Rattlers fall flat in defeat; start IFL 1-3
The Rattlers came out flat. They blew scoring chances. And they couldn’t stop another running quarterback and running back.
With missed chances and more missed tackles, the Rattlers are now in the depths of a 1-3 start after falling to the San Diego Strike Force 55-45 Sunday before a crowd of 8,716 at Glendale’s Desert Diamond Arena.
This was the first time San Diego (3-0) beat the Rattlers in eight tries.
For the first time since Kevin Guy took over as head coach of the Rattlers in 2008, they are 1-3 to open a season. In Arizona’s first season in the Indoor Football League, they were 2-3 after five games, got to 4-4, before running the table for the title.
But this team’s start has Guy livid. They’ve been hit with a rash of injuries, including losing starting quarterback Dalton Sneed in the first half of the season opener. They lost top defender Dillion Winfrey to an injury two weeks ago. And, on Sunday, they lost another veteran defender in cornerback Davontae Merriweather to an injury.
They also lost starting receiver Isaiah Huston and running back Carl “CJ” Odom to injuries, causing guy to move backup quarterback Garrett Kettle to play receiver and running back late in the game. He picked up a blitz to make a good block. And he caught a TD pass, playing receiver for the first time since his freshman year in high school.
In the end, Guy feels he’s at a crossroads where he’s got to make personnel changes, before hitting the road again this week at Iowa.
“We’re moving guys all around,” Guy said. “A lot of things we don’t have control over, and some things we do have control over. We’re not a very good football team right now. We’ve got a lot of key guys out of the lineup. We haven’t been very good against the run in all four games. Our run defense is pathetic.
“We put some guys on notice last week that they needed to play well. Obviously, that didn’t happen. We’ll make some changes and see if we can get back on track.”
Between starting quarterback Nate Davis and backup Rudy Johnson, the Strike Force (3-0) attempted only 11 passes. They didn’t need to throw the way they were gashing the defense with big run plays.
Johnson ran for 44 yards and a TD on five carries. Tailback Chance Bell ran 11 times for 118 yards and three TDs, including a 48-yarder with 6:56 left that gave San Diego a 48-39 lead with seven minutes left.
Lorenzo Brown Jr., who won championships in a long, stellar career at Sioux Falls, came out of retirement after Sneed’s injury. But his history of success hasn’t shown so far. He threw for four TDs on Sunday, but he had two of his 38 passes intercepted, including one on a hard pass that glanced off the hand of a receiver and returned 50 yards for a score by Justice King with two minutes to play, making the score 55-39.
“We still had a shot to come out in the second half and go up but we didn’t execute,” Brown said. “A missed throw here, a missed assignment there. We had guys playing out of position. But there are no excuses. We’re professionals.”
Receiver Glen Gibbons Jr., and kicker Dawson Evitts have been the Rattlers most consistent players through four games.
With struggles stopping offenses, they tried two on-side kicks but the Strike Force ended up with the ball both times.
“I don’t know how important football is to some of these guys,” said Guy, who led the Rattlers to three straight AFL last decade. “We’re dealing with a completely different generation right now. You go in and walk in that locker room. We’ve got guys who probably transferred three or four times. That is what changed. This business model sucks. I’m sure the league is happy because they created a lot of parity. But I don’t know how important is to some people today. It’s about where can I go and try to make the most money. It started in college and trickled down to high school now. It’s freaking pathetic. It’s not the way I grew up. But I can adjust. We’re going to adjust.”