Post by David on Aug 19, 2015 16:05:59 GMT -8
Spokane Shock History
2013 Season: The Season of Offense
Year Eight
Regular Season Record: 14-4
Playoff Record: 1-1
Coaches: Andy Olson (Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator), Travis Crusenberry (Defensive Coordinator/Line Coach), Will Mulder (DB Coach)
After just missing the playoffs in 2012, the Spokane Shock returned in 2013 with a new look and a strong determination to get back to the playoffs after failing to make it to the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
The league dropped from 17 teams to 14 teams in 2013, making things just a little easier for the Shock to go after a playoff bid and try to win their division for the first time since 2010. Gone were the likes of the Kansas City Command, the Georgia Force, and the Milwaukee Mustangs.
The Shock played in the West Division of the National Conference, which consisted of the Arizona Rattlers, the Utah Blaze and the San Jose SaberCats.
Logos, Colors, and Uniforms
The Shock changed their primary uniforms from blue to orange in 2013 (image credit: KHQ.com)
Spokane underwent a complete re-design before the 2013 season. The team sported a new helmet with a lighter shade of blue and orange facemasks. The right side of the helmet had an orange S with shock marks on both corners outlined in white, while the left side had the player’s number (which matched the jersey’s in Monolith number font) colored in orange and outlined in white.
The Shock dropped blue as the primary jersey color in favor of orange. The team had worn orange jerseys once in 2006, yet the team sold orange replica jerseys in various styles over the years. The new jerseys featured white numbers in Monolith font outlined in blue and the Shock S-pattern making up the sleeves and side panels of the jersey. The pants were also orange and featured the S-pattern on the stripes. The away jerseys were modeled in the same style, only with blue numbers outlined in orange.
Season Summary
WR Adron Tennell delivers a brutal stiff arm on New Orleans DB Leslie Majors en route to a touchdown (image credit: Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
The Shock’s second season under Head Coach Andy Olson was a successful one. Spokane finished the regular season with a 14-4 record, good enough for second place in the West Division and only one game behind the 15-3 Rattlers.
The season opened with a five-game winning streak that included a 66-49 home win over Arizona. After a small handful of losses in the middle of the season, the Shock closed out their regular season with another five-game win streak. The streak to close out the season was sparked by an 80-point offensive performance over Utah, where the Shock defense allowed only 41 points.
The Shock opened the playoffs hosting a game against Chicago, who finished 10-8 and first in the Central Division. The Shock found themselves tied with Chicago 41-41 after three quarters, but pulled away in the final quarter, out-scoring the Rush 28-6 in the fourth. The game was closed out with two interceptions returned for touchdowns, both by Shock defensive back Ruschard Dodd-Masters.
After the win over Chicago, the Shock headed to Arizona. Leading 21-7 after the first quarter, the Shock gave up a 44-14 run that put them down 16 heading into the final quarter. Falling to Arizona 57-65 ended the Shock’s 2013 season.
Despite the playoff loss, the Shock’s offense managed to increase their total point output by 135 points more than the 2012 season, while their average of 66.6 points per game was just 0.2 behind league leading Arizona, which placed the two teams at first and second all-time for single-season points per game averages.
2013 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS
The 2013 AFL schedule was set up so that all 14 teams played 18 games in 19 weeks with each team getting one Bye week.
