PHOENIX - The Arizona Rattlers started the season strong with a dominant 50-28 victory over the Duke City Gladiators last Saturday night at the Footprint Center. They will look to carry the momentum over into game two of the young season, as they shut out Duke City for the entire second half of that contest.

The Arizona Rattlers begin a three-game road trip by taking on the San Diego Strike Force on Monday. Arizona will be looking to keep up its winning ways after beating the Duke City Gladiators in Week 1. They did not allow a single point in the second half of that contest, as their defense suffocated the Gladiators. 

Keep the streak

The Strike Force have never defeated the Rattlers in their franchise history, as Arizona took home four victories over San Diego during their undefeated 2019 regular season. In one of those wins, Arizona put up the most points in franchise history with 91, crushing the Strike Force's total of 58. The Rattlers also earned victories of 52-14, 84-63 and 57-16 over San Diego that year.
 

Another week, another new backfield

Running back Malik Williams' three-touchdown performance against the Gladiators came to an unfortunate end last weekend, as the rookie suffered a season-ending leg injury. The Rattlers will now employ Calvin Phillips – who was signed this week – and is scheduled to make his season debut, behind 2021 MVP Drew Powell. 

A fine start

The Strike Force, along with the rest of the IFL, had their season canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but could not play in 2021 as well due to COVID-19 restrictions within the state of California. Considering last week's 38-33 loss to the Bay Area Panthers was the team's first game in over two years – one in which they led at halftime 20-16 – the Rattlers will seemingly have a lot on their hands in San Diego on Monday.

Young Bucks
Six of the Rattlers touchdowns in Week One were from first or second-year players (Malik Williams, Todd Athey, Brandon Ezell). 

You can watch the game on the IFL's Official YouTube Channel.