AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Rattlers Clawed by Kats 62-36

Published on April 15, 2007 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


PHOENX - A happy homecoming it wasn't.

After back-to-back away games, the Rattlers had hoped their struggles had been left on the side of the road.

However, the bounces continued to count against Arizona (1-6) as the team followed its five turnover performance against the Avengers with a six turnover game in a 62-36 defeat at the claws of the Nashville Kats (3-4) Saturday night at the U.S. Airways Center.

The Kats forced and recovered four Rattlers fumbles and intercepted once each Sherdrick Bonner and Chris Sanders, who entered the game late in the fourth quarter.

"At any level when you turn the ball over it's going to come back to haunt you," Bonner said. "We had an interception in the red-zone, we had a fumble on the opening drive when we got pretty good yards on the play... for some reason it's not valuable to us, we're not taking care of the ball."

The ball was bouncing early and often as the two teams swapped turnovers to start the game. Asi Faoa forced a Dan Alexander fumble at the Arizona 5-yard line on Nashville's opening drive. The momentum was short-lived, however, as Jeremiah Pope returned the favor, fumbling on the Rattlers ensuing drive.

A 16-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Smoker to Maurice Brown and a 17-yard reception in the end zone by Kevin McKenzie left the game tied at 7-7 going into the second quarter. McKenzie's score would be Arizona's lone TD of the first half as the Kats controlled play in the second stanza, scoring on three consecutive drives and holding the Rattlers scoreless before a Gary Kral 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Nashville also posted the first points of the third quarter on a 37-yard touchdown reception by Kenny Higgins that gave the Kats a commanding 34-10 advantage. Arizona's deficit would grow to 48-17 early in the final quarter as the Rattlers struggled to regroup.

"When it rains it pours," Joe Todd said. "We couldn't get anything to go our way tonight. It seemed like everything was going bad. We just couldn't get it going. We just have to go back to work and hopefully nobody gives up. Hopefully the fans don't give up on us. It is still a long season."

A bright spot for the Rattlers was the return of Darrell Jones from the injured reserve list. Though some understandable rust kept Jones from duplicating his feat from last season when he returned a pair of kickoffs for a touchdown against Orlando, it was clear to the 10,055 in attendance that the fleet-footed returner possesses the potential of a game breaker.

A sample of his promise came on a second quarter kick return, when a Jason Witczak tackle at the Nashville 6-yard line was the only thing that kept Jones out of the end zone.

"I was a little rusty, especially on kick returns," Jones. "It's rare I let a kicker tackle me, but it won't happen again. I got a little playing time at receiver so I was just making the most out of my opportunities when I did get the ball."

As he looks forward to his second game of the season Friday in Utah, Jones' sentiments echo the team's collective thought as they now face a 1-6 record and an uphill climb towards the postseason.

"Things didn't go our way," he said. "The ball wasn't bouncing our way, but it's been like that all season. There comes a point in time where you have to keep playing, you know, that's all we have left is to just play ball.

"Of course, there is always hope. There is always hope until I pack my bags and go home; that's how I look at it. As long as we have another game then there is always hope."

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 15, 2007


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