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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

May 3, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


QUICK FACTS:

Game: Arizona Rattlers vs. San Jose SaberCats

Date: Saturday, May 5, 2007

Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. (AZ Time)

Site: Phoenix, Ariz.

Arena: U.S. Airways Center (16,321)

Television: None

Radio: ESPN Radio 860-AM KMVP (Kent Derdivanis, Dale Hellestrae, Craig Grialou, Valerie Moore)

Internet: www.azrattlers.com; AFL Net (video)

Series Record: SaberCats lead 15-14 (all-time)

Last Meeting: San Jose 62, Arizona 48, May 27, 2006 @ San Jose (Western Conference Semifinals)

Officials: Dave Lambros (R), Al Granado (U), Tim Podraza

(HL), Brian Matthew (LJ), Joe Duncan (BJ)

Head Coaches: Arizona - Gene Nudo (second season, 10-15); San Jose - Darren Arbet (9th season; 88-40 regular season, 98-45 overall)

RATTLERS IN REVIEW: The Rattlers struggled to maintain possession of the ball just one week after playing a near perfect game in an 83-point performance at Utah. The bounces continued to go against Arizona, which suffered five turnovers - four interceptions and a fumble - in a loss to New York. However, the game was not without note for the Rattlers as SHERDRICK BONNER connected on six touchdown passes to become the third quarterback in Arena Football League history to throw more than 800 career touchdowns (801). After back-to-back road games, the Rattlers will play three of their next four contests in the Snake Pit.

THE SERIES: Saturday marks the 30th all-time meeting between these long-time rivals. No team has faced Arizona more often than San Jose. The SaberCats hold a slim 15-14 edge in the series, including a 62-48 win in last season's Western Conference semifinals and the SaberCats' 69-62 victory in ArenaBowl XVIII (2004). The Arizona-San Jose match-up is the second longest running rivalry in the league, trailing only Orlando-Tampa Bay, who have squared off 41 times.

ARIZONA RATTLERS (2-6)

Date Opponent Win/Loss Record

Mar. 3 Georgia L (69-65) 0-1

Mar. 10 Utah L (75-71) 0-2

Mar. 16 @ Colorado L (56-54) 0-3

Mar. 23 Las Vegas W (68-41) 1-3

Mar. 30 @ Kansas City L (62-61 OT) 1-4

Apr. 6 @ Los Angeles L (64-45) 1-5

Apr. 14 Nashville L (62-36) 1-6

Apr. 20 @ Utah W (83-69) 2-6

Apr. 28 @ New York L (67-45) 2-7

Date Opponent Time (AZ) TV

May 5 San Jose 7:00 None

May 12 Austin 7:00 FSAZ(delay)

May 18 @ Tampa Bay 4:30 None

May 26 Chicago 7:00 FSAZ

June 3 @ Las Vegas 3:00 None

June 11 Los Angeles 7:00 ESPN2

June 16 @ San Jose 7:30 FSAZ

June 18-24 BYE WEEK

San Jose SaberCats (5-3)

Date Opponent Win/Loss Record

Mar. 4 @ Los Angeles W (66-58) 1-0

Mar. 9 @ Chicago L (48-45) 1-1

BYE WEEK

Mar. 24 @ Georgia L (64-62) 1-2

Mar. 31 Tampa Bay W (69-49) 2-2

Apr. 6 Colorado W (72-44) 3-2

Apr. 13 @ New Orleans L (67-45) 3-3

Apr. 21 Los Angeles W (73-49) 4-3

Apr. 28 Utah W (69-48) 5-3

May 5 @ Arizona

May 12 Las Vegas

May 19 Grand Rapids

May 25 @ Nashville

June 1 Orlando

June 9 @ Utah

June 16 Arizona

June 25 @ Las Vegas

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

Rattlers head coach Gene Nudo on the SaberCats: "San Jose is San Jose. They are a team that has an offensive system. They know what they want to do; they've kept their players there in place. They have a great quarterback. They have had some protection problems, but their secondary is excellent. We're going to have our work cut-out for us and I can't wait for Saturday to get here."

Nudo on the Arizona-San Jose rivalry: "The rivalry has been there since 1995 when Todd (Shell) went there to become the head coach. They have done things one way and we've done things another way. Our way proved to be successful for a long time and their way has proven to be successful for a long time as well also."

ARIZONA RATTLERS

2006 Regular Season Results (8-8)

Date Opponent Result Score

Jan. 29 @ Los Angeles Loss 31-40

Feb. 3 Austin Loss 34-53

Feb. 12 San Jose Loss 50-58

Feb. 18 Utah Win 45-38

Feb. 24 @ Columbus Loss 26-42

Mar. 4 Nashville Win 51-49

Mar. 10 Orlando Win 60-57

Mar. 17 @ Las Vegas Win 47-33

Mar. 24 Los Angeles Win 58-45

Apr. 2 @ San Jose Loss 49-61

Apr. 7 @ Utah Win 64-52

Apr. 15 Chicago Win 61-42

Apr. 23 @ Grand Rapids Loss 42-45

Apr. 28 @ Dallas Loss 46-54

May 5 Las Vegas Win 75-28

May 12 @ Colorado Loss 35-59

NEXT GAME: The Rattlers stay in the Snake Pit again next week as they'll host the Austin Wranglers. The Wranglers head into their bye week this weekend with a 3-5 record, which places Austin fourth in the National Conference's Southern Division. The Wranglers are the league's most prolific running team this season with 338 yards on the ground, led by Adrian McPherson, who leads the league with 227 rushing yards.

