Fever recap: After rough start, Tri-Cities found the offense
Fumbling on the first two possessions to open a season is a tough way to go.
But after the Tri-Cities Fever spotted the Spokane Empire two easy touchdowns in Saturday night’s 60-51 loss, the hosts found their stride on offense with nine scores in 11 possessions to finish out their IFL opener at the Toyota Center.
Quarterback Hunter Wanket threw for 213 yards and four touchdowns, completing 21 of 35 throws with no interceptions. Patrick McCain also threw a pair of touchdowns in limited duty, completing 3 of 4 passes for 16 yards.
Dejuan Miller and DeJay Lester were easily their favorite targets. Miller caught 10 passes for 84 yards, including a 6-yard TD catch in the final minute. Lester had seven catches for 98 yards and touchdowns of 32, 35 and 7 yards. Additionally, Akeem Foster had four catches for 30 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for the Fever, a few too many times they had to settle for field goals. Steven Wakefield kicked a pair from 35 and 36 yards out.
Spokane, meanwhile, kept scoring touchdowns, finding the end zone on their first four possessions of the game and then on five of six in the second half.
Charles Dowdell threw for 160 yards and six touchdowns for the Empire, with three of those going to Jefferson Hayes and two more to Carl Sims. Additionally, Spokane had big success on the ground, with Trevor Kennedy rushing for 82 yards and two scores, and Dowdell added 42 yards and another touchdown. Conversely, the Fever mustered just 12 yards on 10 carries.
The Fever (0-1) hit the road for the first time this week, traveling to Grand Island, Neb., to take on the Danger (1-0) at 5:05 p.m. Saturday.
Spokane | 20 | 7 | 12 | 21 | — | 60 |
Tri-Cities | 10 | 10 | 13 | 18 | — | 51 |
SCORING PLAYS
S – Charles Dowdell 8 run (Dan Klecker kick)
S – JJ Hayes 5 pass from Dowdell (kick fail)
TC – DeJay Lester 32 pass from Hunter Wanket (Steven Wakefield kick)
S – Carl Sims 13 pass from Dowdell (Klecker kick)
TC – Wakefield 35 FG
S – Hayes 20 pass from Dowdell (Klecker kick)
TC – Wakefield 36 FG
TC – Akeem Foster 10 pass (Wakefield kick)
TC – Pat McCain 1 run (kick fail)
S – Trevor Kennedy 1 run (kick fail)
S – Samuel Charles 34 pass from Dowdell (kick fail)
TC – Lester 35 pass from Wanket (Wakefield kick)
TC – Foster 8 pass from McCain (kick failed)
S – Kennedy 16 run (Klecker kick)
TC – Lester 7 pass from McCain (pass fail)
S – Hayes 21 pass from Dowdell (Klecker kick)
S – Sims 18 pass from Dowdell (kick fail)
TC – DeJuan Miller 6 pass from Wanket (pass fail)
STATISTICS
RUSHING — S, Kennedy 15-82, Dowdell 42. TC, Snell 5-11, Wanket 5-2, McCain 1-1
PASSING — S, Dowdell 12-20-0—160. TC, Wanket 21-35-0—213; McCain 3-4-0—16, Team 0-0-0—(minus 8).
RECEIVING — S, Hayes 6-73, Charles 3-46, Sims 3-41. TC, Miller 10-84, Lester 7-98, Foster 4-30, Snell 2-15, Chavis 1-2.
This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Fever recap: After rough start, Tri-Cities found the offense."