The Tri-Cities Fever put on a show in its final home game of the regular season Saturday night at Toyota Center.

The Fever, which had already clinched its first-ever Indoor Football League playoff spot, led from start to finish in a convincing 64-26 win over a make-shift Alaska Wild team.

Tri-Cities (7-6) finishes the regular season at home with a 5-2 record and has won six of its last seven games overall, heading into a key showdown with Pacific North Division leader Billings this coming Saturday night.

"We wanted to come out of this game healthy," said Fever coach Adam Shackleford. "That was our main goal."

The outcome was never in doubt against a Wild team that featured several players who had never played an IFL game before. The Wild franchise was shut down by the league in mid-May, awarding the remaining teams on the schedule a victory. However, the exception was Saturday night at Toyota Center. A mish-mash roster was put together in the past week and they were on the field Saturday night.

And while they gave a spirited effort and earned the respect of the Fever coaches and players, it simply wasn't enough.

Tri-Cities raced out to a 22-0 first-quarter lead and coasted from there. Starting quarterback Houston Lillard played just one quarter, completing all three of his passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. Andrew Carcich saw his first extended action of the season for the Fever after being picked up a few weeks ago.

Carcich was efficient, completing 7 of 8 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for another score.

"It was good to get back on the field," he said. "I hadn't really played a lot since April."

The Fever defense continued its second-half onslaught of opposing offenses, recording a safety for the second week in a row. It also scored its league-leading 10th touchdown of the season. Blair Boynton recovered fumble in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to give Tri-Cities a 51-18 lead.

"We wanted to come out and run our basic stuff and not make mistakes," said linebacker Jo Artis Ratti.

Recently-signed Courtney Singleton looked good in his first start. The rookie running back from South Carolina had seven carries for 29 yards and two touchdowns.

Brandon Copeland led the Fever with three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Four other Fever receivers had at least one catch.

After the game, the talk quickly shifted to next week's game at Billings to close out the regular season. Tri-Cities is 0-2 against the defending IFL champions this season.

"Our main focus right now is going to get a win in Billings," Ratti said.

Shackleford added, "They are the best football team we've seen this season. We want to go down there and play well."

The Tri-Cities Fever don't quite know what to expect heading into its final regular season home game Saturday night against Toyota Center.

Kickoff is 7:05 p.m. and the Fever is playing a team traveling team from Alaska. Coach Adam Shackleford is supposed to get a roster sometime Thursday.

"It's kind of like Mystery Alaska," Shackleford joked.

Whoever the team is, the Fever wants to continue what has been an impressive second-half. Tri-Cities (6-6) has won five of its last six games under rookie quarterback Houston Lillard.

Lillard is coming off his most efficient game of the season, completing 14 of 18 passes for 183 yards and five touchdowns in a 57-50 road win over the Kent Predators. It was the Fever's first road win since May 2008.

"I don't think a lot of guys get caught up about what's happened in the past," Shackleford said. "I think they knew that they hadn't won a road game this season and wanted to end that streak."

With last week's win, the Fever has clinched its first playoff spot for the franchise since the 2007 season. Tri-Cities with its six wins this season, is one win shy of matching its win total of the past two seasons combined (7).

Again, the past is the past. Shackleford has a new group of players and a new mission for the Fever in its first season in the Indoor Football League.

"We want to get back to sustaining success in Tri-Cities," Shackleford said.

The Fever's second-half run comes after a 1-5 start to the season. Shackleford said rebuilding a team takes time and a lot of patience. But through some big roster additions like defensive lineman Dave Howell, receiver Joey Hew Len and defensive back Lionell Singleton to name just a few, the Fever has continued to get better as the season has gone on. Tri-Cities has moved into third in the Pacific North Division.

"Our young guys are growing up and we've made some big roster moves," Shackleford said.

Now it's just a matter of continuing to get better the final two weeks of the season for its playoff push.

NAME RECOGNITION: Defensive lineman Ameer Ismail was named the iFL defensive player of the week. Ismael had 11.5 tackles (4-for-loss) to go with his interception and his blocked field goal that led to a safety.

