Post by 50yardfan on Mar 14, 2011 9:02:29 GMT -5
The Tri-Cities Fever would not win any style points for its effort Saturday night. But the Fever did win where it counts the most: the scoreboard.
The Fever rebounded from a slow start to beat the Fairbanks Grizzlies 50-35 at Toyota Center, bouncing back from its first loss of the season.
"Sometimes in games like these, you find out what your team is all about," said Fever coach Adam Shackleford. "Our guys battled back and found a way to win the football game."
The Fever improves to 2-1 on the season and stayed unbeaten at home, heading into a bye. The Fever is 7-2 at home under Shackleford, including six straight victories.
The Fever came into Saturday's contest pretty banged up. Several players were dealing with injuries, including starting quarterback Houston Lillard. Lillard was suffering from a severe turf toe and did not start against Fairbanks (0-3). Instead, Antwon Young got his first-ever start and struggled through the first 1 1/2 quarters, prompting Lillard to tell Shackleford that he was ready to play if needed. Shackleford put Lillard in midway through the second quarter, and the Fever offense immediately started to get rolling. Lillard connected with Joey Hew Len for two second-quarter touchdowns as the Fever erased a quick 14-3 deficit to lead 17-14 at halftime.
"In an ideal world, Houston doesn't play at all," Shackleford said. "But he said he could play and we needed him."
Lillard completed 16 of 23 passes for 129 yards and seven touchdowns in just over two quarters of play.
Hew Len was his favorite target, pulling in six catches for 67 yards and three touchdowns.
Receiver Tre Young, who is the reigning Indoor Football League Offensive Player of the Week, got injured on the second play of the game and did not return. That opened a spot up for newly-signed Giovanni Stanley, who came in and had four catches for 26 yards and two touchdowns in his first action of the season.
"We struggled a little bit to get going tonight," Hew Len said. "But after halftime we turned it up and got the win.
"This was big for us coming off that loss and now we have a week to get healthy."
The Fever return to action March 25 at Omaha.
The Fever rebounded from a slow start to beat the Fairbanks Grizzlies 50-35 at Toyota Center, bouncing back from its first loss of the season.
"Sometimes in games like these, you find out what your team is all about," said Fever coach Adam Shackleford. "Our guys battled back and found a way to win the football game."
The Fever improves to 2-1 on the season and stayed unbeaten at home, heading into a bye. The Fever is 7-2 at home under Shackleford, including six straight victories.
The Fever came into Saturday's contest pretty banged up. Several players were dealing with injuries, including starting quarterback Houston Lillard. Lillard was suffering from a severe turf toe and did not start against Fairbanks (0-3). Instead, Antwon Young got his first-ever start and struggled through the first 1 1/2 quarters, prompting Lillard to tell Shackleford that he was ready to play if needed. Shackleford put Lillard in midway through the second quarter, and the Fever offense immediately started to get rolling. Lillard connected with Joey Hew Len for two second-quarter touchdowns as the Fever erased a quick 14-3 deficit to lead 17-14 at halftime.
"In an ideal world, Houston doesn't play at all," Shackleford said. "But he said he could play and we needed him."
Lillard completed 16 of 23 passes for 129 yards and seven touchdowns in just over two quarters of play.
Hew Len was his favorite target, pulling in six catches for 67 yards and three touchdowns.
Receiver Tre Young, who is the reigning Indoor Football League Offensive Player of the Week, got injured on the second play of the game and did not return. That opened a spot up for newly-signed Giovanni Stanley, who came in and had four catches for 26 yards and two touchdowns in his first action of the season.
"We struggled a little bit to get going tonight," Hew Len said. "But after halftime we turned it up and got the win.
"This was big for us coming off that loss and now we have a week to get healthy."
The Fever return to action March 25 at Omaha.