The Tri-Cities Fever is quickly showing that it is becoming a second-half team.
"That's not necessarily a good thing," said Fever defensive back Charles Ealy.
But it has yielded two straight wins for the Fever after an 0-4 start.
For the second straight week, the Fever needed a touchdown in the final minute before pulling out a 48-44 arenafootball2 league victory over Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday night in front of 3,957 at Toyota Center.
"We have got to learn how to play four quarters," said Fever coach Cedric Walker. "We should have never been in that situation."
But with the margin for error increasingly smaller in the final minutes, Tri-Cities again produced.
The defense that had not made stop in the first three quarters, made three in the fourth quarter and held Bossier-Shreveport (3-4) to just three points.
"It was a matter of when," Ealy said. "Our goal is to make four stops a game."
But three was enough for quarterback Josh Kellett and the Fever offense.
Kellett, in his second start for the Fever, hit J.R. Thomas for a 23-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left for the game-winner. Last week, Kellett cut it a little closer, hitting Phil Goodman on the final play of regulation for a 49-48 victory over Central Valley.
Kellett completed 20 of 35 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns. He has thrown 12 touchdowns the past two games without an interception.
Thomas, who had 10 100-yard receiving games last season, went over the 100-yard mark for the second straight week and also climbed up the af2 record books.
Thomas finished with 10 catches for 132 yards and four touchdowns and moved into seventh place on the af2 all-time scoring list with 786 career points.
"We have put a good foundation down (these past two weeks)," Kellett said.
The Fever defense, despite not making a stop until the fourth quarter, held Bossier-Shreveport 10 points below its season average (54.2) and kept the No. 2 passing offense in the af2 to just 200 yards. The Battle Wings came in averaging 266.7 passing yards per game.
Bossier, which let a second-half lead slip away last week in a 57-43 loss to defending ArenaCup champion Tulsa, had picked apart the Fever defense for six straight touchdowns to start the game.
The Battle Wings led 41-28 after Chavis McCollister scored his fourth touchdown with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
Bossier-Shreveport would not find the end zone again.
The Battle Wings opened the fourth quarter with a turnover on downs after just four plays. On their second possession, David Carlton hit a 24-yard field goal to give them a 44-42 lead.
Bossier-Shreveport then recovered the onside kick with 4:47 left in the game but stalled at the Fever 13-yard line. The Battle Wings' final drive ended at its own 20-yard line as time expired.
"We missed some opportunities," said Bossier coach Jon Norris. "We have a week off now to see where this team is at."
Notes
The Fever were again hit hard by penalties, getting flagged 13 times for 78 yards. Tri-Cities was ranked 28th of 29 teams in the af2 coming into Saturday night, averaging 83.2 penalty yards per game. ... Fever kicker Kyle Hooper was 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts. He is now 21-of-23 on the season, and has made 14 straight. ... McCollister caught a game-high 15 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.