Game 1 - Empire at Fever, 2.20.16, 7 p.m.

[David]

Spokane Empire at Tri-Cities Fever

What: Spokane begins its inaugural season in the IFL and re-establishes an old rivalry with Tri-Cities.
When: Saturday, February 20, 7:05 p.m. (PT).
Where: Toyota Center, Kennewick, Washington
Empire Media: Radio - 700/1080 AM ESPN
National Media: Stream (paid subscription) - IFL Live TV
Series History: First Meeting (as Empire); Spokane led series 7-1 (3-1 in Tri-Cities)
Note: This is the first game for the rebranded Spokane Empire (formerly Spokane Shock).
Forum: To comment, please login or register.

HELPFUL LINKS
Indoor Football League Schedule and Results 2016
Spokane Empire Schedule 2016
List of current IFL franchises 2016

The Empire begin their inaugural season as members of the Indoor Football League after spending the past 10 seasons as the Shock in the af2/AFL. The Empire play in the Intense Conference. 

The Fever finished last season 8-6 overall, 4-3 at home and 6-2 in conference play. They averaged 46.3 points per game (4th out of 10) and allowed 46.4 (6th) points per game. The Fever's 2015 campaign ended with a 43-86 loss to the Nebraska Danger in the Intense Conference Championship. The Fever finished 2016 second in the Intense Conference.


SPOKANE EMPIRE


Spokane Empire WR Justin Helwege (image credit: Justin Helwege / Facebook)


ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Samuel Charles (WR)
2 - Lorenzo White Jr. (DB)
3 - Josh Ferguson (DB)
4 - Carl Sims (WR)
5 - Tyree Robinson (DB)
6 - Darryl Thompson (WR)
7 - Demetruce McNeal (DB)
8 - Aaron Aiken (QB)
11 - Charles Dowdell (QB)
12 - Toby Jackson (DL)
16 - Robert Brown (DB)
17 - Pasquale Vacchio (LB)
18 - Trevor Kennedy (OS)
27 - Dan Kleckner (K)
44 - Brett Bowers (DL)
47 - Nick Haag (LB)
56 - Dave Lefotu (OL)
62 - Dominique Duster (DL)
72 - Kyle Fischer (OL)
76 - Michael Boyefio (OL)
78 - Brandon Haskin (OL)
80 - JJ Hayes (WR)
88 - Justin Helwege (WR)
93 - Benjamin Perry (DL)
94 - Mauola Malaga (DL/OL)

Adam Shackleford - Head Coach
Cleveland Pratt - Assistant Head Coach
Ameer Ismail - Defensive Coordinator


TRI-CITIES FEVER


Fever WR DeJuan Miller. (image credit: Tri-Cities Fever / Facebook)

ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - DeJay Lester (WR)
2 - Bradley Njoku (DB)
3 - Stephen Godboit (DB)
4 - Pat McCain (QB)
5 - Steven Wakefield (K)
6 - Dontavais Johnson (DB)
7 - Joseph "Jojo" Snell (RB)
8 - Akeem Foster (WR)
11 - Hunter Wanket (QB)
12 - Larry Cobb (WR)
13 - Jerome Lewis (WR)
14 - Austen Alber (DL)
20 - Dee Maggit (DB)
21 - Boubacar Cissoko (DB)
23 - DeSean Martin (RB)
24 - DeJuan Miller (WR)
27 - Leon Jackson (LB)
34 - Marcell Coke Jr. (LB)
40 - Brandon Rankin (DL)
56 - Viondy Merisma (OL)
60 - Jarad Martin (OL)
63 - Marvin Martin Jr. (DL)
72 - Rodrick Gladney (OL)
90 - Maurice Chavis (DL)
?? - Roosevelt Holliday (DL)

Ryan Lingenfelder - Head Coach
Brian Schmidt - Offensive Coordinator
Shon King - Defensive Backs & Special Teams


DAVID'S TAKES

SPOKANE:

If you wish to read about an analysis of the team, check out the Empire's 2016 Inaugural Season preview.

Spokane enters its first season in the IFL after spending the past decade in the Arena Football League as members of the af2 and AFL. Gone is the Shock brand and their championships, but the memories and banners remain. In its place is the brand new Spokane Empire franchise. Despite the new name, logo, and league, the goal remains the same: win a championship.

The Empire will have to overcome a couple of hurdles in the Sioux Falls Storm and the Nebraska Danger, both of whom have dominated the IFL the past three seasons. But before they can focus on toppling the kings at the top of the mountain, they have to get off to a good start on the road and the Empire couldn't have asked for a better first opponent in the IFL than Tri-Cities. 

Tri-Cities and Spokane historically have been a great sports rivalry; from the Spokane Indians and Tri-City Dust Devils (Northwest League Baseball) to the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans (Western Hockey League), the fanbases of these franchises plain don't like each other. When it comes to the sport of indoor football, Spokane and Tri-Cities were a relatively new rivalry.

