Sunday, Jun. 22, 2008

Twisters level frustrated Fever

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

Tri-Cities Fever receiver J.R. Thomas had to stop and bite his tongue.

He was afraid of what might come out of his mouth.

Coach Cedric Walker wouldn't even say what came out of his month in the postgame meeting.

It was a night where the frustration boiled over.

The Fever had two players get ejected in the fourth quarter and yelling between Tri-Cities' players could be heard in the last couple rows of the arena.

It all came after another lackluster game where the Fever struggled all over the field in a 51-28 arenafootball2 loss to Arkansas on Saturday night at Toyota Center in front of 4,358 fans.

"I can't express how frustrating this is," said Thomas, who caught a team-high seven passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. "We're not playing as a team right now."

Walker says he has a team meeting planned for today and expects to make some roster changes.

"We've got to get it done," Walker said. "We have to get guys in here that want to play."

It was the Fever's (4-8) third straight loss and the term "playoffs" was replaced with "pride" Saturday night.

Mathematically, the Fever is still alive in the National Conference playoff race, but it will need to regroup in a hurry with just four games left in the regular season.

Arkansas (8-4) all but locked up its playoff with its fifth straight win, with a little help from former Fever defensive back Jamie Hattley.

Hattley, who was traded after the first game of the season,

had one interception, two fumble recoveries and tied for a team-high with 41/2 tackles.

"I would lying if I said I wasn't a little extra motivated," Hattley said.

Earlier in the week, Walker said his team need to win four of its last five games to make the playoffs. Now, the Fever is just looking for its next victory.

Tri-Cities plays three of its last four games on the road, where it has won just once this season. The Fever starts that journey next Saturday at Boise

(6-6).

The Fever passing game struggled for a second straight week as John Pierce and Tali Ena combined for 164 yards passing, completing 16 of 40 attempts with just two touchdowns.

"Again, we have guys running open; we are just not getting them the ball," Walker said.

The Fever offense was plagued by turnovers, scored just seven first-half points for the second straight week and dug itself a 27-7 hole at halftime.

The Fever committed five turnovers in the game, four on fumbles.

Tri-Cities got some momentum on the first drive of the third quarter when Ena broke down the left sideline on a 45-yard run for a touchdown to cut the margin to 27-14. It was the Fever's longest run from scrimmage in team history.

But Arkansas had the answer less than five minutes later when Kyle Rowley scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to extend the margin to 34-14. The Fever would only get as close as 13 one more time.

"We have started to finish games," said Arkansas coach Chris Siegfried.

NOTES: Nose tackle Chuck Jones missed the game with an ankle injury. ... The Fever committed 11 first-half penalties and finished with 15 for 91 yards. ... LaMonte Jones returned his second kickoff for a touchdown this season in the fourth quarter, a 55-yard scamper down the sideline. ... Arkansas receiver Chris Denny, who ranked first in the af2 in receiving yards per game at 124.7, had nine catches for 105 yards and four touchdowns. ... Ena set a franchise record for single-game rushing yards with 58.

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