ROSTER MOVES: Wide receiver Kevin Heard was released this week. Heard, a fan favorite, was back with the Fever for the first time since 2006. In nine games, Heard had 34 catches for 215 yards and four touchdowns. The Fever also placed quarterback Andy Collins (shoulder) and linebacker Derek Nicholson (knee) on the injured reserve list, freeing up some roster spots. Shackleford said this is the last week he can add players to the roster.

STATS: The Fever ranks third in the league in scoring at 51.4 points per game ... ranks first in the league in defensive touchdowns with nine ... Receiver Thyron Lewis ranks fourth in the league in TD catches with 21.

CATCH THE FEVER: For tickets to Saturday's final home game call 222-2215.

KENT -- The drought is but a distant memory.

The Tri-Cities Fever ended a 16-game road losing streak Friday night with down-to-the-wire 57-50 win over the Kent Predators at the ShoWare Center.

It is the Fever's first victory on the road since May 24, 2008 when Tri-Cities beat the Stockton Lightning 44-21 when both teams played in the arenafootball2 league.

The end of one streak helped prolong the Fever's season past the regular season. With the win, Tri-Cities (6-6) clinches an Indoor Football League playoff spot in its inaugural season.

The Fever has now won five of its last six games and return home for its final regular season home game next Saturday against the Alaska Wild.

The Fever trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half before a furious second-half rally that ended with a last-second touchdown catch by Thyron Lewis.

Lewis, who had three touchdown catches on the night, caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Houston Lillard with 9 seconds left in the game to give the Fever a 57-50 lead. The clock expired on the ensuing kickoff.

Early on, it appeared that Kent quarterback Charles McCullum and the Predators would add to the Fever's road woes. Kent (4-8) led 37-20 late in the first half and seemingly had complete control of the game.

But on the final play of the first half, Lillard scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the margin to 37-27. The Fever then scored on the opening possession of the second half on a 40-yard TD catch by Joey Hew Len to get Tri-Cities to within 37-34. The Fever defense that allowed Kent to score a touchdown on all five of its first half possessions, got its first stop on the Predators first drive of the third quarter. The drive ended when Ameer Ismael blocked a field goal out of the end zone resulting in a safety getting the within one at 37-36.

But as soon as the Fever appeared to seize the momentum, Kent recovered the ensuing onside kick and returned it for a touchdown to lead 43-36. The Predators gambled again with an onside kick and again recovered the ball. Four plays later, Ismael intercepted McCullum to keep the Fever within one touchdown.

Hew Len and the Fever got back to 43-42 after a 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. After a third straight stop by the Fever defense, Lionell Singleton returned a missed field 56 yards for a touchdown to give the Fever its first lead at 48-43. After the 2-point conversion the Fever led 50-43.

Kent would eventually tie the game with 35 seconds remaining, before the Fever orchestrated its game-winning drive that ended with Lewis' TD grab.

The Fever allowed just 13 second-half points, and only one offensive touchdown.

Lillard had his most efficient game of the season, completing 14 of 18 passes for 183 yards and five touchdowns.

Ismael, in addition to an interception and a blocked field goal, had four tackles-for-loss.

Brandon Copeland didn't exactly get off to a blazing start this season. He, like the rest of his teammates, struggled to find their niche in the Indoor Football League.

Now, as the Tri-Cities Fever winds down its first season in the IFL, Copeland has settled in nicely and been one of the team's most reliable receivers.

Copeland produced another solid game last Saturday with six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns in a key 50-21 victory over the Fairbanks Grizzlies.

Copeland hopes to continue his solid play this Friday night when the Fever (5-6) travels to take on Pacific North rivals the Kent Predators (4-7) in the final meeting between the teams this season.

Copeland's season got jumpstarted a little over a month ago in a 56-48 home win over Alaska. Playing In front of his family with the Fever for the first time, Copeland had nine catches for 116 yards and four TDs.

It was a night that he won't soon forget.

"They liked the way I played," said the native North Carolinian. "I liked the way I played."

Copeland is in his second season with the Fever after joining the team late last season. In five games last season, Copeland caught 41 passes for 406 yards and seven touchdowns. It was an end to what had been an interesting year.

Copeland went to training camp with the Peoria Pirates of the arenafootball2 league and was released right after training camp. He got a call two weeks later to come back. He did. When he got back, he said he spent six weeks with the team, before getting released again. He played just one game during that stretch, catching three passes for 34 yards.

"I was kind of upset," Copeland said about the whole ordeal.

