SHOCK HOPE TO IMPROVE ON LAST YEAR’S RECORD WITH RETURN OF QB AND A NUMBER OF KEY ADDITIONS… PROVING 2006 AA CHAMPIONSHIP JUST A PRELUDE TO AAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Preview by: David Sire

West Valley City – Last year was a tough introduction into the AAA for the 2006 AA champions. Losing their starting quarterback after only one pass certainly didn’t help. And moving Kyto (no, I’m not going to spell out his whole name) to part-time quarterback hurt their defense even though Kyto ended the season as the #2 tackler in AAA. The only other ranked player was Chris Hooper (tied for #4 in interceptions and #1 in kick returns). All in all, it was a very long and tough season for the Shock (Muddogs) last year. The bright spot to their 1-9 season was that they did get things turned around towards the end of the year. They started the year losing their first five games by a combined 253-58. They then turned their season around beating Boise 28-21, before losing to Pocatello 12-6, and the Seminoles 7-6. They finished the season with a 27-0 loss to the Mustangs. So even though they lost 3 of their last 4 games, they showed a remarkable improvement over the year’s start. With Jordan Kjar returning at quarterback, a number of key additions, and a year of experience in the AAA, I predict that the Shock will move into the #6 position being the last team to make the playoffs.

On offense, after missing last year due to injury, Jordan Kjar returns at quarterback to lead the Shock. His stats for last year read 1 completion in 1 attempt for 11yards. But don’t be fooled, in leading the Shock (Muddogs) to the AA championship in 2006, Jordan led the AA with a phenomenal 175 pass rating. If he can return to his 2006 form, the Shock offense will be explosive. Joining him as a single running back will be Stephen Pizza. Kinda makes you think they will be throwing a lot, doesn’t it? At O-line, the Shock will have Tren Hagman, Racely Card, Freddie Rico, Nick Vickers, and newcomer Chuck Hall (former Viper). The receiver core will feature Matt Thornton, newcomer Fano Tagovailoa (U of U), Chris Liddiard, and Chad Kjar.

The defense will feature four new players, well sort of. The only newcomer will be DE Junior Tagovailoa (Coffeeville Community College). The other three are returning from brief hiatuses. They are DE Chris Miles (back from a year off), LB Kelon Brooks (back from Iraq), and LB Will Faleola (returns from a 2 year break). Also fitting into the scheme will be DL Tony Naufahu who was originally listed as a key loss. However, he is back from Seattle and ready to go. Rounding out the defense will be DT Lihai Makoni, DT Tua Nuku, LB Gary Smith, CB’s Nick Sasich and Kyto (and no, I’m still not going to spell out his whole name J ), and Safeties Chris Hooper and Ryan Morrow.

The question will be if the defense can improve on its next to last place finish last year. I feel certain that the offense will be able to put points on the board and improve on last year’s last place ranking. Will the offense be able to put up more points than the defense allows? I think they will and if you like high scoring games, this should be the team (and their opponent) to watch. It shouldn’t take long to see how effective the offense will be this year. They start the season at Da Bears. Week 3 and 4 see them hosting the Mustangs and Heat. All three teams are projected to finish higher than the Shock. Their mid-season report should give a good idea of how their season will go. A key game will be their last game of the season as they finish at the Wolverines. This could decide their playoff hopes.

OVERALL RANKING: 6th