Rattlers seeking to end hex
No excuses. No blame game. No looking back.
It’s a new year, another chance to end the home turf championship game hex for the Rattlers, who at 3:10 p.m. Sunday battle the team that gave them their worst loss as an Indoor Football League team this summer.
The Rattlers are 0-4 in championship games played in the Valley since last winning at home in 1997, a blowout win over the Iowa Barnstormers. They are 6-6 overall in championship games between the Arena Football League and the IFL.
Maybe the name change this summer to the downtown Phoenix arena, Footprint Center, will be the refresher the top-seeded Rattlers (14-2) need to rid the curse and take care of the second-seed Massachusetts Pirates (13-3).
“Whether we win or lose, we’re going to continue to get here,” said coach Kevin Guy, the IFL Coach of the Year, who led his team to three consecutive ArenaBowl championships from 2012-14 and to an Indoor Football League United Bowl title in 2017 — all played outside of Arizona. “This organization is dedicate to winning.
“We expected to be in this championship game. Our guys are confident. They’ve been dialed in all week. I’m sure Massachusetts is dialed in. It’s the championship game. You’re going to get everybody’s best game. Whatever happened in the past has nothing to do with this year.”
First off, the Rattlers are grateful to be playing Sunday after escaping the Duke City Gladiators with a 58-55 semifinal win, a game in which the Glads led early 21-7, and had a chance to win in the end with the ball on the Rattlers’ 1 with seven seconds left.
An offensive pass interference call took away a touchdown and a shanked, short field-goal try sent the Rattlers moving on.
“We got lucky big time,” linebacker Ricky Wyatt Jr. said. “We fight until we can’t fight no more. We fight to the finish.
“What happened at Massachusetts, we know what happened. We just can’t let it happen again.”
In the 68-44 loss on July 18 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Pirates lost their kicker on the kickoff to start the game, but every time they scored, they converted two-point conversions. And they kept scoring. And kept converting. Arizona couldn’t get to quarterback Alejandro Bennifield, who torched the Rattlers. Receiver Thomas Owens has been his main target.
Even a squib kick by the backup quarterback ended up being a recovery by the Pirates.
Nothing went right, prompting Guy to say, “We never got off the bus.”
“It was one of those games, I hate to say it, I’m glad we got beat, because it humbled us,” Wyatt said. “That was needed.”
The Pirates led 32-14 at the half and by as many as four touchdowns in the second half.
The week leading up the game, the Valley was hit hard by a monsoon storm and the Rattlers couldn’t find an indoor facility for practice because of those places’ COVID-19 protocols. But no excuses, Guy said.
“We’re a different team this part of the year than then, and so are they,” Guy said. “They’re playing a lot better, too.”
Guy believes the Pirates have the most talented roster in the league with former NFL players on the team.
“What’s happened in the past years doesn’t matter,” Guy said. “What’s happened in the regular season doesn’t matter. It comes down to who’s the best team on this day. Who is going to be the best team on September 12th for that three hours is going to be the champions.”
Quarterback Drew Powell wants to forget about how the 2019 championship game finished, the Rattlers making mistakes on their way to falling to the Sioux Falls Storm 56-53, spoiling a chance for a perfect season.
Powell, defensive back Dillion Winfrey and wide receiver Jarrod Harrington all want to rid the bad taste of that loss. They played key roles on that team. Winfrey has been clutch down the stretch with his interceptions. Harrington has been a huge spark, especially returning kickoffs. He brought one back 54 yards early in last week’s semifinal game, but later suffered a leg injury that might keep him out of the championship game.
“It’s a different squad,” Powell said. “We’ve got different guys in the locker room. I think this is about keeping everybody composed and on the same page. I really expect the defense to step up and play well. And it will get us rolling.”
Guy is taking a low-key approach about this game, not talking with overconfidence, realizing how strong the Pirates are.
“We were undefeated in 2019 and Sioux Falls came in and beat us,” Guy said. “It doesn’t matter what the records are . ... Usually, these games are decided by five plays or less. This is a great opportunity for the players to advance their careers, add value to themselves.