Shock rattles Arizona with 66-49 win
Saturday April 13, 2013
Meyer throws for 8 touchdowns, Shock defense creates big plays to seal the victory
SPOKANE, WA (April 12, 2013) – The Shock (4-0) come home after a long road trip and defeated the defending ArenaBowl Champion Arizona Rattlers in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,358. Quarterback Erik Meyer continued his league leading numbers throwing for another 8 touchdowns giving him a total of 32 on the season with no interceptions. There were no defensive stops until 3:45 left in the fourth quarter when Spokane held the Rattlers to a four-and-out.
Arizona received the opening kickoff and QB Nick Davila took the Rattlers down the field for the opening touchdown of the contest. On the Shock’s first possession of the game it took only two plays for quarterback Erik Meyer to connect on a deep post corner route to Duane Brooks for his first AFL reception and touchdown to tie the game 7-7. Arizona would go deep on their next drive and score on a 35-yard pass from Nick Davila to wide receiver Windsor. To end the first quarter Shock quarterback Erik Meyer drove the team down the field and with less than two minutes to go ran the ball in from four yards out to level the game 14-14.
In the second quarter of play, Arizona kept possession and scored in four plays to go up 21-14. The shootout would continue with Meyer finding Jorden in the flat who was able to out juke and out run the Rattler defenders, capping off the play with a diving score on a 28-yard touchdown, tying the game at 21-21. After the score, the Shock attempted an onside kick and were able to recover, taking a key possession away from the Rattlers. Meyer and Jorden would again connect on the ensuing drive, this time on an 18-yard pass to take the lead 28-21. Arizona’s would be backed up into their own end zone and on a 4th-10 Davila would find Reed for the deep 49-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 28 before the half.
To start the third quarter the Shock would come out with a slow methodical drive culminating in Meyer connecting with Tennell in the back of the end zone for a four yard touchdown pass, putting Spokane up 35-28. Arizona would keep the back and forth game going driving down the field ending in a 1-yard rushing touchdown by fullback Odie Armstrong. Spokane quarterback Erik Meyer would find Kamer Jorden for the third time in the game on the slant for the 7-yard touchdown strike, giving the Shock the 42-35 lead.
In the final quarter of play, Arizona came out with possession and scored on a five play drive ending with a 6-yard pass to Perry from Davila. Erik Meyer continued the high scoring night with a 45-yard pass to Adron Tennell who bounced off the pads and took it in for the touchdown, putting the Shock back up 49-42. After a six yard sack by the Shock, Rattlers quarterback Nick Davila would find Ron Windsor for his third receiving touchdown of the night tying the game at 49 with fewer than nine minutes to go. Tennell bounced off the pads in the end zone and shows off his supreme concentration and hands on the next drive when Meyer throws a 24-yard touchdown pass towards the pads to put Spokane up 56-49. The Shock defense comes up big with less than three minutes to play forcing a turnover on downs and giving the Shock the ball on the Arizona five yard line. Kenney Spencer gave the Shock a 59-49 lead with 1:16 to play on a short field goal, but the Shock weren’t finished quite yet with their West Division opponents. With Arizona driving and less than one minute to go Beau Bell came up with the critical interception while spying Rattler quarterback Nick Davila from the mac-linebacker position and returned the pick 20-yards into Arizona territory. As the clock dwindled down, Head Coach Andy Olson and the shock offense put a stamp on the win with yet another scoring drive leaving only 12 seconds on the clock to close the game out by a final score of 66-49.
The Shock will travel to San Jose next week to take on their second straight West Division opponent in the SaberCats on Friday, April 19th with a 7:30 PST kickoff time.
SPOKANE SHOCK MISSION
The Spokane Shock strive to deliver to our fans a high quality entertainment experience while serving and representing the Inland Northwest on and off the field as a proud member of the Arena Football League.
ABOUT THE SPOKANE SHOCK
The Spokane Shock is a professional arena football team of the Arena Football League from Spokane, Washington, USA. They play their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The Shock played their first four seasons in the former af2, winning division titles in all four seasons and ArenaCups in 2006 and 2009 before joining the AFL and winning ArenaBowl XXIII in their first season. Tickets and Sponsorships are available for the 2013 Season. For more information visit our website at spokaneshock.com or call 509-242-7462. You can also follow the Shock on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
