Burn sputter in loss to Shock
Charlie Litchfield/IPT
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dsouthorn@idahopress.com
Sunday, June 8th, 2008
BOISE — Give the Spokane Shock an inch, and they’ll take a yard. Or a few.
If the Boise Burn wanted to upset the af2’s best team Saturday night at Qwest Arena, they’d have to limit their own mistakes and force the Shock into their fair share. Outside of the first few minutes of the game, the plan saw little work right as Spokane used a big first half to take a 68-51 win.
“You’re not likely to come back on this team from three touchdowns down,” Burn quarterback B.J. Rhode said. “... We missed tackles, we turned the ball over and put our defense on the field a little too much early. A team that good capitalizes and you have to play super perfect from there on out.”
Spokane, which remains perfect at 10-0 on the season, forced five Burn (5-5) turnovers while limiting itself to only three of its own — only one in the first 30 minutes.
The Shock built a 47-25 halftime lead, taking advantage of three interceptions, a fumble recovery and strong field position thanks to Burn miscues.
“Spokane’s a good team, and if you make mistakes you’re going to get beat,” Burn coach Lee Leslie said.
Boise kept it close early, as Demond Williams ran the opening kick 58 yards for a touchdown. The Burn held a 13-7 lead with less than 3 minutes elapsed in the game, but Spokane responded with 26 straight points.
The run started with a one-play, 9-yard drive when the Burn touched a kickoff before it went 10 yards. The Shock scored again 2:57 later, finishing a drive that started when Williams fumbled on a kick return.
Spokane took a 27-13 lead on a Patrick Bugg 2-yard touchdown run with 2:33 left in the first quarter one play after the Burn turned the ball over on downs at their own 2.
“We wanted to take everything the gave us and make the plays we had to,” Spokane quarterback Nick Davila said. “A turnover can change anything, and we got four in the first half, so that was real big for us.”
Saturday marked the first start for quarterback Rhode since April 12. He finished 15-of-32 for 182 yards with four interceptions and five touchdowns. His first interception was returned for a 24-yard touchdown by Sergio Gilliam that put Spokane ahead 33-13 just before the end of the first quarter.
“They got into B.J.’s feet and he got nervous,” Leslie said. “His balls had no zip and he got in trouble.”
Boise’s defensive backs helped out an offense lacking much firepower, running back two Spokane passes for touchdowns. Williams had a 49-yard return for a score to make it 54-37 with 14:31 to play, but it was not enough, as the Shock had been given plenty of cushion.
“As the game unfolded, I made too many mistakes, the DB’s had a rough start, we didn’t get much pressure on the QB,” Rhode said.
