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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers Game Notes

May 4, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: One of the most heated rivalries in the AFL is renewed when the SaberCats travel to Arizona. San Jose goes for their fourth consecutive win, while the Rattlers looks for number six in a row.

The Series: This is the 22nd meeting between these two franchises, with Arizona holding an 11-10 advantage. San Jose has won five of the last six regular season meetings.

TV: NBC will broadcast today's game nationally. Eli Gold and Charles Davis will call all the action, with Channel 12's Mark Curtis handling the sideline duties.

Radio: All Rattler games are broadcast on KMVP 860 AM. Kent Derdivanis, Ron Wolfley and Gene Nudo bring you the call.

ARIZONA RATTLERS (8-5)
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 46-43
5/1 @ Los Angeles Win 42-38
5/9 San Jose 12:00 NBC
5/15 @ Detroit 4:30
5/30 @ San Jose 1:00 NBC

SAN JOSE SABERCATS (10-2)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/5 @ Detroit Win 58-43
2/22 @ Los Angeles Win 61-55
2/28 Grand Rapids Win 62-31
3/7 @ New York Loss 50-64
3/14 Colorado Win 55-35
3/20 Las Vegas Win 79-62
3/26 Los Angeles Win 55-52
4/4 @ Tampa Bay Win 62-55
4/10 @ Dallas Loss 54-58
4/16 Chicago Win 51-43
4/25 @ Georgia Win 63-34
5/1 New Orleans Win 68-34
5/9 @ Arizona 12:00 NBC
5/16 @ Las Vegas 3:00
5/22 Philadelphia 7:30
5/30 Arizona 1:00 NBC

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (136-64 overall, 118-55 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).

Darren Arbet is in his sixth season at the helm of the Sabercats. Arbet owns a career record of 69-24 (.739). He is 9-4 lifetime versus Arizona. Arbet was the AFL's Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002. He led the SaberCats to the ArenaBowl title in 2002.

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 20,272
3. # Barry Wagner 19,526
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 492
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 917
3. # Hunkie Cooper 763
# denotes Active Player

30K Man: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 597 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (30, 023) and second in pass completions (2, 407). Bonner also ranks second for pass attempts (3, 862). Bonner was named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Week following the Dallas game.
Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Aaron Garcia 614
2. # Andy Kelly 599
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 597
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 30,970
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 30,023
3. # Aaron Garcia 29,597
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,770
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,407
3. # Clint Dolezel 2,309
4. # Aaron Garcia 2,280
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,534
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,862
3. # Aaron Garcia 3,692
# 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.

30, 000: Rattlers QB Sherdrick Bonner became only the second man in AFL history to pass for over 30,000 yards thanks to his 270-yard performance against LA. Bonner has 30,023 career yards, while Detroit's Andy Kelly is the all-time leader with 30, 970

Count Down: Sherdrick Bonner needs only three touchdown passes for 600 in his career. Only former Rattler Aaron Garcia has hit that number... Hunkie Cooper needs 209 all-purpose yards to pass George LaFrance as the all-time AFL leader.

Playoff Hopes: After the win over LA, Arizona now sits in fifth place in the AFL standings. Three teams trail the Rattlers by ½ game, while two others trail by only a game. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

Costly Win: The win over the Avengers was a big one, but a costly one also. Arizona lost three players for the season on Saturday night. FB/LB James Williams suffered a ruptured left Achilles, FB/LB A.J. Novak suffered a left MCL injury, and WR/DB Randy Gatewood suffered a broken right wrist.


Stops in LA: Randy Gatewood's interception of Tony Graziani on Saturday was only the second pick of the season thrown by Graziani. Arizona stopped the Avenger offense three times, and held them to a field goal on another. Coming in to the game, LA had scored on 22 of 24 possessions, including all ten in their win over Chicago the week before.

Former Avengers: There were two former Avengers who made their presence felt against their former team. Tony Plantin earned Defensive Player of the Game honors thanks to his sack of Tony Graziani, while Vince Amey spent his evening harassing Graziani into hurried throws.

More Wendall: Wendall Gaines continued his fantastic season on Saturday night. While now an offensive threat thanks to his four TD receptions, Gaines reminded everyone he plays defense too. On one third quarter possession, Gaines batted away a Graziani pass, forced Graziani into an intentional grounding penalty, and forced a bad pass on fourth down to give the Rattlers the ball. Gaines was credited with a sack on the Intentional Grounding penalty.

Last Week: The Rattlers continued their dominance at the STAPLES Center, winning for the sixth time in six tries. Arizona held the Avengers to their lowest point total of the season in their 42-38 victory. Sherdrick Bonner passed for 270-yards and four touchdowns to lead the Rattlers to victory.

Next Week: Arizona heads to the Motor City looking for revenge against the Detroit Fury. The Fury beat the Rattlers at AWA in week two, 48-31. Kickoff is set for 4:30 PM Arizona time.

Last Meeting: The Rattlers beat the SaberCats in the AFL Semi-Finals to earn their second consecutive ArenaBowl berth. Arizona went to the HP Pavilion where they had lost five consecutive games and knocked off the top-seeded SaberCats 60-49.

Officials: Officials for today's game are: Bill McCabe (Referee), Doug Wilson (Umpire), Royce Cooley (Head Linesman), Roger McMinn (Line Judge), and Jimmy Buchanan (Back Judge).

Roster Moves: Arizona made several moves prior to the LA game. The Rattlers activated WR/LB Terence Davis and FB/LB Frank Trentadue from Injured Reserve, and placed FB/LB Joe Jackson on IR. The team also waived OL/DL Jerome Evans.

Injury Report: FB/LB Bo Kelly, OL/DL Lindsay Hassell, QB Travis Cole, FB/LB Joe Jackson and OL/DL Pete Tramontanas are all on IR. K Jason Witczak is out for the season with a torn right ACL. FB/LB James Williams is out for the season with a ruptured left Achilles. FB/LB A.J. Novak is out for the season with a right MCL injury. WR/DB Randy Gatewood is out for the season with a broken right wrist.

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 on 4/18, 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.
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. Vince Amey, who was a teammate of Tillman's at ASU, is also wearing a #42 sticker on his helmet, Tillman's number for the Sun Devils.
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.

Quick Hits: The Rattlers are 12-6 all-time on NBC...Arizona is now 15-2 all-time in the month of April...The first game in SaberCats history was against the Rattlers (Arizona won 43-37)...Arizona has won at least eight games for nine straight years...The Rattlers have finished under .500 only once, their inaugural season of 1992...

Other Games This Week:
Las Vegas (5-7) @ Philadelphia (5-7)
Carolina (4-8) @ New York (7-5)
Detroit (4-8) @ Indiana (6-7)
Chicago (8-4) @ Grand Rapids (1-11)
Orlando (6-6) @ New Orleans (9-3)
Los Angeles (7-5) @ Tampa Bay (6-7)
Dallas (6-6) @ Austin (7-5)
Georgia (4-8) @ Columbus (4-8)
BYE: Colorado (9-4)

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