Hawks are hungry for their first af2 victory

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 26, 2006

EVERETT – Julian Reese has grown a little weary of achieving moral victories.

The Everett Hawks put forth their best effort of the season April 15 at Spokane, but the 44-41 setback – the Hawks’ third straight to start the season – only sent their quarterback and his teammates into the bye week with another grim lesson to ponder.

“We showed signs of life,” Reese said. “The team was together and still fighting to the end.”

The defense overall did its job by forcing several turnovers-on-downs. But, the inability of the offensive unit to convert those opportunities into touchdowns was the difference between victory and defeat.

“Hey, you hold teams to 40 points in this league and that’s good,” offensive specialist A.J. Street said. “When they make those stops we have to capitalize.”

That’s been a year-long problem for the Hawks’ offense, whose 43.7 points per game average ranks 15th in the af2.

“We’re getting better,” Street said. “We just haven’t had that breakout game yet.”

After Spokane scored what proved to be the winning touchdown, 25 seconds remained when Everett started its final possession.

That is practically an eternity in arena football. Two penalties – for offensive pass interference and holding – pushed the Hawks backwards.

Reese absolved his teammates of any blame for the ill-timed mental errors.

“I’ll take that loss on my shoulders,” Reese said. “We still had a shot.”

Reese’s somewhat-off passing performance – 21-of-36 for 179 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions – has only increased his hunger for that elusive first victory.

The next opportunity comes Sunday at the Everett Events Center in a Western Division clash against the Central Valley (Fresno, Calif.) Coyotes (2-1).

“I’m breaking down film and looking at the mistakes we made at critical times,” Reese said. “Making sure the coaches and I are on the same page.

“And I’m going to take my game mode into practices even more.”

Shocking numbers: The Spokane Shock, who have an af2-best 4-0 record, also lead the league in attendance, having drawn an average of more than 9,700 to each of their two games at the Spokane Arena. The Everett game was a sell-out with 10,137 fans on-hand.

“That really heated up the skirmish,” Everett coach Rickey Foggie said of the boisterous crowd. “The fans were great.”

Locally, Hawks’ officials said ticket sales for Sunday’s game against Central Valley have climbed past the 3,000 mark.

Pioneers stake claim to no. 1: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Penn.) Pioneers (3-0) supplanted the defending Arena Cup champion Memphis Xplorers as the top-ranked team in this week’s af2 coach’s poll. The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (3-0) climbed to no. 2 with their 44-32 triumph at Green Bay. Memphis slipped to No. 3 after losing 60-55 on the road against the Florida Firecats. Spokane and Florida (2-1) round out the top-five … game of the week no. 1 W-B/Scranton at the no. 7 Manchester Wolves (2-1).