever got a team I wanted to go get him. He played really well. His dad was a big mentor to me when I was growing up so I’m trying to return the favor and be a good mentor to him.”
Throughout the game, both teams traded scores as each team kept pace with the other. The biggest lead was eight points by Spokane in the second quarter when they were up 21-13. However, it was the final minute of play that really had the crowd on its feet.
NOTE: What you are about to read next is why you never, never, EVER leave an Arena Football game until the clock says 00:00.
The Scene: With one minute to go in the game, Fort Wayne had the lead, 49-42.
On a fourth down pass, Shock QB Andrico Hines hit WR Antwone Savage on an 8-yard touchdown pass. With the PAT, the score was tied 49-49. [53 seconds remaining on the clock]
On the ensuing kickoff, the Fusion’s R.J. Harvey retuned the ball 53 yards for a touchdown giving Fort Wayne the lead again at 56-49. [45 seconds remaining on the clock]
On the following Fort Wayne kickoff, Antwone Savage returned the ball 52 yards for a Spokane touchdown. The game was tied yet again at 56-56. [37 seconds left on the clock]
The Spokane kickoff resulted in a touchback for the Fusion. Three plays later, Hodges connected with WR Cesare Manning on a 42-yard touchdown catch and run giving the Fusion the lead once again 63-56. [23 seconds remaining on the clock]
The Fort Wayne kickoff also resulted in a touchback, this time for Spokane. Four plays later, the Shock had the ball on the Fusion 10-yard line with one second remaining on the clock. It all came down to one final play. The ball was snapped, the clock hit 00:00 and Hines’ pass to Savage went off the net and hit the ground incomplete. The game was over.
There were 28 points scored in the final minute of play, 14 by each team. That’s almost a quarter of the 119 total points scored in the game.
“This is what Arena Football is all about,” said Coach Brown. “It’s been really good to be able to have some really good games at home to let everybody know that it doesn’t matter what the lead is, we have to stay together, stay screaming and yelling and just stick together.”
Fort Wayne improved to 2-1 while Spokane dropped to 1-2 on the season.
Beating the Best
In their first two home games so far this season, Fort Wayne has defeated both of the participants from last year’s ArenaCup championship game. This week it was Spokane and in week one Fort Wayne defeated the Green Bay Blizzard 36-28.
Next Game
The Fusion travel to New Hampshire to take on the Manchester Wolves (0-2) on Saturday night, April 21.