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Shock get shot at history

| August 20, 2010 9:00 PM

SPOKANE — It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

A new head coach with no head coaching experience wasn’t supposed to guide his team to the AFL’s best record with 15 wins and only three losses. The smallest market in the AFL was not supposed to attract some of the top players. But after 18 weeks, Spokane coach Rob Keefe has guided his team to the AFL’s promised land — the ArenaBowl.

“All year people have been trying to push down the Spokane Shock,” Keefe said. “But that just adds a spark to our fire to win. We realize that to gain respect, we have to earn it. With a win here, you can’t do anything else but to say, ‘I tip my hat to you.’”

The Shock’s opponent in ArenaBowl XXIII, the Tampa Bay Storm, were annointed as the preseason favorite to win the championship, with the winningest coach in AFL history, Tim Marcum, at the helm. As a franchise, the Storm have appeared in nine ArenaBowl, winning five.

“At the end of the day, it’s the 2010 Tampa Bay Storm and the 2010 Spokane Shock,” Keefe said. “The story line for the press is the old versus the new and the veterans versus the rookies. But, when you look at it, it’s good athletes versus good athletes and good coaches versus good coaches.”

Tampa Bay’s offense is led by quarterback Brett Dietz. Dietz’s regular season numbers are remarkably similar to those of Spokane’s Kyle Rowley. In fact, Dietz’s passing effieciency rating (120.9) is only a tenth of a point higher than Rowley’s (120.8) and both QB’s completed 65 percent of their passes.

While Dietz threw more touchdowns (106) than Rowley (100), he also threw five more interceptions (16) than Rowley (11).

Not surprisingly, their leading receivers also have similar numbers. Rowley’s leading receiver, Huey Whittaker, recorded 37 touchdowns, the same number as Tampa Bay’s Tyrone Timmons. In the playoffs, both Dietz and Rowley have spread the wealth amongst all their receivers. Spokane’s Greg Orton has recorded a league-leading 19 receptions during the playoffs, while Tampa Bay is led by DeAndrew Rubin with 15 receptions.

Spokane’s secondary was led by defensive back Travis Williams, who recorded six interceptions during the regular season. Williams added a seventh interception in the first round of the postseason against Arizona. The Storm secondary was led by defensive back Brandon Hefflin with four interceptions in the regular season. In the postseason, Erick McIntosh of Tampa Bay is tied for the league lead with two interceptions.

In addition to talented receivers, both quarterbacks have enjoyed excellent pass protection. Each team’s offensive line placed in the league’s top-10 for fewest sacks allowed during the regular season.

Spokane’s offensive line will have to deal with the Storm’s pass rush, led by Cliff Dukes and Jermaine Smith, each recording seven sacks during the regular season.

Likewise, the Storm will have to fend off Spokane’s pass rush tandem of Jerry Turner and Jeremy Geathers. While Turner led the team in sacks during the regular season with five. Geathers has come on strong in the postseason, producing 1.5 sacks.

NOTE: Washington State University will offer free tickets to all those in attendance at tonight’s ArenaBowl to the Cougars’ football home opener against Montana State.

All ticket holders for the ArenaBowl can redeem their ticket stub at the WSU ticket office for a free ticket to the MSU game on Sept. 11.

Tickets must be redeemed in person at the ticket office prior to or on the day of the game.