Hawks hoping to make a run

Published 9:07 am Wednesday, June 20, 2007

SNOHOMISH – With six games remaining on their arenafootball2 schedule the Everett Hawks are hoping to finish with a Rush.

More specifically, Everett (3-7) would like to repeat the feat pulled off by the Chicago Rush in 2006.

After a 3-7 start last season the Rush got on a roll, winning their last six games, including two in overtime, to sneak into the Arena Football League playoffs.

Chicago then swept four straight opponents to claim the AFL championship and complete the greatest turnaround in arena football history.

“It would be nice if we could get hot like that,” Everett coach Cedric Walker said. “These kids can do it. We’ve just got to take care of business, one play at a time, one game at a time.”

The Hawks’ first opportunity to emulate Chicago comes this Saturday when they host the Arkansas Twisters (7-3) at the Everett Events Center and Walker sounded confident.

“You see the strides these kids are making,” said Walker who has the Hawks back at work after giving players the bye week off. “The ball is starting to bounce our way a little bit and I think we’re getting hot at the right time.”

After opening the season with four road losses, the Hawks have split six games. Most recently Everett enjoyed a resounding 52-32 home victory over Boise on June 9.

The Hawks play four of their remaining six games games at the Events Center.

“That’s a good thing,” Walker said. “(Against Boise) the crowd was the ninth man and really made some noise.”

Nobody said life was fair: There’s no way around it. Everett and Boise have been saddled with schedules that are by far the toughest among the West Division teams, if not the entire league.

First, understand that division records – listed in the standings along with overall records – are meaningless in determining the eight playoff qualifiers from each conference. Overall record is the determining factor and none of af2’s tiebreaker criteria make any reference to division marks.

Next consider Everett did not play a home contest until May 6, a full two weeks after every other team in the league had already hosted at least one game.

Everett’s non-division opponents have a combined record of 28-15. The schedule has included road games against perennial powers Tulsa (now 10-1) and Quad City (7-4). The Hawks play Arkansas (7-3) and Tennessee Valley (4-7) at home.

Expansion Boise opened with road games against Louisville (5-5) and Quad City. The Burn plays Rio Grande (9-1) and Oklahoma City (6-4) at home.

Its non-division opponents have a combined record of 27-14.

Bakersfield, Central Valley and Stockton each play just two games outside the division. The Blitz and Coyotes each play a home-and-home series against expansion teams. Bakersfield plays Laredo (1-9) twice while Central Valley has a pair of games against Lubbock (4-6).

Stockton’s non-division opponents (Amarillo and Corpus Christi) are a meager 3-17 combined.

Spokane’s non-division foes are currently 17-25 and Tri-Cities’ opponents have posted a dismal 14-28 mark.