By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
If there's someone who has a real good idea of either how good – or bad – the Spokane Shock might be following their 74-62 loss to Milwaukee in the newly reorganized Arena Football League, it's former Eastern Washington University wide receiver Raul Vijil.
That's because when it comes to being the leader in almost everything offensive for the past four seasons he's the team's No. 1 guy. A 4-year starter, Vijil holds the franchise record for receiving yards (3,869 yards), receptions (98), and all-purpose yards (6,846).
“For some of the young players like myself it was kind of a confidence builder,” Vijil said. “We did make a lot of mistakes in the game,” he said. As soon as the players get a chance to meld a little more than two weeks of training camp have allowed, he thinks things will work out just fine.
The team is a mix of talent from both the old AFL, as well as the af2, a league Spokane dominated for four years, winning the league championship twice, and ending as runner-up another. “We have to come together,” Vijil said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but once we get on the same page we ought to be OK.”
“At times there were seven people doing things great and one person slipping up,” he said. “We watched a lot of film but it definitely wasn't as bad as it felt like after the game and during the game.”
To those 10,096 who watched at the Spokane Veterans' Memorial Arena, it was a painful experience to see Milwaukee quarterback Chris Greisen prove why he's one of the most accurate quarterbacks in AFL history. He connected on over 80 percent of his passes - without a single interception - and nine touchdowns. Milwaukee's starting receiving corps combined for 29 receptions, including 11 from wide receiver Nate Forse who also scored three touchdowns.
Things started out slowly with Spokane holding a 7-6 lead after 15 minutes. But the game took on the classic look of arena football from there on out as Milwaukee outscored Spokane 28-14 in the second quarter. Included in that was a play Vijil had a hand in – for the Iron that is.
After a first quarter fumble that did nothing other than halt the Shock's opening drive, Vijil was trying to make up for the mistake with time running out in the half. Seeing he'd be stopped short, Vijil decided to lateral the ball to an unsuspecting teammate who never got a hand on the ball. The Iron's Tracy Beltron recovered the fumble and raced untouched for a score as time expired, giving his team a 34-21 lead.
“To be honest, the first fumble didn't help me out,” he said. But the second sent him to the bench for the remainder of the game, something unheard of in Vijil's indoor career that has seen him only miss playing time because of an injury.
“At the end of halftime I was trying to make a play and it's probably something I shouldn't have done, especially to an O-lineman,” he said. “The last thing I expected was for somebody to run it back for a touchdown.” His thought was, “If it doesn't work out, ah you're going to get tackled and fall on the ball; not a big deal,” Vijil said. “But it didn't work out that way and it was definitely a learning experience for myself.”
It was indeed an off night for Vijil who had just four receptions for 65 yards and no touchdowns. But that he says is not due to him not being able to play at what is said to be a higher level.
“I think I'm going to have the same amount of success,” he said. “I worked extra hard coming in, had a great camp and was looking forward to the first game, but I made some early mistakes.”
He went so far as to say that when Friday's game against the Utah Blaze in Salt Lake City rolls around, the old Vijil will be there. “This next game I think I'll be out there and have a big week.”
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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