Authorized newspaper of Fort Lewis, Washington
David Minnis stretches out for a Shockers touchdown during the first quarter against the Wenatchee Valley Rams at Cowan Stadium.
It wasn’t so much the heat of a playoff race as it was the heat of the day that took its toll on the South Sound Shockers on Armed Forces Day at Cowan Stadium.
With temperatures reaching the mid-90s, several players from the Shockers football team (6-3 overall, 4-3 league) went down with hydration-related injuries and the Wenatchee Rams walked away with a 24-20 win. The loss puts the Shockers in place for either a No. 5 or No. 6 seed for the Evergreen Football League playoffs, which begin June 7. The Rams (6-2 league) currently hold the No.4 seed, but could fall to No. 5 or move up to No. 3 depending on the results of the season’s final week in which they are idle.
Shockers head coach Lonnie Meredith planned to control the game with a strong running attack anchored by 1st Special Forces Group Soldier David Minnis. That game plan appeared to be somewhat working as Minnis had 112 yards and a touchdown to his credit midway through the third quarter before he was knocked out of the game with a leg injury.
The Shockers also lost their top receiver Bobby Poeltl in the game’s early minutes on an unnecessary roughness personal foul call in which his leg was fractured and the thigh muscle behind his knee was torn, knocking him out for the rest of the season.
Though it was apparent the heat did play a factor in the outcome of the game (no Rams players suffered any hydration-related injuries), Meredith didn’t use that fact as a scapegoat.
“Our defense just didn’t wrap up,” he said. “At the half, I told them that practice was over and they could start playing now. But our offense was fine in the first half. We had a couple good drives, but just couldn’t finish.” The Rams took a 21-6 lead into halftime and kept the Shockers off the board for the entire third quarter and most of the fourth; that was until lightning struck with 1:52 left on the clock.
After forcing a turn over on downs, the Shockers, now down 24-6, took to the air and quarterback Jacob Hicks connected with three different receivers and got his team to the Rams 47 yard line.
On the next play, Hicks (18-for-34, 256 yards, TD) was forced out of the pocket, scrambled right and hit his wide out Byron Arnold, a Soldier with 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, at the 10 yard line who broke two tackles and scurried into the end zone.
Hicks then hit running back Rory Lee in the end zone on a two-point conversion to bring the game to a 24-14 score.
The Shockers then failed to recover an onside kick, which gave the Rams the ball on the Shockers 46. The Rams went three-and-out, but called a timeout with 16 seconds left to attempt a field goal, which is generally seen as running up the score. However, total points are used as a tie-breaker for playoff seeding purposes, so Meredith said he understood the decision.
“Their coach (Mickey White) apologized after the game,” he said, “and I told him ‘I’m not going to fault you because that’s the way the league is set up.’”
The strategy backfired as Lee broke through and blocked the kick. Safety Randy Alderman scooped up the bouncing ball and beat two Rams defenders in a foot race to the end zone. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt was no good, and with only 2 seconds left on the clock, time for an onside kick and a desperation pass was all that remained.
The onside kick bounced in and out of a Shockers player’s hands and was recovered by the Rams ending any hopes of a miracle.
Though dropping its third game of the season, Meredith said he was happy to see his team play hard all game. “That’s the never quit this team has,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, the guys were tired, but you just can’t quit and we just played till the end.”
The game served as one of the many spectacles during Armed Forces Day on Fort Lewis, and gave Soldiers on both teams a chance to play in front of their home crowd, which Minnis said he enjoyed.
“It was great,” he said. “You always want to come out and play on your home field.”
The Shockers finish their regular season league play next week in Oak Harbor against the Skagit Valley Lightning, but will have one final game at South Sound Stadium in Lacey against the Washington Cavaliers May 31 in a non-conference game.
Print
E-Mail