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AFL Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers Playoff Game Notes

May 27, 2003 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


The Stakes: A trip to the AFL Semi-Finals is at stake Sunday, in the rubber match between the Avengers and the Rattlers. Arizona defeated Las Vegas 69-26 in the first round of the playoffs. LA had a first round bye.

The Series: This will be the ninth meeting of these teams. Arizona holds a 6-2 advantage. This is the first playoff meeting between LA and Arizona. Arizona is 4-0 at Staples Center.

TV: NBC will broadcast today's game to a national audience. Eli Gold and Charles Davis will call all the action. Dave Burns will work the sidelines.

Radio: All Rattler games are broadcast on KMVP 860 AM. Kent Derdivanis and Ron Wolfley will provide the commentary.

Head Coaches: Head Coach and General Manager Danny White (126-58 overall, 110-50 regular season) is in his 12th season with the Arizona Rattlers. The 2002 Arena Football Hall of Fame inductee is second all-time in coaching victories, with 117 wins. White is only the second coach in AFL history to notch 100 wins. White's career-winning percentage of .685 ranks fifth all-time in AFL history. He is a two-time ArenaBowl Champion (1994, 1997).

Ed Hodgkiss is enjoying his second season as Head Coach of the Avengers. Hodgkiss owns a career record of 19-12, and led the Avengers to their first ever playoff appearance last season. Prior to coming to LA, Hodgkiss served as Offensive Coordinator for the Albany/Indiana Firebirds.

Last Meeting: On May 4, the Avengers avenged their earlier loss to the Rattlers, dominating them 63-49. Chris Jackson caught six touchdown passes to lead Los Angeles to the win. Sherdrick Bonner threw for 308 yards and seven TDs in the loss.

Postseason Honors: OL/DL Bryan Henderson was named to the Arena Football League All-Rookie team, thanks to his 3.0 sacks this season. Sherdrick Bonner and Randy Gatewood were both named to the All- AFL First Team. Gatewood was also named to the AFL's All-Ironman Team. Henderson is the fifth Rattler to make the All-Rookie Team. This is the second time Sherdrick Bonner has been named to the All-AFL First Team (1998). Bonner has been Second Team three times. Randy Gatewood was named All-AFL First Team in 1997, and has been named to the Second Team three times, and was named the Ironman squad last season.

Another Stellar Year: WR/LB Hunkie Cooper had another fantastic regular season, something he seems to do every year. Cooper finished the year with a team high 70 receptions, for 862 yards ad 14 touchdowns. He also added 49 rushing yards and seven rushing scores. He also returned an interception for a touchdown. Cooper ranks first all-time in kickoff returns, second all-time in all-purpose yards, third in kickoff return touchdowns, and fourth in pass receptions.

First Team QB: Rattlers Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner is third all-time in Arena Football history with 534 touchdown passes. Bonner ranks third in passing yards (26,786) and second in pass completions (2,114). Bonner also ranks fourth for pass attempts (3,410).

New INT Record: All-Ironman Team member Randy Gatewood set two franchise records in interceptions this season. Gatewood's nine in the regular season is a franchise record. His 24 career interceptions also set a franchise record. Gatewood was named AFL Ironman of the Month for May.

Milestone Marker: Several Rattler players reached significant milestones during the regular season. Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner passed the 25, 000 career passing yard mark on 4/6 against Orlando. Bonner threw for his 500th career touchdown pass on 4/13 at Los Angeles. Hunkie Cooper became the AFL's all-time leader in kickoff returns on 3/23 at Indiana, returning his 461st career kickoff. Cooper also caught his 700th career pass. Bo Kelly passed the 1,000 career rushing yards mark on 4/26 against Carolina.

Career Year: Sherdrick Bonner set a new franchise record with his 88 touchdown passes during the regular season. Bonner also set a franchise record with 3, 692 passing yards. Bonner accomplished all of this in only 14 games. He missed two games with a separated shoulder early in the season. The AFL named Bonner the Offensive Player of the Month for the month of April.

Last Week: Arizona set a franchise playoff record for points, beating the Las Vegas Gladiators in blowout fashion, 69-26 to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The Rattlers defense scored three touchdowns and a safety to lead Arizona. Ricky Parker had a touchdown catch and returned an interception for a score in the rout. It tied the second largest margin of victory in the playoffs in AFL history.

Officials: Officials for today's game are: Tom McCabe (Referee), Roy Ellison (Umpire), Bill Ward (Head Linesman), James Mellow (Line Judge), and James Anderson (Back Judge). Winning Tradition: The Rattlers enjoyed their eleventh consecutive winning season in 2003. The Orlando Predators currently own the league's longest streak with winning seasons in each of the last 12 years (1992-present). The Tampa Bay Storm had their eleven winning seasons streak snapped last season. They had a winning season every year from 1991-2001.

Weekly Awards: The Rattlers won six weekly awards this regular season. WR/DB Randy Gatewood earned two of them, being named the ADT Defensive Player of the Week against the Fury on 3/7 and Ironman of the Week for his play versus Las Vegas. WR/LB Hunkie Cooper was named Ironman of the Week following the Indiana game. Sherdrick Bonner was named Offensive Player of the Week three times, including back-to-back awards following the Los Angeles and Grand Rapids games

IR: OL/DL Lindsay Hassell is on Injured Reserve and expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. FB/LB's Joe Jackson and John Peaua are both on IR, as is K Chris Sailer. WR/LB Larry Nixon was placed on IR after breaking his finger against Colorado.

Monster 80's: The Rattlers became the first team in the history of the Arena Football League to score 80 or more points in consecutive games when they posted 82 points against Los Angeles on April 13 and Grand Rapids on April 19.

Ironmen: Only two Rattlers players appeared in all 16 games this season. Hunkie Cooper and Mark Tucker are the only ones who didn't sit out a game. Cooper hasn't missed a game since the 1999 season.

Records Are Broken: Numerous franchise records were broken during the 2003 regular season. Bo Kelly set a new franchise record by rushing for 197 yards. Sherdrick Bonner set new highs in both passing touchdowns (88) and passing yardage (3, 692). Randy Gatewood set a new single season franchise record with nine interceptions, and set the franchise record with his 24th career interception.

Playoff Vet: Hunkie Cooper has appeared in the second most career Playoff games in AFL history. Cooper has appeared in 23 postseason games, second only to San Jose's Barry Wagner, who has seen action in 27 playoff games.

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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.

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