Spokane Moves Up in Poll; Focus Turns to No. 1 Arizona - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

The Spokane Shock moved up in the Coaches poll on Wednesday, going from No. 7 to No. 6. And yet, they still face an uphill battle in their quest to make the postseason.

Arizona topped the list again after they beat Milwaukee 52-37 last week. The Rattlers come to Spokane this Friday in a West Division matchup that is undoubtedly the Shock's most important game of the season.

Spokane returned to practice on Tuesday after Saturday's impressive win over San Jose. The Shock put up 90 points in the win, quarterback Kyle Rowley threw an AFL-record 12 touchdowns and the defense made 9 stops.

Spirits are high in Spokane at the moment, and so is the team's confidence.

"It helps a lot, it gives you a lot of confidence going into the next game," said receiver Jeffrey Solomon. "Once you get that confidence going it's easy to roll."

"We'll try to do whatever I did last week, I want to do it again," said coach Andy Olson. "That's the focus right now: to be consistent, to have that same effort and have that same intensity. If we can bring a game like that on Friday we'll be just fine."

Friday's game against the Rattlers will be broadcast on SWX and SWXRightNow.com. It can also be seen on mobile devices in Eastern Washington and North Idaho through the Syncbak app.

WEEK 17 COACHES' POLL
RK            Team (1ST place votes)                                                W-L                        Pts            Last Week
1            Arizona Rattlers (11)                                                         11-3                        155            1                                    
2            Philadelphia Soul (4)                                                        12-3                        143            2
3            San Antonio Talons (2)                                                     11-3                        127            3
4            Utah Blaze                                                                        10-5                        110            4
5            San Jose SaberCats                                                         9-6                          87             5
6            Spokane Shock                                                                 8-6                          87             7
7            Chicago Rush                                                                    9-5                         84             6
8            Jacksonville Sharks                                                           7-7                         54             NR
9            New Orleans VooDoo                                                        7-7                          40            9
10            Georgia Force                                                                 7-8                          15            10