VooDoo Fall to AFL's Best Arizona on Sat
May 26, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans VooDoo (4-6) were rattled by the top ranked Arizona Rattlers (8-3), falling 69-45 Saturday night in The Graveyard.
The Rattlers were the first to score with a pass from Nick Davila to Kerry Reed, but VooDoo quarterback Kurt Rocco followed with a 20-yard-pass to wide receiver Josh Bush making the score 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Rocco finished 19-of-40 for 283 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, with his counterpart Nick Davila checking out early in the fourth quarter with 303 yards passing, 9 touchdowns while completing 20-of-26 pass attempts.
The game continued to be neck and neck in the second quarter, and the VooDoo played catch up most of the game, heading into the locker room at halftime trailing 28-20. The VooDoo committed no turnovers in the first half; however, the second half told a different tale with three costly mistakes that all led to Rattler points.
While the turnovers are the main concern for the VooDoo, Rocco believes they shouldn't be a disheartening factor and that they are correctable.
"We have to focus on the second half of the season," Rocco said. "We're still in this, we have to focus on the division games we have coming up. I take blame for our offenses performance tonight."
In beginning of the second half, the VooDoo came by recovering a net ball on the second half's opening kick on Arizona's 14-yard line. Rocco then completed the momentum swing with a touchdown pass to cut the lead 28-27 early in the third quarter.
However, that is as close as the VooDoo would come at mounting a comeback as Arizona went on to score 28 unanswered points to lead the VooDoo, 56-27 at the end of the third quarter.
Josh Bush led the VooDoo with 129 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns, recited the same credo as Rocco in post-game interviews.
"When you come out and commit turnovers and drop balls we should have caught, you're not going to win," Bush said. "We were still in the game all the way in the end. We needed to capitalize on the small things and we just didn't do that."
The VooDoo are back in action in Duluth, Georgia next Saturday, June 2 to face the Georgia Force (6-5) in the Gwinnett Center. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
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