Spokane and Tri-Cities were once rivals in the af2 from 2007-2009, and it was rather lopsided as Shock dominated the series 7-1. The one loss came when Spokane first visited Tri-Cities in Kennewick in 2007, losing to the Fever 34-39. Spokane would win 7 straight, and the Shock's dominance killed the feel of a rivalry between the two teams.

When the AFL folded in 2009, the af2 continued its season before eventually folding weeks after the ArenaCup Championship. Commissioner Jerry Kurz and his investment group created a new arena league called Arena Football 1. The intent was to keep the 2-tier system, with Spokane moving up to the AF1 and Tri-Cities playing in the new version of the AF2. However, not enough af2 teams committed to the two-tier system and the Fever opted to join the IFL while Spokane joined the AF1, which purchased the assets of the old AFL and revived the AFL brand. 

Now, the Empire and the Fever will face each other for the first time in seven years and there's already a sense of rivalry between the two. Adam Shackleford, who coached Spokane from 2007-2009, coached the Fever from 2010-2015. He, along with DB Lorenzo White Jr., RB Andrew Pierce and coaches Ameer Ismail and Cleveland Pratt, moved onto Spokane, connecting the two franchises before ever playing a game. Tri-Cities is embracing the renewed rivalry with Spokane, referring to the Empire on social media as "That Team Up North." The team has also a billboard on the freeway into Kennewick with new head coach Ryan Ligenfelder's picture and the caption "You're in Fever Country."

This is bound to be a nasty game, which will surely continue to grow in intensity as the teams will play each other three more times this season.

TRI-CITIES:

Former Defensive Coordinator Ryan Ligenfelder takes the head coaching reigns for the Fever, replacing the departed Adam Shackleford. This is the first head coaching change for the Fever since their days in the af2, when Pat O'Hara was head coach, and the first change as members of the IFL since the team joined in 2010. The Fever finished 2015 with an 8-6 record, good enough for a bid in the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

The Fever hope to improve upon the 2015 season, one in which they were bounced out of the playoffs by the Nebraska Danger 86-43 in the Intense Conference Championship. However, the team has its work cut out for them as Ligenfelder faced a difficult task of re-shaping a Fever offense that was ranked 4th overall in the IFL last season due to the departures of RB Andrew Pierce (Spokane), WR Steven Whitehead (Retired), and QB Houston Lillard, the brother of Portland Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard, Former Bemidji Axemen QB Hunter Wanket, who was named starter by Ligenfelder earlier this week, will be the Fever's first new starting QB since Lillard first arrived in 2011. Despite being without last year's leading rusher and receiver, he has WR DeJuan Miller to lean on as a veteran presence. 

Defensively, the Fever will have some big shoes to fill for the league's 3rd ranked unit, with the loss of DB Lorenzo White Jr. (Spokane) and LB Jake Killeen, last season's sack leader (7), who opted return to Tri-Cities this season. While the team may be full of young and fresh faces, LB Leon Jackson remains a fixture at LB. He was second on the Fever in total tackles (75) and tackles for loss (16).

The Fever are eager to welcome the Empire to the IFL by beating them, so expect there to be an intensity among the Fever staff and players to not only beat their former head coach, but to send a message to Spokane that they're not going to roll over for the new IFL team in the Inland Northwest.

QUOTABLE

Adam Shackleford on returning to Spokane as Head Coach.
“It feels good to be home. I had great memories as a member of the Shock during our years in the af2."

Director of Operations Ryan Eucker on the fans' skepticism of the Indoor Football League.
“There are people that are going to be skeptical and want to see the changes and style of play. We’re confident we’ll be the same organization.”

Shackleford on the change from "Shock" to "Empire."
“Rebranding was tough for a lot of people and I get that, but we had to do it. I think the result has been tremendous. I had people come up to me and say, ‘I didn’t want to like it, but I really like it." The group that doesn’t like it, I get that, too. We’re doing the best we can to put a great product on the field. Our owner (Nader Naini) made quality decisions to maintain football in Spokane and I think a lot of fans appreciate that.”

Eucker explains the big difference between the IFL and the AFL.
"Part of the reason we joined this league and why I was so high on the other owners is the consistency of the decisions they make. They really do what is in the best interests of the league. Rather than enter the season, comparable to the AFL days and float a team financially, the league made a decision to terminate their membership.”

Fever head coach Ryan Lingenfelder on the regional rivalry between Tri-Cities and Spokane.
“I want the IFL in Eastern Washington to be the cornerstone of greatness in professional football, and I want some attention in the Northwest. This is going to be an intense rivalry.”



FEATURED TWEETS

EXTRA

The Spokane Empire enter the 2016 IFL Season as an expansion team. However, a the return of a successful head coach and a roster filled with talent suggest this is no ordinary expansion team. Read about why in our Empire 2016 Season Preview.

Also, be sure to check out our coverage of Spokane's re-branding as the Empire after ten seasons as the Shock. Why Spokane choose the name "Empire" and go with a train as its primary logo? Check out our coverage of the team's re-branding announcement to learn about the team's new identity. 




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[DiamondThief]

It should be an exciting time for the team. This game should be really interesting and should give us a pretty decent representation as to how the team structure and what strategies will be used. Very much looking forward to it.

