Hawks beat Stockton for first victory
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, May 27, 2006
EVERETT – John Fields may have just saved the Everett Hawks’ season.
Fields, who is Everett’s smallest lineman at 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds, made two monstrous defensive plays in the fourth quarter to lead the Hawks back from a three-touchdown deficit and their first-ever arenafootball2 victory, a 41-40 triumph over the Stockton Lightning at the Everett Events Center Saturday night.
“Oh man, you don’t know how much we missed him,” Everett coach Tony Wells said. “You can see the motivation in him and he’s really unstoppable.”
And what did Wells think of Everett’s historic first af2 victory after seven straight losses to start the season?
“It’s a feeling of relief that all of the hard work finally paid off for the guys,” Wells said of the triumph, which came before 3,269 fans.
Fields, who was seeing action for the first time since suffering a groin injury against Central Valley on April 30, made a touchdown-saving tackle on Stockton’s Phil Goodman on a fourth down play at the goal line midway through the fourth quarter. Everett converted the turnover on downs into a touchdown to get within 40-34.
On the Lightning’s next possession, Fields stormed in from the left side and sacked Stockton quarterback Josh Blankenship, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Hawks rookie Vichael Foxx.
Four plays later the Hawks’ Hassan Brockman (14 receptions, 117 yards) caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brian Baker and Craig Hawley’s conversion kick boosted Everett into the lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
“It’s about time I made a play, I didn’t do anything in the first three-and-a-half quarters, so it’s about time I did something,” Fields said. “I’ve got to be strong and come to play earlier. But, bottom line, made a big play when it counts.”
On Stockton’s next possession Cascade High School grad Toure Butler intercepted a Blankenship pass in the Everett end zone and the Hawks converted three first downs to keep possession and clinch the victory.
Tavaris Davis, who made just four catches for 54 yards prior to Saturday, caught eight passes for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also scored on an 8-yard run to help Everett build a 21-13 lead midway through the second quarter.
“He was big,” Wells said. “Tavaris kept us in the game in the first half.”
In his first start Baker finished the game 32 of 49 passing for 336 yards and five touchdowns. He threw an interception and was sacked twice.
“He’s a stork out there,” Wells said with a laugh of the 6-foot-6 Baker. “But he made the throws when he had to and that’s the sign of a great quarterback.”
Blankenship completed 15 of 22 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Atnas Maeko led Stockton’s receiving corps with four catches for 81 yards.
