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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

April 27, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: The Rattlers look to make it five in a row when they take on the Los Angeles Avengers. Arizona snapped Indiana's six game winning streak last Sunday, 46-43, while LA humiliated the Chicago Rush 71-35 in Chicago.

The Series: This will be the eleventh meeting between these two teams. Arizona holds a 7-3 lead in the series. The Avengers won the first meeting this season, 51-32 at America West Arena. All of the LA victories in this series have come at AWA.

TV: Tonight's game is on Fox Sports Arizona, with Kent Derdivanis and Gene Nudo bringing you the action.

Radio: All Rattler games are broadcast on KMVP 860 AM. Craig Grialou and Ron Wolfley bring you the call.

Media Contacts:
Rattlers: Randy Policar
602-514-8302, 602-750-9541 cell
Avengers: John Tamanaha
310-407-0208, 310-463-5262 cell


ARIZONA RATTLERS (7-5)
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 Loss 46-54
4/4 @ Grand Rapids Win 51-41
4/10 Las Vegas Win 80-63
4/18 Dallas Win 71-48
4/25 @ Indiana Win 46-73
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

LOS ANGELES AVENGERS (7-4)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/8 @ Arizona Win 51-32
2/14 @ Las Vegas Win 62-55
2/22 San Jose Loss 55-61
3/1 Georgia Loss 52-53
3/14 @ Grand Rapids Win 48-33
3/21 @ Dallas Win 60-44
3/26 @ San Jose Loss 52-55
4/3 Austin Win 81-70
4/10 Colorado Loss 55-57
4/16 Detroit Win 62-55
4/25 @ Chicago Win 71-35
5/1 Arizona 7:30
5/9 @ Tampa Bay 12:00 NBC
5/16 @ New York 12:00 NBC
5/22 Las Vegas 7:30
5/30 Orlando 1:00 NBC

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (135-64 overall, 117-55 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 135 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .678 ranks fifth all-time in AFL history. He is a two-time ArenaBowl Champion (1994, 1997).

Mike Wilpolt leads the Firebirds after taking over for Steve DeBerg following Week Five. Wilpolt is 6-0 as a Head Coach, after serving as the Firebirds Defensive Coordinator for the previous three years. He is in his fifth season overall with the Firebirds. Wilpolt played in the AFL for four years, with Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Anaheim.

Mr. All Purpose: WR/LB Hunkie Cooper ranks first all-time in kickoff returns, second all-time in all-purpose yards, third in kickoff return touchdowns, and third 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 20,184
3. # Barry Wagner 19,428
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 488
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 911
3. # Hunkie Cooper 759
# denotes Active Player

Adding On: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 593 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (29, 753) and second in pass completions (2, 385). Bonner also ranks second for pass attempts (3, 833). Bonner was named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Week following the Dallas game.
Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Aaron Garcia 609
2. # Andy Kelly 596
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 593
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 30,727
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 29,753
3. # Aaron Garcia 29,324
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,743
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,385
3. # Clint Dolezel 2,287
4. # Aaron Garcia 2,260
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,491
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,833
3. # Aaron Garcia 3,656
# denotes Active Player

20, 000: Thanks to his 46-yard night against Las Vegas on 4/10, Hunkie Cooper became the second man in the 18-year history of the AFL to reach 20,000 career all-purpose yards. Cooper joins George LaFrance as the only men to hit that mark.

Count Down: Sherdrick Bonner needs 247 passing yards to reach 30, 000 for his career. Only Andy Kelly has reached that mark. Bonner also needs only seven touchdown passes for 600 in his career. Only former Rattler Aaron Garcia has hit that number. Hunkie Cooper needs 297 all-purpose yards to pass George LaFrance as the all-time AFL leader.

Playoff Hopes: Thanks to their win over the Firebirds, the Rattlers now sit in sixth place in the AFL Playoff race. Arizona has the toughest remaining schedule in the AFL, with their opponents owning a combined record of 29-15.

Takeaway Time: The Rattlers forced three Firebird turnovers on Sunday, none bigger than Charlie Cook's fumble at the Arizona goal line. Hunkie Cooper caused the fumble, which was recovered by Kelvin Hunter to help the Rattlers preserve the victory.

200: Tonight's game will be the 200th career game for Danny White, and for the Rattlers franchise. The Rattlers have an overall winning percentage of .678 (135-64), including a regular season record of 117-55 (.680). The Rattlers have the second most overall victories in the 18-year history of the AFL. Only the Tampa Bay Storm has more, winning 159 games. The Storm was known as the Pittsburgh Gladiators from 1987 to 1990, prior to moving to Tampa Bay.

Next Week: The Rattlers renew their rivalry with the San Jose SaberCats on Sunday, May 9th. NBC will broadcast the match-up between the two familiar foes.

Last Meeting: Arizona ended the Avengers season last year in the AFL Quarterfinals at STAPLES Center. The Rattlers scored a 70-63 victory thanks to three second half Hunkie Cooper touchdowns.

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

Injury Report: The Rattlers have six players currently on Injured Reserve. FB/LB Bo Kelly is on IR with a fractured right thumb. OL/DL Lindsay Hassell, QB Travis Cole, WR/LB Terence Davis, and OL/DL Pete Tramontanas are all on IR. K Jason Witczak is out for the season with a torn right ACL.

Last Week: The Rattlers ended Indiana's six game winning streak by scoring a 46-43 victory on Sunday. Sherdrick Bonner threw six touchdowns for Arizona.

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.

Mr. Sack Attack: Bryan Henderson is tied for first in the AFL with seven QB sacks. Thanks to his two sack performance against Dallas, Henderson has now set the Rattlers single season record for sacks in a season. He broke the record held by Stacey Evans and Andy Coviello. Henderson now has his sights set on Evans' career sack total. Evans had 11 QB sacks in his Rattler career, one more than Henderson's ten.

Roster Moves: The Rattlers activated Jason Andersen from Injured Reserve prior to the Indiana Game.
Pat Tillman Tribute: For the remainder of the 2004 season, the Arizona Rattlers will honor the memory of the late Pat Tillman by wearing a #40 sticker on their helmets.
Sun Devil Connection: Arizona State is strongly represented by the Rattlers. In addition to Danny White (1971-1973) and Tom Pace (2000-2001), ASU alums Justin Taplin (1998-2002) and Vince Amey (1994-1997) also represent the Maroon and Gold on the Rattlers.

Debut: OL/DL Jerome Evans made his Rattlers debut against Indiana. Evans was signed by the Rattlers after walking on to Arizona Cardinals practice.

Other Games This Week:
Austin (6-5) @ Grand Rapids 1-10)
New Orleans (9-2) @ San Jose (9-2)
Columbus (3-8) @ Carolina (4-7)
New York (6-5) @ Dallas (6-5)
Philadelphia (5-6) @ Colorado (8-4)
Chicago (7-4) @ Detroit (4-7)
Tampa Bay (5-7) @ Orlando (6-5)
Indiana (6-6) @ Las Vegas (4-7)
BYE: Georgia (4-8)



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 27, 2004


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