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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

February 10, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: The Rattlers seek their first win of 2004 when they take on the Detroit Fury on Friday the 13th. Arizona hasn't started a season 0-2 since 1993, the franchise's second season.

The Series: This is the third meeting between these two teams, with Arizona emerging victorious in both previous match-ups. The Rattlers knocked off the Fury 51-41 last season at AWA. This is the first of two meetings for these teams this season.

Radio: All Rattler games are broadcast on KMVP 860 AM. All games are also simulcast over the internet at www.AZRattlers.com. Kent Derdivanis and Ron Wolfley will describe all the action.

Key Match-Up: Tonight's game will feature two of the best quarterbacks in AFL history, Detroit's Andy Kelly and Arizona's Sherdrick Bonner.

Media Contacts:
Rattlers: Randy Policar
602-514-8302, 602-750-9541 cell
Fury: Jason Miller
248-377-8704, 248-318-5968 cell
ARIZONA RATTLERS (0-1)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/8 Los Angeles Loss 32-51
2/13 Detroit 7:00
2/21 @ Carolina 5:30
2/29 New York 1:00 NBC
3/5 Columbus 7:00
3/14 @ Las Vegas 4:00 FSAZ
3/18 New Orleans 7:00
3/27 @ Colorado 7:00 FSAZ
4/4 @ Grand Rapids 12:00
4/10 Las Vegas 7:00 FSAZ
4/18 Dallas 12:00 NBC
4/25 @ Indiana 12:00 NBC
5/1 @ Los Angeles 7:30 FSAZ
5/9 San Jose 12:00 NBC
5/15 @ Detroit 4:30
5/30 @ San Jose 1:00 NBC

DETROIT FURY (0-1)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/5 San Jose Loss 43-58
2/13 @ Arizona 7:00
2/23 Indiana 5:30
3/4 @ Colorado 7:00
3/12 @ New Orleans 6:00
3/18 Austin 5:30
3/28 @ Chicago 1:00 NBC
4/1 Georgia 5:30
4/10 Grand Rapids 4:30
4/16 @ Los Angeles 7:30
4/25 @ Las Vegas 12:00 NBC
5/2 Chicago 12:00 NBC
5/8 @ Indiana 5:00
5/15 Arizona 4:30
5/23 Colorado 12:00 NBC
5/29 @ Grand Rapids 4:30

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (128-60 overall, 110-50 regular season) is in his 13th season with the Arizona Rattlers. The 2002 Arena Football Hall of Fame inductee is second all-time in coaching victories, with 128 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .681 ranks fifth all-time in AFL history. He is a two-time ArenaBowl Champion (1994, 1997).

Tom Luginbill is in his first season as Head Coach of the Detroit Fury. Luginbill took over for his father Al, who coached Detroit last season. Al is the Special Teams and Secondary coach.

Last Meeting: Arizona took care of Detroit 51-41 on March 7 last season. Chris Horn had a career day, catching four TD passes and returning a kickoff for a score as well. Randy Gatewood picked off Andy Kelly twice, and Sherdrick Bonner threw five scores to lead the Rattlers to victory.

Assaulting the Books: Bryan Henderson's fantastic opener helped him to put his name in the record books. Henderson, who had three sacks last season, got to LA quarterback Tony Graziani twice, tying a franchise record for sacks in a game. He tied Stacy Evans, who recorded two sacks against Indiana in 2002. The 2003 All-Rookie Team selection now needs four sacks in the next 15 games to tie Evans record of six in a season.

Back For More: WR/LB Hunkie Cooper returns to Arizona for his 12th season. In the AFL record book, Cooper ranks first all-time in kickoff returns, second all-time in all-purpose yards, third in kickoff return touchdowns, and fourth in pass receptions.
All-Purpose Yards:
1. George LaFrance 20,480
2. # Hunkie Cooper 19,771
3. # Barry Wagner 19,122
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 483
2. George LaFrance 460
Kickoff Return Touchdowns
1. Lamont Cooper 24
2. # Steve Papin 23
3. # Hunkie Cooper 19
Pass Receptions:
1. Eddie Brown 949
2. # Barry Wagner 896
3. # Gary Compton 734
4. # Hunkie Cooper 721
# denotes Active Player

The Big Lefty: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 538 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (27,027) and pass completions (2, 132). Bonner also ranks third for pass attempts (3, 443).

Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Andy Kelly 552
2. # Aaron Garcia 549
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 538
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 28,064
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 27,027
3. # Aaron Garcia 27,021
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,526
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,132
3. # Aaron Garcia 2,107
4. # Clint Dolezel 2,082
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,132
2. # Todd Hammel 3,501
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,443
4. # Aaron Garcia 3,369
# denotes Active Player

Let's Do It Again: Randy Gatewood looks to join Hunkie Cooper as a back-to-back Ironman of the Year winner. In 2003, Gatewood set career highs with nine interceptions (a franchise single season record) and 32 TD catches. He also set the Rattlers career mark for interceptions (24). Last year's Ironman wants to duplicate and improve on last year's performance.

Count Down: This season, Hunkie Cooper needs only 229 yards to reach 20, 000 all-purpose yards for his career. Only George LaFrance has reached that milestone.

Next Week: Arizona will head to Charlotte, NC to battle the Carolina Cobras. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.

Officials: Officials for today's game are: Craig Wrolstad (Referee), Ricke Lowe (Umpire), Gary Cavaletto (Head Linesman), Rusty Baynes (Line Judge), and Scott Helverson (Back Judge).

Injury Report: The Rattlers have five players currently on Injured Reserve. QB Travis Cole has a left ankle sprain. OL/DL Jason Andersen is nursing a right quad strain, OL/DL Tim Engelhardt suffered a right groin strain, WR/LB Terence Davis is dealing with an eye injury, and WR/LB Larry Nixon has a right thigh contusion. All players on IR will be eligible to play in the 2/21 game at Carolina.

Last Week: Arizona dropped it's fourth straight opener, falling to Los Angeles 51-32. Sherdrick Bonner had arguably his worst game as a pro, throwing a team record four interceptions. LA quarterback Tony Graziani threw for 214 yards and six TDs to lead the Avengers to the win.

Signal Callers: This is the first of three meetings between the top three ranked quarterbacks in Arena Football history. Andy Kelly, Detroit's QB, ranks #1 all-time in all major statistical categories for quarterbacks. Kelly has been to two ArenaBowls, leading the Nashville Kats in 2000 and 2001. On February 29th, Bonner will match up with Aaron Garcia, who also ranks in the top three of all the major statistical categories. Garcia and the New York Dragons will be in Arizona for an NBC match-up. Arizona will meet Detroit again on May 15, at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Coaching Staff: Every member of Coach Danny White's staff returns for 2004. Doug Plank is the Defensive Coordinator, Chris Conlin is the Line Coach, and Bob O'Connor coaches the Special Teams and Receivers. Coach White has added Ron Wolfley to his staff in 2004. Wolfley will be the fullback/linebacker coach, and will not be on the sidelines during games. He will remain the color commentator for radio broadcasts.

Nice Debut: It was a good Rattlers debut for OS Siaha Burley on Sunday against LA. Burley scored two touchdowns against his former team. He finished the day with six catches for 91 yards.

Practice: The Rattlers will once again call the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum home for their practices. The Rattlers will practice from 11am to 1pm during the week. Please call the Rattlers Media Relations Department at 602-514-8302 for dates.

Good Omen?: The Rattlers have been to the ArenaBowl four times, winning World Championships in 1994 and 1997. Every season they have made the title game, they have dropped their opener. In 1994, they dropped the first game to the Orlando Predators 38-28. In 1997, they fell to Tampa Bay 42-30. In 2002 they lost to San Jose 52-51, and last season they lost to the SaberCats again 49-28.

Children's Hospital: Every week during the 2004 season, Arizona Rattler players will visit the Phoenix Children's Hospital to brighten the day of the kids. The players will visit a different floor each week, and hand out posters and sign autographs. The team has also donated 50 tickets to each home game to the Hospital, so the children and their families can enjoy Rattlers football in person.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 10, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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