Oklahoma-bound QB Rattler won’t play in ESPNU game
The game that looked so made for national TV a week ago is now down to two backups battling each other Friday night when Phoenix Pinnacle plays host to Scottsdale Chaparral
Pinnacle senior quarterback Spencer Rattler, who is committed to Oklahoma, did not go to practice Thursday morning and won’t play in the game.
Coach Dana Zupke confirmed it, but he wouldn’t say what happened to Rattler.
Rattler returned a direct message on Twitter, saying, “sprained MCL, out for a while.”
Rattler practiced Wednesday evening with the Netflix documentary crew following him for Season 3 of QB1.
Asked Thursday afternoon when the injury happened, Rattler said, “I felt it bugging me Tuesday. Didn’t go to practice this morning.”
Rattler got hit a lot in last week’s 34-33 comeback win at home against Peoria Liberty, but rallied the Pioneers from a 33-14, third-quarter deficit with two touchdown passes and drove them down for the winning score.
Last week, Chaparral junior Jack Miller suffered a knee injury in the first quarter against Phoenix Mountain Pointe, but he finished the game, throwing for 267 yards and three TDs.
Miller’s MRI came back that he had a high-grade MCL sprain. He is expected to need at least three weeks of recovery before he returns.
Rattler came into this season as the No. 1-rated quarterback in the nation. Miller was ranked in the top five in the junior class, nationally.
Zupke feels this is backup J.D. Johnson’s chance to show a national television audience who he is. Johnson, a 6foot-4 junior, picked up a South Carolina offer earlier this season after filling in for Rattler.