No Excuses: Shock Want to Push Tampa Out of Playoffs - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

The Spokane Shock have a laundry list of excuses they could use to explain away the fact they didn't make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They lost their starting quarterback. They played in the league's toughest division.

But that is not what the Shock do.

Rather than focus on what went wrong the team – from the front office to the players on the field – are working to go out on a high note. To hit it, they plan on winning their tenth game this year, beating Tampa Bay in the season finale Saturday in Spokane.

So, now, how does a team that barely beat the AFL's worst team a week ago do that? They just do what they do, naturally.

"[Tampa Bay] has a chance to go to the playoffs, and if we spoil them from going to the playoffs they're going to even hate us more," said receiver Adron Tennell. "We want to come out with a win this week. If we can't go to the playoffs, then nobody is going to the playoffs."

And he said it with a grin.

"They're playing for a playoff spot, so they have a great goal than us," said defensive back Terrance Sanders. "At the same time we're playing in front of our home fans and we don't want to lose this last home game like we lost the opener. We at least want to end on a strong note for all those 10,000 fans that come in cheering for the dark blue… the navy blue."

Saturday's season finale gets underway at 7 p.m. at Spokane Arena. The game will be televised live on SWX, SWXRightNow.com and on mobile devices in Eastern Washington and North Idaho via the Syncbak app.