Saturday, Mar. 29, 2008

Fever drops season opener 46-32

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

Cedric Walker could barely stand still outside the Tri-Cities Fever locker room. He was bouncing up and down, shaking his head in disgust.

The new coach of the Fever wanted to leave a good impression in his first game in the Tri-Cities. Instead, he handed 4,385 fans Friday night's performance.

The Fever crumbled in the second half and had no answer on defense as Stockton never trailed in a 46-32 victory in the arenafootball2 season opener for both teams at Toyota Center.

"It was an embarrassment," Walker said. "We had guys not making plays."

Wide receiver Phil Goodman echoed Walker sentiments and said he felt like he disappointed the fans.

"We have to find a way to give back to the city better than that," said Goodman, who had seven catches for 62 yards and three touchdowns.

The good news -- or depending on who you talk to, the bad news -- is the Fever (0-1) has two weeks to correct things before playing West Division rival Spokane.

During that time, Walker has promised changes. He wouldn't elaborate on them, but it was very obvious that he was disappointed in his offensive line -- the same offensive line he praised throughout training camp.

That unit broke down on the final two possessions, allowing four sacks that resulted in two turnovers on downs.

"We had guys running open down the field and we couldn't get them the ball because we couldn't block," Walker said.

But the offensive line was not the only problem.

Af2 veteran quarterback Chad Elliott picked apart the Fever defense, leading Stockton (1-0) to touchdowns on its first seven drives. In the first half, Stockton faced just two third downs on its five possessions and scored touchdowns on both of them.

Tri-Cities did not stop the Lightning until Alex Walls missed a 32-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the third quarter. The Fever's only other stop came on an acrobatic interception by Charles Ealy in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.

"They were playing a lot of press (coverage) and as a quarterback I loved to see that," Elliott said.

Elliott finished 19-of-30 passing for 168 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

Tri-Cities' John Pierce fared OK in his first professional start after a shaky beginning that had the crowd grumbling. Pierce misfired on his first two passes before settling down and leading the Fever to a touchdown on a nine-play, 45-yard drive on its second possession.

Pierce finished 13-for-23 for 115 yards, three touchdowns and one interception before being lifted for Jason Campbell in the second half.

"Toward the end (of the first half) I settled down a little bit," Pierce said. "But I can't wait that long though."

Campbell, who was traded from Boise to Tri-Cities on Monday, led the Fever on two scoring drives in the third quarter and completed 13 of 20 passes for 134 yards and one interception.

Tri-Cities fell behind from the start as Elliott led the Lightning to a touchdown on its first drive, going 18 yards on three plays in less than 3 minutes for a 7-0 lead.

After LaMonte Jones fumbled, Elliott had Stockton back in the end zone two plays later with a 12-yard connection to Thyron Lewis to push the lead to 13-0.

Then the chase was on. Tri-Cities could only get to within one touchdown and never had the ball with a chance to tie.

"It's tough when you're chasing touchdowns," Campbell said. "You need some big breaks to go your way to get back in the game."

NOTES: Ron Childs, in his return to the Fever after not playing last season, led the team with 6.5 tackles. ... Jones had a game-high 11 catches for 132 yards, including two touchdowns. ... Wide receiver J.R. Thomas, who has been sidelined for the past two weeks with an ankle injury, came in midway through the first quarter and finished with six catches for 38 yards. ... af2 president Jerry Kurz was in attendance Friday night as was former Fever coach Tony Wells. ... Former Prosser quarterback Tali Ena started at defensive end but did not record a tackle.

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer