The Spokane Shock have been plagued by slow starts in their two losses this season. That wasn’t the case on Saturday evening. The Shock scored every single time they had the football in the first half. They made big plays early. Terrance Sanders returned one kickoff to Orlando’s one yard line, and later would take one all the way to the house. Early in the first quarter, a surprise onside kick by the Predators was foiled by Jeffrey Solomon, who would recover it and take it eleven yards for the score. They recovered two fumbled snaps. One was recovered by Terrance Moore in the endzone for six, and another led to a Shock touchdown on offense. Everything was clicking for the Shock early. They would enter halftime with a 21 point lead and all the momentum.
 

But that’s why they play the second half. After dropping 62 points on Orlando in the first half, Spokane was shut out. Orlando scored TDs on two time consuming drives, and the Shock were stopped in the red zone on their only true scoring opportunity of the quarter. Still, Spokane had built up a sizeable lead, and still had a two possession advantage headed into the 4^th quarter.
 

Spokane maintained that two possession advantage into the waning minutes of the 4^th quarter. The Shock and the Predators traded scores until Spokane finally got a defensive stop on 4^th down with 53 seconds remaining. That should have been the dagger.
 

But it wasn’t. On first down with under a minute to go, Shock coach Andy Olson curiously called a pass on first down. The pass was completed to Jeffrey Solomon, but he bobbled the pass and it was recovered by the Predators. Within 30 seconds, Garcia had the Predators in the endzone, now behind by only six points. Orlando still needed an onside kick to have a shot. Miraculously, they recovered it. Four plays later, they capped the comeback with the final score of the game. Spokane had an opportunity to kick a game winning field goal, but Kenny Spencer’s kick was wide right from 44 yards out.
 

It is quite puzzling that Andy Olson made no attempt to run the clock after they stopped Orlando on downs. The Predators still had timeouts, but a few rush attempts would have forced Doug Plank to use all three of them. With limited time remaining, that would have eliminated the middle of the field as a viable option for the Predators offense once they got the ball back.
 

The heavy personnel, goal line package is another coaching decision that just doesn’t seem to make much sense. Andy Olson brought in backup quarterback Arvell Nelson to run the offense at the goal line twice on Saturday. It was an interesting move last week when it was unveiled in the Utah game. The offense was struggling to score in the red zone, and Utah had no tape on the formation. But this week, Erik Meyer was hot. The offense was scoring at will, evidenced by a 62 point first half. It messes with the tempo of the offense when you switch quarterbacks mid drive. Nelson did score once from the formation on a quarterback sneak. But during the Shock’s scoreless 3^rd quarter, it backfired. There was some confusion as to which quarterback should even be in the game. On first down in the red zone, Nelson put on his helmet and was stepping onto the field when Erik Meyer waved him off. After Meyer threw incomplete on 1^st down, Nelson was brought in. Two unsuccessful rushing attempts later, Kenny Spencer was brought in to kick a field goal. He would end up missing it, and allowed Orlando to cut into the Shock lead. Erik Meyer is a potential league MVP, why would he be taken out so close to paydirt? This ill-fated package is nothing more than a gimmick and should be eliminated from the Shock offense.
 

Sabercats fans everywhere are scratching their heads, trying to figure out where this Aaron Garcia was a few weeks ago when Spokane clobbered San Jose. On one of Garcia’s first drop backs, he was flattened by a pass rusher after he released the ball. He gingerly got up, and Predators coach Doug Plank called a timeout, likely to give Garcia a breather. It appeared that Garcia would be limited for the rest of the game. That wouldn’t be the case. Aaron Garcia was sensational in Spokane. He was 30 of 48 passing for 442 yards and 11 touchdowns. His leading receiver, TT Toliver, was seemingly uncoverable. He caught 18 passes for 251 yards and six touchdowns.
 

Spokane is in a little bit of a tailspin right now. Three weeks ago, they were sitting at 5-0 with a win over the AFL’s best team, the Arizona Rattlers. But it’s different now. There is no excuse for blowing a 21 half time lead to a team that has spent the majority of this season as the league doormat. Spokane has to dig deep and right this ship. The West Division is packed with great teams; Spokane can’t be throwing away games like this. The Shock will return to the Spokane Arena on May 17^th, hosting the struggling New Orleans Voodoo. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM 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.