[Yeseeka]

What is a rouge? I have never heard of a single point in any football.

I will be following this game. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

[David]

Feb 19, 2016 17:20:05 GMT -8 Yeseeka said:

What is a rouge? I have never heard of a single point in any football.

I will be following this game. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

The Rouge is something I'm only familiar with in Canadian Football. Because the football fields are so much longer and the endones are enormous, that means there could be a lot of punts that go deep in the endzone and a player may not be able to return it out of the endzone or not get very much yardage on the return.

In the CFL, the receiving team on a punt (if its in the endzone) can give up a single, or a rouge, by kneeling in the endzone. They may only give up a single point, but they'll get better field position (20 yard line).

As the rouge relates to the IFL, I found this in the IFL Rulebook:

Rouge:

1. A rouge may only be scored on free kicks and is scored when a member of Team B
(receiving team) is not able to advance a free kick out of his own end zone, or a
member of the receiving team is declared down with the ball in his possession in his
own end zone following a free kick.

2. A rouge will be awarded to the kicking team if the receiving team commits a penalty
in the receiving team’s end zone and the ball has not been advance out of the end
zone. One (1) point will be awarded to the kicking team and the ball will be placed in
play at the receiving team’s two and a half (2 ½) yard line (administration of half the
distance to the goal for penalty).

3. On all free kicks, the ball remains alive and is not out of bounds when it hits the
ground, a side wall or end wall in the end zone or goal area. On a free kick only, the
receiving team must advance the ball out of the receiving team's end zone in order to
avoid having a rouge scored against them.

4. The ball remains alive following a free kick in the end zone for the entire free kick
down and if it is recovered by the kicking team in the receiving team’s end zone it
shall result in a touchdown for the kicking team.

[Yeseeka]

Feb 19, 2016 17:59:03 GMT -8 David said:

Feb 19, 2016 17:20:05 GMT -8 Yeseeka said:

What is a rouge? I have never heard of a single point in any football.

I will be following this game. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

The Rouge is something I'm only familiar with in Canadian Football. Because the football fields are so much longer and the endones are enormous, that means there could be a lot of punts that go deep in the endzone and a player may not be able to return it out of the endzone or not get very much yardage on the return.

In the CFL, the receiving team on a punt (if its in the endzone) can give up a single, or a rouge, by kneeling in the endzone. They may only give up a single point, but they'll get better field position (20 yard line).

As the rouge relates to the IFL, I found this in the IFL Rulebook:

Rouge:

1. A rouge may only be scored on free kicks and is scored when a member of Team B
(receiving team) is not able to advance a free kick out of his own end zone, or a
member of the receiving team is declared down with the ball in his possession in his
own end zone following a free kick.

2. A rouge will be awarded to the kicking team if the receiving team commits a penalty
in the receiving team’s end zone and the ball has not been advance out of the end
zone. One (1) point will be awarded to the kicking team and the ball will be placed in
play at the receiving team’s two and a half (2 ½) yard line (administration of half the
distance to the goal for penalty).

3. On all free kicks, the ball remains alive and is not out of bounds when it hits the
ground, a side wall or end wall in the end zone or goal area. On a free kick only, the
receiving team must advance the ball out of the receiving team's end zone in order to
avoid having a rouge scored against them.

4. The ball remains alive following a free kick in the end zone for the entire free kick
down and if it is recovered by the kicking team in t

That makes free kicks more exciting. It seems like it makes the game go faster.

[David]

Feb 19, 2016 19:13:24 GMT -8 Yeseeka said:

Especially since there's no rebound nets in the IFL. I'm not 100% sure what happens to kicks that go outside the field goal posts, but this what they appear to be.

[David]

This is the "You're in Fever Country" sign I mentioned in the Game Preview. Can be seen driving South on Highway 395.

[DiamondThief]

I had not heard of the rouge before either. Part of what will make the season interesting is learning all these different rules from what we already know.

[Nevadanut]

I'm calling it. The first points will be a rouge!

[David]

I'll be at the Tri-City/Spokane hockey game, so I won't be able to listen to the Empire game. I'll check in at Intermissions and post (should I have a strong enough signal).

Good luck to the Empire!

[Kasey]

good luck to the Empire! a new era begins!

[DiamondThief]

We are getting close. Kickoff is set for about 10 minutes from now. It could be a little longer with opening night pre-game festivities in Kennewick.

[Yeseeka]

Let's go Empire!

[DiamondThief]

The Fever will get the ball first.

[DiamondThief]

Fever fumbles on the first play of the game. Empire ball at the TC 11 yard line. Wanket on the TC fumble.

[DiamondThief]

Touchdown Empire. Dowdell 7 yard run. Kleckner kick.

Spo - 7
TC - 0

13:26, 1st

[Yeseeka]

Touchdown Empire!

[Nevadanut]

That was fast.

[DiamondThief]

Fumble by the Fever after the high snap. Toby Jackson recovers for the Empire at the TC 24.

[Yeseeka]

TriCities seems jittery.