Wednesday, May. 07, 2008

New QB makes all the difference

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

The path and the score looked all too familiar to the Tri-Cities Fever in the second quarter Saturday night.

Central Valley had capitalized on two key Fever mistakes and extended its lead to 34-14, and it appeared the Fever could be headed for a third straight 40-plus point loss.

Without Josh Kellett, it could have happened. With Kellett it probably won't happen -- and it didn't against the Coyotes.

49-48 last-second victory, giving Cedric Walker his first win as Tri-Cities coach.

"You can see what a quarterback can do for a team," Walker said.

But the one thing that Kellett could not correct for the Fever is another dismal second quarter. He just made it not as bad, throwing for two touchdowns in the final minute to close the gap to 34-21 at halftime.

After scoring with 1:23 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7, the Fever offense did not get back on the field until 49 seconds left in the second quarter.

Second-quarter scoring discrepancies are nothing new for the Fever (1-4), though.

For the season, Tri-Cities has been outscored 123-51 in the second quarter. The 14 points Saturday night in the second 15 minutes were a season-high.

"That's something we'll have to look at," Walker said, whose team had the ball on offense for just over 21 minutes Saturday.

-- For the second straight season, Walker's first win came after an 0-4 start. Last season, while coaching in Everett, Walker picked up his first career coaching victory on May 2 against ... Central Valley, 43-41. Walker has a 7-14 af2 career coaching record.

-- Phil Goodman went back to his high school days Saturday night, giving his No. 4 jersey to Kellett and picking up No. 3 -- the number Ruschard Dodd-Masters wore until being traded to Stockton last week.

"I wanted to try something different and do something for my man Dodd," Goodman said.

-- The Fever only dressed one quarterback Saturday night, as Walker chose to put back-up Brandon Pederson on the practice squad. Goodman was listed as Kellett's emergency back-up.