09:21 - ARI - Miles, Jamal 26 yd pass from Powell, Drew (Lacayo, Ernesto kick) 2 plays, 26 yards, TOP 1:14
4:50 - DCG - Dent, Greg 12 yd pass from Atkins, Ramone (Goessling, Kevin kick) 4 plays, 37 yards, TOP 3:46
2ND QUARTER
14:10 - ARI - Brooks, Shannon 7 yd pass from Powell, Drew (Lacayo, Ernesto kick) 6 plays, 20 yards, TOP 5:06
00:45 - ARI - Haley, Braxton 41 yd pass from Powell, Drew (Lacayo, Ernesto kick) 1 plays, 41 yards, TOP 0:09
00:32 - ARI - Brooks, Shannon 41 yd pass from Powell, Drew (Lacayo, Ernesto kick) 1 plays, 41 yards, TOP 0:10
00:00 - ARI - Lacayo, Ernesto 48 yd field goal 4 plays, 12 yards, TOP 0:20
3RD QUARTER
14:55 - ARI - Merriweather, D - 1-point rouge
01:45 - ARI - Miles, Jamal 6 yd pass from Powell, Drew (Lacayo, Ernesto kick) 6 plays, 30 yards, TOP 3:24
4TH QUARTER
08:56 - ARI - Brooks, Shannon 3 yd run (Lacayo, Ernesto kick), 6 plays, 40 yards, TOP 3:54
Arizona Rattlers
PHOENIX — In the first step of trying to earn their seventh title, the Arizona Rattlers dominated the Duke City Gladiators in the first round of the 2022 IFL Playoffs on Sunday, winning 53-14 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
It was an exquisite performance on both ends from the Rattlers, who allowed zero points after the first quarter and saw defensive back Kyree Woods set a new franchise record for interceptions in a single game with four.
"Just outstanding execution on the players' part," Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy said. "They did a great job tonight. We had a bye week and we got to study them. We felt really good."
In the blink of an eye (or, 33.1 seconds)
Early on in Saturday's contest, it seemed as though the Rattlers and Gladiators would take part in a back-and-forth battle that featured the league's two best passing offenses by yards per game. Arizona and Duke City were either tied or in a one-possession battle, but that flipped quickly toward the end of the half.
At the onset of the one-minute warning and the Rattlers up 21-14, the Gladiators looked to tie the game deep in Arizona territory after it fumbled the previous drive. Quarterback Ramone Atkins threw a pass that was deflected off his receiver's hands and ended up with Rattlers defensive back Dillion Winfrey, who gained five yards before being tackled.
Arizona struck quickly after the turnover, as quarterback Drew Powell immediately hit wide receiver Braxton Haley for a 41-yard touchdown downfield to give the Rattlers their first two-possession lead of the night at 28-14.
"They were supposed to be in Cover 3, but I saw Braxton beat the first dude," Powell said. "The second dude was too busy looking at me."
The chaos was hardly over there. On the ensuing kickoff, Guy decided to onside and attempt to put the Gladiators away. The aggressiveness from the Rattlers' coach paid off, as Arizona recovered and set up shop at their own nine-yard line. Once again, the Rattlers made things happen fast.
"That was when everything shifted," Guy said.
Powell dumped a short throw off to Arizona running back Shannon Brooks, who took the pass all the way to the end zone for the Rattlers' second 41-yard touchdown in as many plays from scrimmage. Brooks' score gave Arizona a sudden 35-14 lead and put it in total control of the game.
"Brooks did some really good things tonight," Guy said.
The Rattlers kept their foot on the gas, though. On the first play of Duke City's ensuing drive, Atkins attempted to go deep for a touchdown, but was picked off by Woods. It was the second-straight pass from Atkins that was intercepted by Arizona.
Arizona's momentum slowed a little after the pick, but Powell and Co. was still able to set up kicker Ernesto Lacayo for a field goal attempt as time expired in the half. The Rattlers' long-tenured leg nailed a 48-yarder to give Arizona a 38-14 lead going into the break.
While Arizona's offense didn't get the ball until the 5:09 mark of the third quarter, it was still able to put points on the board and continue the momentum it started before the break. Arizona earned a rouge to open the half as the Gladiators could not successfully get the third-quarter kickoff out of their end zone, making it 39-14 before play from scrimmage started.
Powell nearly perfect
It was an absolutely dominant game for the 2021 IFL MVP. Powell completed two 41-yard passes on Saturday and another 26-yard strike, all three of which went for touchdowns. The big throws helped Powell earn 175 passing yards on the day. He threw five touchdowns and only three incompletions.
Powell did an impressive job spreading the ball around on Saturday. Brooks caught two touchdowns and had 63 yards, while Haley had 66 yards and a score. Rattlers running back/wide receiver Jamal Miles totaled 35 receiving yards on the day and added two touchdowns in the air.
Most of Powell's damage came in the first half — 153 of his 175 yards on the day came before the break, and he was 8-11 throwing the ball with four of his completions going for scores.
While it was not an overall potent day for Powell running the ball, Brooks opened the game with a two-yard rush to put Arizona up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
"I love throwing the ball to Shannon because all I have to do is [flick]," Powell said of Brooks' dual-threat ability in the backfield. "It adds a whole other element to our game when I can just throw him a little five-yard pass and he'll go score. When teams play zone, there's one person responsible for me and another for Shannon. So we mess with both of them."
Defense shuts the door
After what appeared to be a shootout in the making early on, Arizona's defense held firm for the rest of the game. The Rattlers allowed Gladiators wide receiver Greg Dent Jr. to score two touchdowns — including a 44-yarder to tie the game at seven — in the first quarter. But thanks to Arizona's late second-quarter storm, Dent Jr.'s two scores were the only points Duke City had all game.
Arizona didn't allow the Gladiators to score again after the first quarter, thanks in large part to Woods' four-pick performance. In addition to setting a new Rattlers' franchise record, the Arizona-native also recorded just the IFL's second four-interception game since 2014, as Jamie Bender of the Iowa Barnstormers also had four in a contest in 2017.
"Woods has had a great year as a rookie and he should be all-league," Guy said. "I'm very proud of how he played. He's bought in. He's a great lesson for a lot of other guys and he's had a good attitude all year. He's solid. He's been an outstanding pickup for us."
It was clear the moment was surreal for Woods postgame.
"I have no words right now," he said. "...It felt like I was dreaming at one point.
"It felt good to have my teammates hyping me up."
Winfrey called Woods' game "amazing," but said he wasn't too surprised.
"It speaks to his hard work," Winfrey said of Woods. "It was probably his best week of practice."
In addition to Woods' historic game, Arizona was dominant against the run on Saturday. It allowed just 19 Gladiators rushing yards.
"We had seven stops on nine possessions tonight," Guy said. "You're seeing the better offenses in the playoffs, but we're not going to get too full of ourselves."
Winfrey noted how big the Rattlers' stops were.
"They had five or six or seven plays inside the ten yard line and we stopped all of them," he said.
Arizona also held Atkins to under 50% passing on Saturday.
The win propels the Rattlers (14-3) to the Western Conference Championship game against the Northern Arizona Wranglers (13-4), who took down the Tucson Sugar Skulls 49-30 in the other West playoff game.
That contest is set for a 6:05 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, July 30. It will be broadcast live on YurView and streamed on YouTube. The winner advances to the league title game on Aug. 13 in Henderson, Nev. against either Frisco or Quad City.
