Drafts throws four TDs in first arenafootball2 start

Former Battery Creek High School star Collin Drafts had his first professional football start Saturday night, throwing for four touchdowns for the Tri-Cities Fever in a 52-42 road loss to the Boise Burn in arenafootball2.

Despite the loss to the Burn (8-8), the Fever (8-8) secured the eighth seed in the playoffs and will face No. 1 seed Wilkes-Barre Scranton (14-2). The Fever are the only expansion team in the American Conference to move to the postseason.

Drafts, who set numerous school and Big South records at Charleston Southern from 2003-06, was starting after incumbent Brian Baker broke his tibia in a 45-43 loss to Everett on July 21. Baker has thrown for over 4,000 yards and 92 touchdowns in 15 games this season.

Drafts, who saw limited action without throwing a pass two weeks before in a loss to defending ArenaCup champion Spokane, was 20-of-34 passing for 236 yards against the Burn. He didn't play after Baker went down since the Fever decided to carry an extra lineman for the game, leaving Robert Garth, who hadn't played quarterback since high school, to fill in.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Drafts signed with the Fever on June 14.

****This article originally appeared in The Beaufort Gazette on July 30. The link to the original article is listed below.

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_sports/story/6604898p-5882535c.html