About two weeks after he returned home, former Fever coach Pat O'Hara signed the former Bridgewater College standout. Copeland decided to make the trek to the West Coast, wanting to get some game film for what he hopes is a return to the outdoor game.

So far he's getting what he'd hope for and the Fever is getting a quality receiver that always seems to make a key play. Copeland leads the team with 49 catches and is second in receiving yards with 556 yards and second on the team with 14 TD receptions.

"I hope to get a chance at the CFL or get called to an (NFL) camp somewhere," he said.

It's a spot where Fever coach Adam Shackleford says could become a reality.

"He does a lot of things well," he said. "He is good at finding spots in the zone and he is a strong runner after he catches the ball."

Copeland, 24, is in his first full season in the indoor game.

After finishing up at Bridgewater, Copeland was invited to camp with the Cleveland Browns in 2008. He was released and then signed by the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. He finished the season on the practice squad for a team that won the ArenaBowl that season.

"That was a great experience," said Copeland, despite not getting a championship ring.

Copeland hopes this week will be the week where the Fever breakthrough on the road. The Fever has not won away from Toyota Center since 2008.

"We are ready to go," he said. "We see the talent every day in practice. The talent level is not a question. "

"We just need to not make the little mistakes and stick to the game plan."

Defense put on show in Fever's win over Fairbanks

Adam Shackleford stood near midfield and couldn't say enough about his defense.

"They played great tonight," he said, "everyone of them."

No one was going to argue with the Tri-Cities Fever coach. For the second straight home game, the Fever defense was the star of the show, and keyed a 50-21 victory over the Fairbanks Grizzlies on Saturday night at Toyota Center.

The Wounded Warriors project also came up big Saturday night, as the Fever helped raise almost $4300 by auctioning off its special military jerseys.

With the win, the Fever improves to 5-6 and is right in the middle of the Intense Conference playoff race with three games left in the regular season. The Fever heads to Kent (4-7) this Friday for a key showdown against the Predators. The Fever is 1-2 against the Predators this season, but beat Kent 71-24 the last time the two teams met in Kennewick.

The last time the Fever was at home, the defense scored four touchdowns, had three interceptions and five sacks against Kent. Saturday night the defense was just as good against Fairbanks.

The Fever forced four turnovers, returned two fumbles for touchdowns and allowed a season-low 21 points. Fairbanks (6-5), which was coming off a last-second win against defending IFL champion Billings, came in averaging nearly 41 points per game.

"We wanted to come out and play our game," said defensive lineman Curtis Terry. "We wanted to play a full game."

That's exactly what the Fever did. After allowing just seven first-half points, the Fever turned up the heat in the second half, scoring two touchdowns on fumbles by quarterback Justin Rummel. The first was by newcomer Cyrus Mulitalo and the second was by Fred Poole that made the score 43-13 with just over six minutes left in the game.

"We are usually a second-half team," Poole said, who also had a sack. "Tonight we wanted to make our first half our second half and get off to a good start."

The Fever did that, leading 28-7 at halftime. Quarterback Houston Lillard completed 8 of 11 passes in the first half for 128 yards and three touchdowns. He and the offense struggled in the second half, scoring just a field goal and a touchdown, but it was more than enough.

"Defensively we just kept the pressure up," Shackleford said.

The last time these two teams met, the Fever was the team that fell behind early before rallying for a 44-39 win. On Saturday, the Fever scored on its first three possessions and led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. The lead grew to 28-7 in the second quarter on a 40-yard touchdown catch by Thyron Lewis. Fairbanks got as close as 28-13 in the third quarter, but that was all.

"We just have to keep going," Terry said. "We can't get too full ourselves."

The Tri-Cities Fever would like to extend a hearty "Thank You" to the
following individuals for your generosity in helping raise $4,270 for the
Wounded Warrior Project:

Sonny Sondretto
Leslie Hoffman
T.K. Cordray
Angela Schneider
Tim Thomson
Mike Wieseler
Belinda Huntsman
Wayne Pederson
Ed Page
Steve Basehore
Cannon Pearson
Lisa Kromer
Raul A. Carreno
Anneke Lewis
Ryan Nichols
Roger Hendrickson
Tyler Clements
Daniel Quinn
John Crowe
Ron Reimann
Dana Miller