In an Indoor Football League rarity, both defenses came to play as the Arizona Rattlers took down the San Antonio Gunslingers 44-31 on Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena.
Unlike last week when the Rattlers (2-1) allowed 63 points to Fishers Freight, the defense brought the energy Saturday.
“We had a very physical practice Wednesday,” Rattlers Head Coach Kevin Guy said. “I know the defense was embarrassed at how they played last week.”
On the game’s first drive, Arizona opportunistically recovered a fumble on a play that saw the ball slip out of Gunslinger QB Joaquin Collazo’s hand.
The Rattlers returned the favor when WR Arland Bruce put the ball on the turf on their first possession of the game. However, the Gunslingers gave it right back to Arizona when Kenneth Gallop picked off Collazo. Three possessions in, three turnovers.
“We understood the assignment,” DB Kenneth Gallop said. “We knew we had to come in, bounce back from last week. Last week was tough, so we all wanted to get that sour taste out of our mouth.”
The game’s opening score came late in the first quarter when Rattlers QB Max Meylor connected with Corey Reed Jr. on a deep 26-yard pass, giving Arizona a 7-0 lead. After a quick defensive stop, Meylor doubled the lead to 14 when he ran it in from the one yard line.
Despite playing from behind, the Gunslingers (0-2) battled to cut the lead to four at the half thanks to a KJ Smith 11-yard touchdown run and a short field goal off the right leg of Tyler Huettel.
Meylor took control of the game in the 2nd half by running the ball with conviction. This included a short QB draw for an eight-yard touchdown. This and an earlier touchdown pass to Reed Jr. saw the Rattlers leading 27-17 entering the final frame.
Turnovers continued to be a problem in the fourth quarter as the Rattlers fumbled on their first drive, leading to a passing touchdown from Collazo to WR Deion McShane, cutting the Arizona lead to just three, 27-24.
“We’re going to make some mistakes early,” Guy said. “We may drop a couple of games. We knew that when we made the decision, we’re not winning the championship this early in the season. We’re winning at the end of the season.”
However, Meylor added another rushing touchdown before the defense effectively and fittingly put the final nail in the Gunslingers coffin. With 7:12 left on the clock, Arizona’s defense forced a turnover-on-downs followed by a Kymani Clarke rushing touchdown to push the lead to 17.
The Rattlers next play at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 19 in Prescott Valley against the Northern Arizona Wranglers (0-3). The game will be streamed live on the Yahoo! Sports Network.
Reporter Zev Black can be reached at zblack@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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