Rattlers Defeat Gunslingers, Open Playoffs Aug. 2
By Jay Gonzales ꟾ Rattlers Media
The playoff road is now clear for the Arizona Rattlers.
After a 64-42 victory over the San Antonio Gunslingers to end the regular season on Sunday, the next stop is Nevada where the Rattlers will face the Vegas Knight Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.
Arizona will begin the chase for its eighth league championship on Sunday, Aug. 2, at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. MST. The Rattlers get their second bye week of the season next week, getting a week’s rest before they embark on their playoff run.
Quarterbacks Max Meylor and Drew Powell combined to throw for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over San Antonio, while the ground game balanced the attack with 170 yards rushing. Kymani Clarke led all rushers with 43 yards and three touchdowns. Powell contributed two rushing TDs.
For Head Coach Kevin Guy, he got what he wanted with the victory.
"It was a good victory," he said. It was "the last game of the season and we wanted momentum going into the playoffs."
The victory sends the Rattlers into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak, their longest of the year. It's a streak that began after the Rattlers' only back-to-back losses, June 14 to Fishers Freight and June 20 to the Tucson Sugar Skulls. The Rattlers finish the regular season 11-5 overall, 10-3 in the Western Conference. They are the No. 3 seed behind San Diego and Vegas.
The playoff berth is the 17th straight for the Rattlers, all of those with Guy at the helm as head coach. The 11 wins give Arizona 16 straight seasons with double-digit victories.
"I thought our guys played hard today," Guy said. "We scored on offense every time but one series. Defensively, we came out with several stops. I was pleased with how we played, now we've just got to build on it going into the playoffs."
The game went back and forth for the first quarter and half. The Gunslingers scored on their first two possessions to build a 14-7 lead. After the Rattlers tied it up with a TD and Matthew Cook added a deuce, the Rattlers defense picked up its first stop of the game when defensive back Carl Decius intercepted a pass in the Gunslingers' end zone.
Then came a key sequence from the last minute of the first half through the first possession of the second half.
Clark scored his second TD of the game on a three-yard run with 56 seconds left in the half. Knowing his team would have the first possession of the second half, Guy decided to try to get the ball back with another chance to score and called for an onside kick. The Rattlers recovered and Meylor took the offense down the field to score with five seconds left on a short pass to Ron Brown Jr. for a 36-20 halftime lead.
Then, with the first possession of the second half, the Rattlers scored again when Meylor hit Arland Bruce IV for a 28-yard touchdown pass and a three-score lead, 43-22. The Gunslingers never got closer than 20 points the rest of the game.
Now the Rattlers turn their attention to the playoffs. They will face a team that has beaten them twice this season, a 56-42 victory in Vegas on May 3, and a controversial 48-44 victory on May 24 in the championship of the IFL Cup in New Jersey.
"We're going to keep working, and we'll heal up during the bye week, get fresh bodies, fresh minds," Guy said.