Post by David on Jul 1, 2015 19:31:58 GMT -8
Spokane Shock History
2008 Season: The Overtime Thriller
Year Three
Regular Season Record: 15-1 (West Division Champions)
Playoff Record: 3-1; National Conference Champions
Coaches: Adam Shackleford (Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator), Alex Sirianni (Defensive Coordinator), Matthew Sauk (QB/WR Coach), Tom Ackerman (O-Line Coach), Steve Emtman (D-Line Coach)
After a disappointing end to the 2007 campaign, the 2008 Spokane Shock season was determined to make it back to the ArenaCup and prove that the previous year was an anomaly.
In 2008, the af2 saw a fluctuation of teams folding and new teams coming in to take their place. Six teams, including West Division rivals Bakersfield and the Everett were among the teams that folded prior to the 2008 season. However, the league would add five new teams, resulting in a total of 29 teams in the league, one less than in 2007.
The Shock played in the West Division of the National Conference, which shrunk to a five-team division due to the loss of the Blitz and the Hawks. The division now consisted of the Central Valley Coyotes, Boise Burn, Stockton Lightning, and Tri-Cities Fever. Also, after spending a year in the American Conference, the league switched the West Division back to the National Conference in 2008
Arizona Rattlers QB Nick Davila got his start in arena football with Spokane in 2008 (image credit: Dan Pelle, The Spokesman-Review)
This season was significant as this was the beginning of Nick Davila’s arena football journey. He didn’t begin the 2008 season as the starter; he was tabbed the backup in favor of Jason Murrietta, who was deemed the safer choice to guide the Shock offense. At the time, Davila was said to throw to the sidelines well but struggled to throw down the middle. After a couple of tight scoring games that could have been more wide open had the offense not struggled, Shackleford made the switch to Davila and he guided the team to the ArenaCup.
Logos, Colors, and Uniforms
WR Raul Vijil, celebrates a touchdown with his signature back-flip. (image credit: Dan Pelle, The Spokesman-Review).
Like the AFL, several af2 teams struck a contract with Russell Athletic in outfitting uniforms for them. The Shock got a make-over, but retained their helmets and team colors. The new uniforms featured less orange striping than the 2006 and 2007 jerseys. This time, there was orange stripes around the shoulder pad area, orange side paneling outlined in yellow trim, and white pants with orange stripes outlined in navy blue. The away jerseys featured navy blue trim around the shoulder pads, and orange side paneling outlined in navy. During the 2008 playoffs, the Shock introduced dark blue pants with orange stripes outlined in yellow to match the Navy jersey. The team wore these the entire playoff run.
Season Summary
The Shock would field another highly talented team in 2008 under second-year head coach Adam Shackleford.
Spokane would begin the regular season with 11 straight wins before losing in Week 13 to the South Georgia Wildcats on a last second field goal, the only Shock loss during the regular season. A 15-1 regular season record would produce the Shock’s third consecutive West Division title and positioned the Shock as the top seed in the National Conference during the 2008 post-season.
The 2008 regular season was also highlighted by fantastic single-season performances by Shock players. Defensive back Sergio Gilliam’s 16 interceptions set a franchise and af2 single season record while Devon Parks would set a franchise record with 15.5 sacks on the season.
On August 25, 2008, Spokane matched up with the Tennessee Valley Vipers in ArenaCup IX at Spokane Arena with a standing room only crowd of 10,662 fans, setting a franchise and ArenaCup record for attendance. Despite losing their starting quarterback on the opening drive of the game, the Vipers were able to trade scores with the Shock throughout and push the game into overtime. After the Shock scored a touchdown and a successful PAT, the Vipers matched with a touchdown score of their own and a successful two-point conversion to secure the ArenaCup championship by a final score of 56-55.
Tennessee Valley QB Tony Colston dives for the game winning 2-point conversion in Overtime of ArenaCup IX (photo credit: Dan Pelle, The Spokesman-Review
2008 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS
The 2008 af2 schedule was set up so that all 29 teams played 16 games in 18 weeks, with each team getting two Bye weeks.
The following is the results of Spokane's 2008 schedule (bold blue denotes home games).