Pocket Protector

A key to Sherdrick Bonner's record-setting season is the time in the pocket the all-time great quarterback is getting. The Rattlers offensive line has allowed a league-low one sack this season. Arizona's had 329 passing attempts through the first nine games of 2007, which breaks down to just 0.30 sacks per 100 passing attempts the Rattlers men up front have allowed.

THE "IF" SECTION

If the Rattlers defeat the SaberCats it would:

- be their first win against San Jose since May 14, 2005 (54-44 in Phoenix)

- be their first win against San Jose after three consecutive defeats, including last year's semifinals loss

- even the all-time series at 15 wins for each team

- be their second home win this season

- be their third divisional win this season

Rattlers Coaching History

Season - Head Coach Record

1992-2004 Danny White 141-57 (playoffs 20-10)

2005 Todd Shell 7-9

2006- Gene Nudo

Bonner Passes Another Milestone

Sherdrick Bonner reached yet another milestone in his illustrious 15-year Arena Football career as he became the third quarterback in league history to throw more than 800 career touchdowns. Bonner's six passing scores in Saturday night's game in New York gave him 801 passing touchdowns for his career and entrance into an elite club, joined only by Dallas' Clint Dolezel (817) and New Orleans' Andy Kelly (802).

It's been a career year for Bonner, who earlier this season became the first quarterback in AFL history to record 12 seasons with at least 2,000 passing yards. Age has become irrelevant for the 38-year-old signal caller, who through Saturday's games ranks as the league's fifth highest passer with a 117.5 quarterback rating.

The next number up for Bonner is 40,000 as he stands 427 yards shy of becoming just the second quarterback in AFL annals to tally 40,000 career passing yards. Arizona's all-time great would join fellow standout Kelly (42,032) in this rare group, with Dolezel also in the hunt with 39,618 career passing yards.

Playing by the Rules

The Rattlers offense has been one of the league's most prolific - and cleanest - this season as the statistics note. The team has had great success marching down field as they lead the league in first downs this season with 204 and rank third with 22.7 first downs per game (San Jose, 24.3). Aiding Arizona's drives has been the efficiency of the guys on the gridiron, who keep momentum moving by being the league's least penalized team. The Rattlers rank tops with a 5.3 penalties-per-game average - the lowest this season. Arizona also has the lowest penalty yards-per-game average with 28.8 yards a game, the fewest penalties (48) and the fewest penalty yards (259).

Against San Jose, Arbets are Off

SaberCats Head Coach Darren Arbet has been rolling sevens each time he's gone against Rattlers Head Coach Gene Nudo and usually has 21 in his hand when he's gone up against the guys in copper, black and teal. Arbet holds a 3-0 mark against Nudo and 14-7 all-time record against Arizona. Arbet has turned San Jose into a powerhouse rival of the Rattlers as he stands 12 wins shy of become just the fifth coach in Arena Football League history to reach 100 career coaching victories.

Heavy Hardware

It'd be an understatement to say that the trophy cases of both Arizona and San Jose are stocked with some impressive honors. The Arena Football League heavyweights have combined to collect four ArenaBowl titles, in addition to making a total of seven appearances (Arizona, 5; San Jose, 2) in the league's championship contest. The Rattlers and SaberCats have also dominated the Western Division, taking 11 of the 12 division titles since the current divisional format was started in 1995.

Familiar Faces

Though the two teams are more than familiar with one another - considering how often the clubs have clashed over the years - some off-season and in-season roster moves have made this rivalry that much more personal. The Rattlers roster features a number of former SaberCats. OL/DL ALBREY BATTLE, WR ATNAF HARRIS, WR KEVIN McKENZIE and OL/DL JEFF RUFFIN are all on Arizona's active roster. In addition, Defensive Coordinator MICHAEL CHURCH was on San Jose's coaching staff prior to coming to Arizona in 2006. Church helped lead the SaberCats to a pair of ArenaBowl titles (2002, 2004) against the Rattlers.

A Call to Arms

Two of the AFL's all-time leading gunslingers will take to the gridiron on Saturday when Sherdrick Bonner squares off against San Jose's MARK GRIEB. While Bonner has been setting milestones week after week this season Grieb is no slouch as a three-time All-AFL selection and the 2002 Offensive Player of the Year. This season Grieb ranks fourth among all quarterbacks in passing rating (123.8), second in completions (230), fifth in passing yards (2,547) and fifth in passing touchdowns (53). Bonner ranks seventh in passing rating (117.5), seventh in completions (203), third in passing yards (2,631) and fourth in passing scores (55). Bonner is in the midst of his 15th year of Arena Football, while Grieb is wearing an AFL uniform for his 10th season - nine with the SaberCats.

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