AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

Published on June 2, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: The ArenaBowl Playoffs begin today as the top-seeded Arizona Rattlers take on the eighth seeded Los Angeles Avengers. These teams split their regular season meetings, with both teams winning on the road.

The Series: This is the 12th meeting between these two franchises, and second playoff meeting. The Rattlers knocked off the Avengers last season at STAPLES Center in the second round, 70-63. Arizona holds an 8-3 advantage in the series, but LA has won two in a row at AWA.

TV: Today's game will be televised on NBC, with Bob Papa and Ray Bentley calling the action.

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

#1 ARIZONA RATTLERS (11-5)
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 Win 57-33
5/30 @ San Jose Win 50-43

#8 LOS ANGELES AVENGERS (9-7)
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 Loss 38-42
5/9 @ Tampa Bay Loss 55-63
5/16 @ New York Win 58-53
5/22 Las Vegas Win 54-51
5/30 Orlando Loss 50-52

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (139-64 overall, 121-55 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 139 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .684 ranks fifth all-time in AFL history. He is a two-time ArenaBowl Champion (1994, 1997).

Ed Hodgkiss is in his third season as Head Coach of the Avengers. Hodgkiss owns a career record of 28-20, and led the Avengers to their first ever playoff appearance in 2002. Prior to coming to LA, Hodgkiss served as Offensive Coordinator for the Albany/Indiana Firebirds.

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 20,443
3. # Barry Wagner 19, 823
Kickoff Returns
1. # Hunkie Cooper 495
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 933
3. # Hunkie Cooper 773
# denotes Active Player

30K Man: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 611 touchdown passes. He ranks second in passing yards (30, 636) and second in pass completions (2, 462). Bonner also ranks second for pass attempts (3, 945).

Most Passing Touchdowns
1. # Aaron Garcia 635
2. # Andy Kelly 615
3. # Sherdrick Bonner 611
Most Passing Yards
1. # Andy Kelly 32,013
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 30,636
3. # Aaron Garcia 30,572
Most Pass Completions
1. # Andy Kelly 2,863
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 2,462
3. # Clint Dolezel 2,405
4. # Aaron Garcia 2,339
Most Pass Attempts:
1. # Andy Kelly 4,673
2. # Sherdrick Bonner 3,945
3. # Aaron Garcia 3,796
# 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 on 5/1. Bonner has 30,423 career yards, while Detroit's Andy Kelly is the all-time leader with 31, 671. Former Rattler Aaron Garcia has also surpassed the 30, 000 yard mark.

600: With his third quarter TD pass to Tom Pace in the win over San Jose on 5/9, Sherdrick Bonner became only the third man in AFL history to throw for 600 touchdown passes. Bonner (607) joins Aaron Garcia (630) and Andy Kelly (615) in the exclusive club.

Division Champs: The win over San Jose gave Arizona their fifth Western Division crown, and first since 1999. San Jose had won four times in a row.

All-Arena: Bryan Henderson was named All-AFL First Team by the AFL, thanks to his Rattlers record eight QB sacks, good for fourth in the league. The second year lineman out of Northwest Oklahoma was a member of the All-Rookie Team last season.

Record in Waiting: Next season, Hunkie Cooper needs 38 all-purpose yards to pass George LaFrance as the all-time AFL leader.

Big Numbers: Sherdrick Bonner set a new team record with his 3, 833 passing yards this season. Bonner broke the record he set last year when he passed for 3, 692 yards. His 77 TD passes are the second highest total in team history, short of the 88 scores he tossed last season.

Post Season Again: For the 12th straight year, the Rattlers will be taking part in the AFL playoffs. The only time Arizona failed to qualify for the post season was in their first season 1992. The Rattlers missed the playoffs by one game that year.

#1 Seed: Arizona earned the #1 seed in the playoffs for only the second time in team history. The only other time they finished the season on top of the standings was in 1997, the last time they won the ArenaBowl.

Last Game: The Rattlers used a furious second half comeback to shock the San Jose SaberCats 50-43 and win the Western Division. Arizona trailed 34-17 at halftime, but out-scored San Joe 33-9 in the second half to earn the victory. Wendall Gaines continued his amazing season, blocking the potential game-winning field goal attempt at the horn, and recovering it in the end zone for a touchdown.

Last Meeting: Arizona scored a victory in a defensive battle, 42-38 at STAPLES Center. Kelvin Hunter batted away Tony Graziani's pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve the win for the Rattlers.

Officials: Officials for today's game are: Riley Johnson (Referee), Rick Lowe (Umpire), Allen Baynes (Head Linesman), Dana McKenzie (Line Judge), and Scott Helverson (Back Judge).

12 In A Row: With their win over San Jose on 5/9, the Rattlers clinched their 12th consecutive winning season. Only Orlando has had more winning seasons in a row at 13.

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 arm.

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 finished fourth in the AFL with eight QB sacks. Thanks to his two sack performance against Dallas on 4/18, Henderson set the Rattlers single season record for sacks in a season. He broke the record held by Stacy Evans and Andy Coviello. Henderson also tied Evans' Rattlers career mark with 11 QB sacks. Henderson tied the mark in only his second AFL season. Henderson was also named Defensive Player of the Week following the win over San Jose on 5/30.

Unstoppable: Wendall Gaines is having an incredible year, even though it has gone largely unnoticed. Sunday he added to his legend yet again, blocking San Jose's attempt at a game winning field goal, then recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. It was Gaines' seventh TD of the season, and second blocked kick.
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.

Weekly Honors: Bryan Henderson was named the ADT Defensive Player of the Week thanks to his blocked FG and sack in the 50-43 at San Jose... Wendall Gaines was named the AFLWA Player of the Week following the San Jose game, thanks to his blocked FG and touchdown recovery. 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 following the win over the SaberCats on 5/9. 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 games 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...The Rattlers have won 10 or more games nine times in 13 years...In the Rattlers two championship seasons, the team finished 11-4 (1994) and 15-2 (1997).

Other Games This Week:
7 Tampa Bay (9-7) at 2 San Jose (11-5)
6 Orlando (10-6) at 3 Chicago (11-5)
5 Colorado (11-5) at 4 New Orleans (11-5)

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from June 2, 2004


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