07/09/2006 12:15 AM - The Spokane Shock took on the road-weary Amarillo Dusters tonight at the Spokane Arena and came away with their 11th win of the season, 67-24.
The Dusters rolled into Spokane last night around 10:30 after spending over 22 hours in five caravans as they drove from Amarillo. The long road trip seemed to have an effect on the Dusters as they came out flat.
In the first series of the game, the Shock’s defense set the tone by shutting down the Dusters’ offense led by former Shock Quarterback and current Dusters’ starter, Brian Zbydniewski. It was a quick four plays and out for the Zbydniewski-led offense that set up great field possession for the Shock. The Shock capitalized a few plays later with a seven-yard touchdown reception from Quarterback Kyle Rowley to OS Antwone Savage.
The Shock’s defense continued to rattle the Duster’s offensive cage with their first safety of the year credited to defensive lineman Neil Purvis. Purvis tackled WR/DB John Roberson deep in the Shock end zone after he caught a screen pass at the line of scrimmage from Zbydniewski. With nowhere to run, Roberson tried to cut back across the field before he was introduced to Purvis in the end zone for a safety.
Head Coach Chris Siegfried was pleased with his team’s performance as they put together one of their most complete games of the season.
“This is the second week in a row that the team has put together a complete game – both offensively and defensively,” Siegfried said. “They are really starting to gel together and they are having fun. They have put themselves in a great position for the playoffs.”
Rowley, in only his second start of the season, distributed the ball well as four Shock receivers had multiple receptions including offensive lineman Ed Ta’amu. Ta’amu had a career-high two receptions for 33 yards, including an 18 yard pass from Rowley.
But the story all night long was the Shock defense, which forced a season-high 5 turnovers. Newcomer Isaiah Trufant got things started when he stepped in front of a Zbydniewski pass and returned the interception to the Spokane 8 yard line in the 2nd quarter. Two plays later, Levi Madarieta found the end zone on a punishing run from 6 yards out to put the Shock ahead 25-3 heading into halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half. After a quick Spokane touchdown, the Duster's first drive of the second half was thwarted when Madarieta recovered an Amarillo fumble.
The Shock kept the pressure on throughout the 4th quarter, as Rob Keefe recovered yet another fumble and Charles Frederick tallied his first interception of the season, returning it 39 yards for a touchdown.
Notes – Siegfried earned his 51st victory of his career, the winningest active Coach in the af2 …back-up Derrick Crudup took his first snaps at Quarterback going two for three with 6 yards…it appears the Shock will uphold their #1 ranking in the Coaches Poll with tonight’s victory.
