EVERETT – Filling the role of spoiler is probably better than playing no role at all.
Having been eliminated from the playoff chase several weeks ago, the Everett Hawks are now bent on making life difficult for other arenafootball2 contenders.
Last Saturday Everett (5-9) squashed Bakersfield’s (5-9) long-shot postseason chances by recording its first road victory of the season, a 49-46 triumph.
Now, buoyed by their first back-to-back victories of the season, the Hawks will try to make it three straight wins when they host playoff contender Tri-Cities (8-6) on Saturday at the Everett Events Center.
Tri-Cities, led by former Everett coach Tony Wells, got off to a 0-2 start in its first af2 season, but the Fever can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Hawks.
Coming off a 56-36 loss at Spokane last Saturday, Tri-Cities will be facing a better team than the one it dispatched 48-39 back on April 30.
Midway through the game that became Everett’s fourth straight road loss to open the season, Jason Campbell relieved Ben Bowling as quarterback.
Campbell brought the Hawks back from a three-touchdown deficit, but came up short against the Fever.
In the 10 games since, the rookie from Arkansas Tech has led Everett to all five of its victories and obliterated most of the single-season team passing records set in 2006 by Brian Baker.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Baker, of course, is now the quarterback for Tri-Cities where he has put up numbers remarkably similar to those of Campbell.
In 14 games Baker is 318-for-525 (60.6 percent) passing for 3,962 yards, with 90 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. His passing efficiency rating is 109.30.
In 13 games (including 10 starts) Campbell is 272-for-439 (62 percent) for 3,221 yards with 78 TD tosses and 13 interceptions. His efficiency rating is 111.53.
Maybe late July is as good a time as any for indoor fireworks displays.
Defense continues to shine: The Hawks’ rank No. 5 in af2 in total defense (238.4 yards per game). It starts up front with a line and linebacker rotation that is yielding just 13.9 rushing yards per game to rank No. 3 in the league. Everett ranks No. 6 in sacks with 26, led by Johnny Jackson (with a team single-season record 8.5) and Chuck Jones (7).
The secondary, anchored by Aaron Dunklin, has also been solid of late. In the victory last Saturday at Bakersfield, Dunklin had 6.5 tackles – including one for a 15-yard loss – and broke up four passes.
Florida’s Brown sets record for tackles: Florida DB Levy Brown, the leading contender for defensive player of the year, recorded 10 tackles in the Firecats’ victory over Alabama last Saturday to set a new single-season mark for tackles (126). Brown also leads af2 with 13 interceptions and is No. 2 with 39 pass break-ups.
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