Rattlers: With a 43-33 win against Nebraska on Sunday, the Rattlers close in on a conference title.
Coach Kevin Guy called the win “ugly,” but his Rattlers came through with three second-half big plays to set them up for a conference-clinching showdown in Spokane next Saturday.
Jamal Miles returned a missed field goal 58 yards for a touchdown, Justin Shirk bolted through for a 12-yard sack and Dillion Winfrey went over the wall to intercept a pass and seal a 43-33 victory over the Nebraska Danger in front of 11,384 at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Sunday.
The Rattlers (9-4) can clinch the IFL Intense Conference title with a win over the Spokane Empire. With three games left, they hold a two-game lead over Nebraska (7-6) and a one-game lead over Spokane (8-5).
The Rattlers would own the tiebreaker over Spokane by winning on Saturday. They split with each other in two earlier meetings.
Enough big plays were made to offset not having the league’s top rusher, Darrell Monroe, who was out with an injury.
Deitrick Harmon returned from an injury and ran for 36 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
Then again, the Rattlers were facing what Guy felt was the best defensive line in the league. He felt the Danger owned the line on the defensive side, but a few play-action passes resulted in touchdowns from Cody Sokol, who was 10 of 19 for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
“We’re never going to undermine a win,” Guy said. “It was an ugly win. Our last two days of practice weren’t very good. A lot of mental mistakes and I thought it carried into the game.”
But the defensive game plan worked, forcing the Danger to attempt six field goals.
Josh Gable connected on two of those, but one of his long attempts was short. That allowed former Arizona State standout Miles to catch it at the end-zone wall and return it for a touchdown that gave the Rattlers a 43-33 lead that they held for the remaining 9:56.
“I thought it was going to go over the wall, but I just put my hands up and the ball landed in my hands,” Miles said. “After that, I just had to make a play.” The next big plays came on defense. Shirk, a linebacker who had 4 1/2 sacks in his previous two games, sacked Drew Powell on third down for a 12-yard loss, putting the ball on the Rattlers’ 16. Gable’s field-goal try was wide, giving the Rattlers possession with 3:33 left.
Nebraska got the ball back with 1:15 to play.
Powell, who ran for 84 yards on eight carries, moved the Danger to the Rattlers’ 11 with 39 seconds.
Winfrey then made the catch of the game, timing the ball as it was going out of bounds in the end zone and intercepting it as he hit the wall, tumbling over.
He was able to hang on, after hitting concrete on the other side.
“All concrete,” Winfrey said. “I felt every bit of it.”
Winfrey said this was the first game his mom came to see him play, so it was good to close it with what might have been the game’s top highlight.
“It looked higher when I jumped,” he said. “But when my hand touched it, I knew for a fact I was going to come down with it.”