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Af2: Tennessee Valley beats Spokane on two-point conversion for ArenaCup
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The Tennessee Valley Vipers defeated the Spokane Shock, 56-55, in overtime to claim the 2008 ArenaCup Championship in front of a record crowd of 10,662 at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash. This is the Vipers' first-ever ArenaCup title in eight af2 seasons.
Tennessee Valley opened the playoffs by beating the Florida Firecats, 48-33.
Leading the Vipers (14-6) to the shocking victory was QB Tony Colston, who was pressed into duty for normal starter Kevin Eakin. Eakin injured his ankle on a 5-yard TD pass to WR Alonzo Nix on the very first drive of the game. Colston, who threw only four passes in two appearances during the regular season, threw seven touchdown passes on the night without an interception to earn Schutt Offensive Player of the Game honors. He finished with 20 completions on 30 attempts for 288 yards.
After an intense four quarters of play that ended in a 48-48 tie, the Shock got the ball first and took a 55-48 lead on a Kelvin Dickens’ 25-yard TD catch from QB Nick Davila. Colston and the Vipers then responded with a drive that culminated with a 24-yard Nix TD grab that brought the team within one point, 55-54. After a timeout to think things over, Tennessee Valley head coach Dean Cokinos decided to go for a two-point conversion attempt to decide the game. His decision paid off. As Colston dropped back to pass he couldn’t find an open receiver and decided to tuck the ball and run for it. After eluding a Spokane defender at the 2-yard line, Colston dove into the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Aside from Colston’s impressive play, Nix (9-116-4 TDs) and WR/DB Gary Elliott (7-142-4 TDs) also had outstanding games.
The Vipers defense was paced by DB Desmond Foster, who earned the ADT Defensive Player of the Game with an ArenaCup record 13.5 total tackles. He also recorded the game’s only interception of the night.
Spokane, which finished its third af2 season at 18-2 overall, was paced by Davila, who set ArenaCup records for completions (35), passing yards (437) and touchdown passes (8). WR Raul Vijil’s 166 yards receiving also set a new ArenaCup record. Dickens also had a strong outing in the loss with 13 grabs for 159 yards and four scores.
Overall, all four noted receivers (TVV – Nix, Elliott; SPK – Vijil, Dickens) tied the ArenaCup record for touchdown catches (4).
International LB Lee Foliaki (6.5 total tackles; 2 tackles for loss) was the Shock’s top defensive player on the night.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 OT Final
Tennessee Valley 7 14 13 14 8 56
Spokane 7 13 8 21 7 55
LEADERS
PASSING: COLSTON, Tony (TVV) 20-30-0-288-7 TDs; DAVILA, Nick (SPK) 35-50-1-437-8 TDs
RECEIVING: ELLIOTT, Gary (TVV) 7-142-4; VIJIL, Raul (SPK) 14-166-4
Game Awards
Schutt Offensive Player of the Game: Tony Colston (TVV)
JLS Ironman of the Game: Raul Vijil (SPK)
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Desmond Foster (TVV)
Cutters Catch of the Game: Raul Vijil (SPK)
Attd: 10,662 – ArenaCup Record
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