MARCH:
Week 1 -- Sun., March 30th – at Green Bay Blizzard (W 64-48)
APRIL:
Week 2 -- Sat., April 5th – Stockton Lightning (W 70-12)
Week 3 -- Sun., April 13th – at Tri-Cities Fever (W 55-51)
Week 4 -- BYE
Week 5 -- Sat., April 26th – at Central Valley Coyotes (W 42-40)
MAY:
Week 6 -- Sat., May 3rd – at Lubbock Renegades (W 43-41)
Week 7 -- Sat., May 10th – Boise Burn (W 62-42)
Week 8 -- Sat., May 17th – Tri-Cities Fever (W 59-56)
Week 9 -- Sat., May 24th – at Austin Wranglers (W 62-42)
Week 10 -- Sat., May 31st – Stockton Lightning (W 52-42)
JUNE:
Week 11 -- Sat., June 7th – at Boise Burn (W 68-51)
Week 12 – Sat., June 14th – at Tri-Cities Fever (W 54-33)
Week 13 -- Sat., June 21st – South Georgia Wildcats (L 55-57)
Week 14 -- Sat., June 28th – Central Valley Coyotes (W 56-54)
JULY:
Week 15 -- BYE
Week 16 -- Sat., July 12th – at Stockton Lightning (W 65-47)
Week 17 -- Sat., July 19th – Quad City Steamwheelers (W 78-51)
Week 18 -- Sat., July 26th – Boise Burn (W 63-48)
PLAYOFFS
AUGUST:
Round 1 -- Sat., August 2nd – Austin Wranglers (W 42-14)
National Conference Semifinal -- Sat., August 9th – Central Valley Coyotes (W 83-63)
National Conference Championship -- Sat., August 16th – Amarillo Dusters (W 79-49)
ArenaCup IX -- Mon., August 25th – Tennessee Valley Vipers (L 55-56) (OT)
AWAY VENUES
Austin Wranglers - Frank Erwin Center; Austin, Texas
Boise Burn - Qwest Arena; Boise, Idaho
Central Valley Coyotes - Selland Arena; Fresno, California
Green Bay Blizzard - Resch Center; Green Bay, Wisconsin
Lubbock Renegades - City Bank Coliseum; Lubbock, Texas
Stockton Lightning - Stockton Arena; Stockton, California
Tri-Cities Fever - Toyota Center; Kennewick, Washington
Individual Statistic Leaders
Passing
Nick Davila – 262/391, 2,935 yards, 66 TD, 9 INT
Jason Murrietta – 80/148, 872 yards, 20 TD, 6 INT
Rushing
Katon Bethay - 49 attempts, 123 yards, 4 TD
Nick Davila - 23 attempts, 123 yards, 8 TD
Raul Vijil - 15 attempts, 29 yards, 4 TD
Receiving
Andy Olson – 122 receptions, 1,077 yards, 20 TD
Raul Vijil – 107 receptions, 1,212 yards, 35 TD
Kelvin Dickens – 70 receptions, 866 yards, 10 TD
Patrick Bugg – 34 receptions, 475 yards, 15 TD
Kick Returns
Raul Vijil – 59 returns, 1,248 yards, 2 TD
Kicking
Brian Jackson – 6/13 FG, 106/119 XP, 124 points
Defensive
Nygel Rogers – 83.5 total tackles, 10 pass breakups, 2 INT
Kevin McCullough – 62.5 total tackles, 5 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 5 INT
Lee Foliaki – 59 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 4 fumble recoveries,
Sergio Gilliam – 50.5 tackles, 25 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 16 INT
Justin Warren – 43.5 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries
Roshawn Marshall – 40.5 total tackles, 8 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 6 INT
Devon Parks – 29.5 total tackles, 15.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup
Harrison Nikolao – 13.5 total tackles, 7.0 sacks, 1 pass breakup, 1 fumble recovery
Honors and Awards
af2 Rookie of the Year: Sergio Gilliam (DB)
First Team All-af2: Ryan Belcher (OL), Devon Parks (DL), Sergio Gilliam (DB)
Second Team All-af2: Rico Ochoa (OL), Kyle Young (OL)
Season Summary provided by the Spokane Shock in the Season Ticket Holder 2015 Pre-Season program.
