Coming off of their first loss of the season, a  36-30 overtime thriller at Boise two weeks ago, the Tacoma Cobras needed a big shot in the arm and they got it last weekend at Curtis Viking Stadium with a 35-0 shutout of the Portland Thunderbolts.

The victory gives the Cobras a 4-1 record. They travel to Bellingham for a game this weekend.

The winner of the game between the Cobras and the Blitz will determine the PDFL’s top seed in the playoffs, which start on July 31.

“Offensively, we didn’t get the consistency we needed, but (quarterback) Adam Kruse needed this game to get back in the groove after a few months in Europe,” said Cobras coach Dave McEachern.

Kruse’s production was greatly needed after the starting quarterback Kenny Jackson had suffered a season-ending ankle injury on the last play of the game against Boise. Jackson’s injury required the insertion of pins and a plate into his right ankle.

The Cobras scored first and never let up. They were also the beneficiaries of a couple of Portland miscues and basically put the game away by halftime.

After a Kruse interception at the Portland 1-yard line, safety Nathan Hale picked off an errant pass at the Thunderbolt 3-yard line and cruised into the end zone with 9:28 left in the first quarter.

Kruse struggled early to get some rhythm and the lack of a consistent ground game didn’t help him much.

But Kruse seemed to get on track with 5:39 to go in the first quarter when he hit Bernard Blosser with a 15-yard touchdown pass to give Tacoma a 14-0 lead.  “Defensively we had some trouble picking up our schemes and didn’t execute the way I hoped we would on the defensive side,” said Mc Eachern.

“But, we’ll definitely have to be ready against Bellingham with the top seed on the line.”

Although McEachern was disappointed with the overall play of the offense, there were some bright sides too.

“Jarrell Patterson is a great playmaker on the outside and had a real good game despite our offensive production.”

McEachern expects Patterson and Kruse to be more in sync after practice time this week.

“We will be much better off next week.”

The Blitz, who gave Tacoma all they could handle in last year’s title game will be more than just a formidable opponent in this week’s game.

“The first game this year was not indicative of the way the Blitz usually perform,” said McEachern, of his team’s 55-10 win at home a few weeks ago.

“Anybody who saw last year’s title game knows how capable this team is. Cody Oakes is very mobile at quarterback and that is a concern.”

Tacoma has their own slew of talented offensive players, too, to go along with a ball hawking defense, and McEachern is anticipating a good effort from the Cobras.

“We’ll be ready to go and I know we will see a great effort from the Cobras.”