Spokane Shock overwhelm IFL power, defending champion Sioux Falls Storm
The Spokane Shock offense picked a nice time to hit its stride.
Their trusty defense did the rest.
Two-time Indoor Football League Most Valuable Player Charles McCullum completed 19 of 24 passes and totaled four touchdowns to spearhead the Shock in a 50-32 road victory over the second-ranked Sioux Falls Storm on Saturday.
Spokane (3-1) won its third straight road game since falling to the top-ranked Frisco Fighters (4-0) 36-33 in Week 1. They return to the Spokane Arena on Saturday to face the Northern Arizona Wranglers (0-4).
Sioux Falls (3-2) coughed up four turnovers to the Shock, who made the 11-time national champions pay for their miscues.
Kamrin Solomon hauled in two touchdown passes, including a deep, acrobatic grab at the end zone wall to lead the Shock’s receivers, but special teams lifted the IFL’s fifth-ranked squad.
Sioux Falls cut the Shock’s lead to 30-29 in the fourth quarter before former University of New Mexico quarterback Lamar Jordan returned a kickoff for a touchdown, making it a two-possession game.
Late in the fourth quarter, when Sioux Falls attempted to rally, Shock safety Dominick Sanders forced a fumble, recovered by Solomon, that ultimately put the game away.
The Shock’s defense had yielded 30 points a game heading into Saturday, the second-best mark in the league.
Shock running back Davonte Sapp-Lynch, who missed last week’s game at Northern Arizona to attend his sister’s wedding, added two touchdowns for an offense that had been inconsistent.