Ex-QB Reed Jr. next foe as NAZ Wrangler
The Rattlers are in first place in the Indoor Football League for the first time this season at 6-1.
They control their destiny to never have to leave Phoenix Suns Arena throughout the playoffs.
But they can’t take their next opponent, the expansion Northern Arizona Wranglers, for granted on Saturday at 6:05 p.m., at the Snake Pit.
Even though they dominated the Wranglers in the first half of the season opener, they know they’ll face a different Verlon Reed Jr., this time around.
Reed was the Rattlers’ quarterback for the first half of the 2019 season, before a knee injury ended his season and paved the way for the Drew Powell era leading the offense.
“They’re a different team with Verlon Reed in there,” Guy said. “He’s a dynamic player.”
Guy knows. He coached Reed, who is coming off a four-touchdowns passing performance in a loss to Duke City.
Reed was 7 of 12 passing in the opener, before the Rattlers knocked him out with an injury. The Rattlers won that game, 51-20. They had built a 44-7 halftime lead.
This looks like a trap game. But after Louisville was stripped of its franchise, leaving 11 teams in the IFL, only six teams will make the playoffs instead of eight. NAZ is tied for last with the Tucson Sugar Skulls, both with 1-6 records.
“You can’t get get caught up in looking at records,” Guy said. “They’ve updated their personnel. They made the changes they’ve needed to make. They can slip up and get you.
“To get in the playoffs and host playoff games, you need to beat the teams you’re suppose to beat.”
The Rattlers’ lone loss came against defending IFL champion Sioux Falls Storm, 50-46, on May 22 in South Dakota. Sioux Falls is 4-3, the sixth-best record in the league.
The Rattlers don’t want to have to host the Storm in the first round.
They’re only looking at the next game. They’ve been dominating teams defensively the past two weeks with defensive end Nik D’Avanzo recording four sacks, including one for a safety, in the two wins.
Sioux Falls is the only team to score more than 38 points against the Rattlers.
“Try to keep rushing yards to less than 50 yards,” D’Avanzo said. “Just keep getting after the quarterback to make sure he doesn’t get out of that soft pocket.”
Powell is coming off his most efficient passing game of the season, completing 16 of 21 for 173 yards and five touchdowns, two going to Jarrod Harrington, who had five catches for 59 yards.
“It took us a couple of weeks to really get locked in together,” Harrington said. “Once we got locked in together, we got back in our stride and picked up where we left off in 2019. Drew and I, we’ve always been on the same page. We know when I’m supposed to break a route, where I’m supposed to be at. The first few weeks I was trying to get back into the swing of things, and so was he. Now we’re back on the same page.”