AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

May 11, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: Arizona looks to take another step towards a playoff berth tonight in Detroit. Arizona has won six in a row, while Detroit is hoping to play spoiler, and end their five game losing streak.

The Series: This will be the fourth meeting between these teams, and the second in Detroit. Arizona leads the series 3-1, but the Fury won the first match-up this season 48-31 at AWA.

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

Key Match-Up: Tonight's game will be the first time in pro football history two players with 30,000 yards and 600 TDs will meet. Both Sherdrick Bonner and Andy Kelly have those numbers.

ARIZONA RATTLERS (9-5)
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 Win 58-41
5/15 @ Detroit 4:30
5/30 @ San Jose 1:00 NBC

DETROIT FURY (4-9)
Date Opponent Time TV
2/5 San Jose Loss 43-58
2/13 @ Arizona Win 48-31
2/23 Indiana Win 34-25
3/4 @ Colorado Loss 61-62
3/12 @ New Orleans Loss 31-45
3/18 Austin Loss 58-70
3/28 @ Chicago Win 72-71
4/1 Georgia Win 42-40
4/10 Grand Rapids Loss 45-49
4/16 @ Los Angeles Loss 55-62
4/25 @ Las Vegas Loss 34-60
5/2 Chicago Loss 40-57
5/8 @ Indiana Loss 59-68 OT
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 (137-64 overall, 119-55 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 137 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .682 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.
Tom owns a career record of 4-9, but is 1-0 against the Rattlers.

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.
All-Purpose Yards:
1. George LaFrance 20,480
2. # Hunkie Cooper 20,351
3. # Barry Wagner 19,574
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 493
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 921
3. # Hunkie Cooper 765
# denotes Active Player

30K Man: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 604 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (30, 261) and second in pass completions (2, 427). Bonner also ranks second for pass attempts (3, 893). Bonner was named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Week this week.
Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Aaron Garcia 621
2. # Andy Kelly 607
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 604
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 31,191
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 30,261
3. # Aaron Garcia 29,843
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,792
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,427
3. # Clint Dolezel 2,327
4. # Aaron Garcia 2,295
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,568
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,893
3. # Aaron Garcia 3,712
# 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

600: With his third quarter TD pass to Tom Pace in the win over San Jose, Sherdrick Bonner became only the third man in AFL history to throw for 600 touchdown passes. Bonner (604) joins Aaron Garcia (621) and Andy Kelly (607) in the exclusive club.

Count Down: Hunkie Cooper needs 130 all-purpose yards to pass George LaFrance as the all-time AFL leader.

Playoff Hopes: After the win over San Jose, Arizona sits in fifth place in the AFL standings. The Rattlers are ½ game out of the second spot, while two teams trail the Rattlers by ½ game. The top eight teams make the playoffs. Arizona can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Detroit.

Stops In The Name Of Doug: After stopping the Avengers offense three times in the win over LA on 5/1, the Rattlers Defense kept it going against the highest scoring offense in the AFL. Arizona stopped the SaberCats four times, thanks to two QB sacks and a forced fumble in the win over San Jose.

Last Week: Arizona battered Mark Grieb and the San Jose offense, as the Rattlers scored a 58-41 victory over their arch-rivals. Sherdrick Bonner tossed seven touchdowns, while Tony Plantin and Frank Trentadue each recorded a sack in the win.

Next Week: Arizona will enjoy their bye week in preparation for the regular season finale at San Jose. Hunkie Cooper will be the halftime guest on the NBC Studio Show on Sunday.

Last Meeting: Detroit sent Arizona to their first 0-2 start since 1993 when they shocked the Rattlers 48-31 in week two at America West Arena. Andy Kelly threw for scores for the Fury in the win.

Officials: Officials for today's game are: Bill LeMonnier (Referee), Rick Podraza (Umpire), Rod Pearson (Head Linesman), Dana McKenzie (Line Judge), and Billy Beckett (Back Judge).

12 In A Row: With their win over San Jose, the Rattlers clinched their 12th consecutive winning season. Only Orlando has had more winning season in a row, currently gunning for their 13th.

Roster Moves: Arizona activated FB/LB Bo Kelly prior to the San Jose game. Kelly played for the first time since he broke his thumb against Las Vegas on April 10. The Rattlers also were awarded FB/LB Phil Glover off of waivers from Las Vegas prior to the SaberCats game. Glover did not play against San Jose.

Injury Report: 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.

Hunkie on NBC: With the Rattlers on their bye week next week, NBC has decided to use the opportunity to have AFL legend Hunkie Cooper on it's halftime show. Cooper will fly to New York and appear with Al Trautwig and Glenn Parker to discuss that day's games, and the Rattlers season.

Weekly Honors: Hunkie Cooper was named the US Army Ironman of the Week following the win over New York on 2/29...Sherdrick Bonner has been named the Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Week twice, first after the win over Dallas on 4/18, and most recently this week, thanks to his seven TD performance against the SaberCats. Bonner was also named the AFLWA Player of the Week those same two weeks.

Quick Hits: The Rattlers are 13-6 all-time on NBC...Arizona is now 15-2 all-time in the month of April... Arizona has won at least nine for eight straight years...The Rattlers have finished under .500 only once, their inaugural season of 1992...This season, the Rattlers gave away 66, 098 chalupas. Every time Arizona scored 50 or more points in a home game, Taco Bell gave each fan a free chalupa...Arizona finished the regular season 5-3 at home for the second straight year...The Rattlers are 65-26 all-time at home in the regular season.

Other Games This Week:
Grand Rapids (1-12) @ Columbus (4-9)
Carolina (4-9) @ Philadelphia (5-8)
Georgia (5-8) @ New Orleans (9-4)
San Jose (10-3) @ Las Vegas (6-7)
Colorado (9-4) @ Indiana (7-7)
Los Angeles (7-6) @ New York (8-5)
Orlando (7-6) @ Austin (8-5)
Dallas (6-7) @ Chicago (9-4)
BYE: Tampa Bay (7-7)



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 11, 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.

OurSports Central