Spokane Shock eliminated from IFL Playoffs

Spokane’s offense was explosive in stretches, but spurts of inefficient play undermined the Shock in a season-ending 44-33 loss to Frisco in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Football League playoffs Saturday in Frisco, Texas.

The teams were tied 13-13 in the third quarter before the Fighters (14-3) took control. Frisco scored touchdowns on three straight possessions, and Spokane (6-7) never fully made up the deficit.

Quarterback Charles McCollum’s 1-yard touchdown run pulled the Shock within 37-33 with 1 minute, 30 seconds to play.

Spokane failed to recover its onside kick, however, and the Fighters cemented the outcome with Demarcus Felton’s 2-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds left.

Spokane’s Davonte Sapp-Lynch rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns, and he took a reception out of the backfield 30 yards untouched to even the score at 13-all with 9:03 left in the third quarter.

Felton’s 1-yard plunge into the end zone gave Frisco a 20-13 advantage, and the Shock turned the ball over on downs on their next possession. Manny Arceneaux’s 2-yard touchdown run extended the Fighters’ lead to 27-13.

The Shock twice trimmed the margin to a touchdown in the fourth quarter – Sapp-Lynch scored on a 5-yard run, and McCollum and Jordan Jolly paired up on a 45-yard touchdown strike – but Frisco had an answer offensively each time.

McCollum and Jolly also connected on a 40-yard reception on the game’s first play from scrimmage, setting up Sapp-Lynch’s 2-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 lead 3 minutes into the contest.

Spokane kicker Sawyer Petre had a successful 37-yard field goal nullified by a holding penalty later in the quarter, and he missed the following 47-yard attempt wide left.

Frisco kicker Kristov Martinez sandwiched a pair of field goals around Marques Rodgers’ 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Fighters a 13-6 lead at halftime.

The Shock compiled just 54 yards of offense in the first half, including just four yards in the second quarter, but Spokane linebacker Mike Green gave his team a lift with an interception on his goal line to turn back the Fighters’ opening drive of the second half.

McCollum completed 10 of 18 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns.

Frisco quarterback Malik Henry completed 10 of 22 passes for 99 yards with the one interception.