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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

March 23, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: Arizona hopes to break a two-game losing streak when they take on the Crush. The Rattlers are coming off a 49-45 home loss to the New Orleans VooDoo while Colorado is now 5-2 after a 40-33 win over Philadelphia.

The Series: This is the third meeting between Arizona and Colorado. The Rattlers won both meetings last season, Colorado's first in the AFL.

TV: Tonight's game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona. Kent Derdivanis and Gene Nudo will call all the action.

Radio: All Rattler games are broadcast on KMVP 860 AM. All games are also simulcast over the internet at www.AZRattlers.com. Craig Grialou and Ron Wolfley will provide the commentary.

Media Contacts:
Rattlers: Randy Policar
602-514-8302, 602-750-9541 cell
Crush: Jonathan Goldstein
303-777-7717, 720-641-8964 cell


ARIZONA RATTLERS (3-4)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/8 Los Angeles Loss 32-51
2/13 Detroit Loss 31-48
2/21 @ Carolina Win 45-38
2/29 New York Win 53-41
3/5 Columbus Win 65-42
3/14 @ Las Vegas Loss 64-65 OT
3/18 New Orleans Loss 45-49
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

Colorado Crush (5-2)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/6 Las Vegas Win 43-42
2/14 @ Grand Rapids Win 55-37
2/22 @ Chicago Loss 35-65
2/27 Austin Win 37-35
3 /4 Detroit Win 62-61
3/14 @ San Jose Loss 35-55
3/21 @ Philadelphia Win 40-33
3/27 Arizona 7:00 FSAZ
4/3 Indiana 12:00 NBC
4/10 @ Los Angeles 7:30
4/18 @ New York 12:00 NBC
4/23 @ Grand Rapids 6:00
5/2 Philadelphia 12:00 NBC
5/16 @ Indiana 12:00 NBC
5/23 @ Detroit 12:00 NBC
5/30 Chicago 1:00 NBC

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (131-63 overall, 113-54 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 131 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .675 ranks fifth all-time in AFL history. He is a two-time ArenaBowl Champion (1994, 1997).

Mike Dailey is in his first season with Colorado, and eighth overall in the AFL. Dailey has compiled a career record of 68-48 with the Albany/Indiana Firebirds and the Crush. He was named the 1999 AFL Coach of the Year, and led the Firebirds to the ArenaBowl title. Dailey is seventh on the All-Time AFL list in victories.

All-Purpose WR/LB: WR/LB Hunkie Cooper is in his 12th season in Arizona. 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. Cooper was named the US Army Ironman of the Week for his performance against the Dragons on 2/29.
All-Purpose Yards:
1. George LaFrance 20,480
2. # Hunkie Cooper 19,912
3. # Barry Wagner 19,254
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 484
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 907
3. # Gary Compton 736
4. # Hunkie Cooper 736
# denotes Active Player

Lucky 13: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 561 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (28, 408) and second in pass completions (2, 262). Bonner also ranks second for pass attempts (3, 640).
Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Aaron Garcia 585
2. # Andy Kelly 577
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 561
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 29,574
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 28,408
3. # Aaron Garcia 28,334
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,652
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,262
3. # Clint Dolezel 2,234
4. # Aaron Garcia 2,207
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,338
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,640
3. # Aaron Garcia 3,527
# denotes Active Player

Count Down: Hunkie Cooper needs only 88 yards to reach 20, 000 all-purpose yards for his career. Only George LaFrance has reached that milestone. Sherdrick Bonner needs 1, 592 passing yards to reach 30, 000 for his career.

Next Week: Arizona continues to hit the road, heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a meeting with the Rampage on Sunday, April 4.

Last Meeting: These two teams hooked up in the final regular season game last year. Arizona rode the seven touchdown passes of Sherdrick Bonner to a 59-48 victory in the Pepsi Center. Arizona won the first meeting 72-45 at AWA.

Officials: Officials for tonight's game are: Steve Pamon (Referee), Jeff Carr (Umpire), Dale Newhouse (Head Linesman), Tom Symonette (Line Judge), and Tony Lombardo (Back Judge).

Injury Report: The Rattlers have five players currently on Injured Reserve. Arizona placed FB/LB Frank Trentadue on IR with a strained thigh. QB Travis Cole has a left ankle sprain, WR/LB Terence Davis is dealing with an eye injury, OL/DL Pete Tramontanas has a right ankle sprain, and WR/LB Larry Nixon has a right thigh contusion.

Last Week: The Rattlers fell victim to the expansion juggernaut known as the New Orleans VooDoo, 49-45. Sherdrick Bonner threw for 242 yards and five scores, but it wasn't enough. Dan Curran rushed for two scores to lead the VooDoo to the victory.

Did You See That?: When kicker Jason Witczak went down with a knee injury late in the game against New Orleans, Danny White needed a kicker. White called upon the multi-faceted Hunkie Cooper to handle the place kicking duties. Amazingly enough, it wasn't the first time Cooper had kicked off. During the 1993 season, Cooper kicked due to an injury to Luis Zendejas. Just for good measure, Cooper also threw a touchdown pass against the VooDoo.

Leader of the Sack: Bryan Henderson is tied for first in the AFL with five QB sacks. Henderson has now sacked his way to the second highest total for sacks in a season in franchise history. With one more, Henderson will tie Cedric Walker and Andy Coviello for the Rattlers single season record. He is also three sacks away from the Rattlers career record, held by Stacey Evans.

Hello, My Friends, Hello: Colorado has two former Rattlers on their roster. FB/LB John Peaua was in Arizona from 2001 to 2003, and kicker Anthony Brenner was a snake in 1997 and 1998.

Key AFL Dates: The AFL Trading deadline is April 7...The AFL claiming order will be established on April 8...The Regular Season ends May 30...AFL Playoffs begin on June 5...ArenaBowl XVIII is on June 27.

Other Games This Week:
Los Angeles (4-2) @ San Jose (5-1)
Grand Rapids (0-6) @ Indiana (2-5)
Tampa Bay (2-5) @ Georgia (4-3)
Las Vegas (3-4) @ Orlando (2-4)
Carolina (3-4) @ New Orleans (6-1)
Detroit (2-4) @ Chicago (5-1)
Philadelphia (3-4) @ Austin (4-2)
BYE: Columbus (1-6), Dallas (5-2), New York (4-3)

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 23, 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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