By Matt Loeschman
Twitter: @MattLoeschman

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Arizona Rattlers’ historic 2019 season saw some serious history made Saturday night.

The Rattlers demolished the Cedar Rapids River Kings 56-0 at U.S. Cellular Center to post the first shutout in Arizona franchise history. The closest Arizona had previously gotten was allowing 7 points in a 1994 contest against the Las Vegas Sting. The Rattlers were established in 1992 and have played 458 games in their history in both the Indoor Football League and Arena Football League.

More important than the blanking was the fact that the Rattlers stayed unbeaten at 12-0 and clinched a bye in the upcoming Indoor Football League playoffs. They will host a semifinal game and are still battling with the 11-1 Iowa Barnstormers for the overall top seed in the postseason. Both Arizona and Iowa have two games remaining. The River Kings fell to 1-11.

Defense was the story of the night from beginning to end. The Rattlers stifled the River Kings all game, blocking multiple field goals, intercepting passes, sacking the quarterback and creating havoc throughout. Cedar Rapids reached the red zone four times but could never come away with points.

Nikolaus D’Avanzo was a one-man wrecking crew for the Rattlers, recording his best game in copper and teal with 8 total tackles (4.5 for loss), 2.5 sacks, a blocked field goal, a pass deflection and a fumble recovery. Ryan Langford had 9 tackles, while Devontae Merriweather and Phillip Henry had 8 each. Merriweather had an interception for a score and Kamron Johnson added another pick.

While the defense was in “beast mode,” the Rattlers offense didn’t miss a beat. Drew Powell, settling in nicely as the starting quarterback, scored on a 10-yard scramble to begin the game. RB Roland Genesy Jr. then took the reins with a pair of rushing scores and the rout was on. Jarrod Harrington caught a 45-yard TD from Powell and Arizona led 28-0 at the break.

In the third, Jeff Ziemba stepped in at quarterback as Powell rested. Jamal Miles scored on a jet sweep and Merriweather added his pick-6. Later, the Arizona D forced a fumble at the goal line and DB Devin Cockrell took it the length of the field for a scoop and score to end the third quarter.

Genesy added his third rushing TD to cap the scoring in the fourth. Rattlers’ rookie kicker Jimmy Camacho was 8/8 on PATs for the game.

The only real drama left was whether the Rattlers could pitch the shutout. Johnson’s INT sealed the deal and the Rattlers’ D posted its first goose egg in nearly 30 years of indoor football competition.

Arizona allowed just 95 yards to Cedar Rapids in the game. The River Kings missed 4 field goals total and had numerous other miscues that led to the result.

Offensively, Powell threw for 70 yards and a TD and added 38 yards on the ground. Genesy amassed 60 rushing yards en route to his three TDs on the ground.

The Rattlers look to build off their greatest-ever defensive effort when they host the Tucson Sugar Skulls on Saturday, June 8. Tucson is 0-3 against Arizona this year but the Skulls are still fighting for a playoff berth. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Talking Stick Resort Arena and the game will be broadcast live on both CW6 and YouTube.