The following is the results of Spokane's 2013 schedule (bold orange denotes home games)
MARCH:
Week 1 -- Sun., March 24th – at Cleveland Gladiators (W 67-41)
Week 2 -- Sun., March 31st – at Chicago Rush (W 76-41)
APRIL:
Week 3 -- Fri., April 5th – at Iowa Barnstormers (W 66-43)
Week 4 -- Fri., April 12th – Arizona Rattlers (W 66-49)
Week 5 -- Fri., April 19th – at San Jose SaberCats (W 69-47)
Week 6 -- Sat., April 27th – Tampa Bay Storm (L 62-70)
MAY:
Week 7 -- Sat., May 4th – at Utah Blaze (L 48-52)
Week 8 ---- Sat., May 11th – Orlando Predators (L 82-83)
Week 9 – Fri., May 17th – New Orleans VooDoo (W 65-54)
Week 10 -– Fri., May 24th – at San Antonio Talons (W 61-48)
JUNE:
Week 11 -- Sat., June 1st – San Jose SaberCats (W 75-45)
Week 12 ---- Sat., June 8th – Jacksonville Sharks (W 76-41)
Week 13 – Sat., June 15th – at Arizona Rattlers (L 42-59)
Week 14 -- Fri., June 21st – Utah Blaze (W 80-41)
Week 15 -- BYE
JULY:
Week 16 -- Sat., July 6th – at Tampa Bay Storm (W 63-49)
Week 17 -- Sat., July 13th – at Jacksonville Sharks (W 62-40)
Week 18 -- Fri., July 19th – San Antonio Talons (W 77-30)
Week 19 -- Fri., July 26th – Pittsburgh Power (W 61-43)
PLAYOFFS
AUGUST:
National Conference Semifinals -- Thu., August 1st – Chicago Rush* (W 69-47)
National Conference Championship -- Sat., August 10th – at Arizona Rattlers (L 57-65)
*Despite Spokane (14-4) having a better record than Chicago (10-8), the Rush would have hosted this game due to winning the Central Division and Spokane winning the first Wild Card spot. However, Chicago had been taken control of by the AFL in May 2013 after owner David Staral Jr. bounced a check needed to secure the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The Rush played some home games at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Illinois, but the league would not pay to host a home playoff game, so Chicago had to play Spokane on the road.
AWAY VENUES
Arizona Rattlers - US Airways Center; Phoenix, Arizona
Chicago Rush - Allstate Arena; Rosemont, Illinois
Cleveland Gladiators - Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio
Iowa Barnstormers - Wells Fargo Arena; Des Moines, Iowa
Jacksonville Sharks - Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena; Jacksonville, Florida
San Antonio Talons - Alamodome; San Antonio, Texas
San Jose SaberCats - HP Pavilion at San Jose; San Jose, California
Tampa Bay Storm - Tampa Bay Times Forum; Tampa, Florida
Utah Blaze - EnergySolutions Arena; Salt Lake City, Utah
Individual Statistic Leaders
In his first full season as starting quarterback, Erik Meyer was the voted the AFL's MVP in 2013 (image credit: Zach Edwards Photography)
Passing
Erik Meyer – 403/591, 4,661 yards, 112 TD, 11 INT
Arvell Nelson – 16/20, 162 yards, 5 TD
Rushing
Erik Meyer – 56 attempts, 110 yards, 15 TD
Adron Tennell – 28 attempts, 81 yards, 7 TD
Arvell Nelson – 14 attempts, 24 yards, 4 TD
Receiving
Adron Tennell – 156 receptions, 1,792 yards, 49 TD
Kamar Jorden – 95 receptions, 1,082 yards, 26 TD
Brandon Thompkins – 65 receptions, 912 yards, 16 TD
Duane Brooks – 35 receptions, 316 yards, 6 TD
Jeffrey Solomon – 25 receptions, 397 yards, 6 TD
Steven Black – 18 receptions, 168 yards, 3 TD
Arvell Nelson – 9 receptions, 75 yards 6 TD
Kick Returns
Terrance Sanders – 96 returns, 2,265 yards, 6 TD
Patrick Stoudamire – 3 reutrns, 35 yards, 1 TD
Kicking
Kenny Spencer – 1/4 FG, 65/78 XP, 68 points
Taylor Rowan – 1/2 FG, 81/95 XP, 84 points
Defensive
Terrance Sanders – 101 total tackles, 18 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 7 INT
Paul Stephens – 77.5 total tackles, 15 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery 12 INT
Beau Bell – 70.5 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 INT
Terence Moore – 67 total tackles, 1.0 sacks, 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 3 INT
Ruschard Dodd-Masters – 48.5 total tackles, 8 pass breakups, 2 INT
James Ruffin – 22 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Terrance Taylor – 15 total tackles, 7.0 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 7 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 INT
Marc Schiechl – 13 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT
Diyral Briggs – 12.5 total tackles, 4.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recoveries
Honors & Awards
AFL Most Valuable Player: Erik Meyer (QB)
Russell AFL Offensive Player of the Year: Erik Meyer (QB)
Cutters AFL Wide Receiver of the Year: Adron Tennell (WR)
First Team All-Arena: Erik Meyer (QB), Adron Tennell (WR), Terrance Sanders (KR)
Season Summary provided by the Spokane Shock in the Season Ticket Holder 2015 Pre-Season program.