Fever holds off WV Venom 58-52

The Tri-Cities Fever survived a furious 30-point fourth-quarter rally by the Wenatchee Valley Venom to win an Indoor Football League game at the Wenatchee Town Toyota Center by a 58-52 score.

"We didn't get complacent," said Fever coach Adam Shackleford. "I think they just had momentum."

The victory gives the Fever a 9-4 record with just one regular-season game remaining: at Seattle on June 12.

Wenatchee finishes its first season in the IFL with a 3-11 record.

Fever quarterback Houston Lillard had a standout game, throwing for 270 yards on 25-for-37 passing with seven touchdowns.

Lillard also scored a TD on a 1-yard run with 1:38 left in the third quarter to give Tri-Cities a 51-22 lead.

But from that point the Venom rallied, as Bobby Daly scored on a 1-yard dive and then defensive lineman Corey Clark followed with an interception of a Lillard pass for a 2-yard TD.

Venom quarterback Devin Hollins also tossed three touchdown passes in the quarter.

Lillard did throw one TD pass in the fourth quarter -- a 3-yarder to Joey Hew Len with 3:52 remaining in the game -- that proved to be the difference, giving the Fever a 58-40 lead.

But Wenatchee Valley had the ball the rest of the game, thanks to the Venom recovering two consecutive onside kicks.

"We're going to spend some more time in practice next week working on onside kicks," Shackleford said. "We didn't do a good job of recovering onside kicks."

The last onside kick was recovered by the Venom's Everett Roberts with 28 seconds left in the game and the Fever clinging to a six-point lead.

Hollins made one last-ditch attempt to tie the game as he threw a deep pass downfield. But Fever defensive back Dennis Rogan was there to make the interception at the 5, and Tri-Cities ran out the clock for the victory.

"We were inconsistent tonight, but it's a tough road win," Shackleford said. "And we haven't won a lot of close games this year."

Playoffs: The Fever remains the No. 4 seed in the Intense Conference playoffs after this weekend's games. In fact, everyone remains where they were before the weekend started.

Colorado lost at home to Allen 56-37, but remains the top seed with a 10-3 record.

Fairbanks clinched the Pacific Division title Friday night, beating Seattle 85-54 to finish the regular season at 10-4. The Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed.

Allen, leading the Lonestar Division at 9-4, is the No. 3 seed. West Texas, at 9-4, is the No. 5 seed, while Wyoming at 8-5 in the No. 6 seed.

The Fever, if it stays at No. 4, would play host to a first-round playoff game on June 18.

Notes: Hew Len finished with six catches for 49 yards and three touchdowns. ... Justin Jarvis had seven catches for the Fever with 93 yards and two TDs, while Tre Young added seven catches for 90 yards and a TD. ... Wide receiver Jackie Chambers made his debut for the Fever, scoring one touchdown on a pass from Lillard. ... Hollins finished with 240 yards passing, going 26-for-49 with six TD passes. ... Roberts led the Venom with six catches for 109 yards and three TDs, while Timmothy Simmons added 10 catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. ... The Fever played without offensive lineman Michael Brown, running back Dennis Kennedy and wide receiver Steven Whitehead. Brown left the team this week to join Hartford of the United Football League. Kennedy was suspended by Shackleford for this game after he was ejected from last Saturday's loss to Fairbanks for fighting. Whitehead had a death in the family and went home to Louisiana. ... Former Fever defensive back George Kelly had an interception and recovered one of the onside kicks for the Venom.

This story was originally published June 5, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Fever holds off WV Venom 58-52."