Rattlers Lose Bonner Along with Game One
Brian Knapp
Tuesday February 4, 2003
Even though the Rattlers were defeated, that may not have been their most notable loss. In the closing minutes of the second quarter, QB Sherdrick Bonner was driven into the turf, causing a grade two sprain on his right shoulder. According to team doctors, Bonner will be sidelined for two to four weeks.
“A guy just kind of caught me off balance, driving me into the turf, and I felt it (shoulder) come out of place,” Bonner said after the game. “I waited until halftime, and the longer I sat there, the worse it felt.”
Bonner played the final five plays of the first half with the injured right shoulder. “I didn’t want to come out of the game at the time. I had enough adrenaline in me still to keep going,” Bonner said after the game.
After the game, Arizona Rattlers head coach Danny White had little good to say about his team’s performance against San Jose.
“This was the worst ever. This was the worst effort I’ve ever seen from an Arizona Rattler team,” White said. “It was similar to the ArenaBowl, in that I think we just got whipped up front, and then, when we did have chances to make plays, we didn’t make them. So, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The Rattlers failure on two onsides kick attempts, combined with missed opportunities on both sides of the ball, gave San Jose multiple chances to score, which they did.
There were a few bright spots for the Arizona Rattlers on Sunday. Offensive specialist Chris Horn caught four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. He looked very good on kickoff returns, returning seven kickoffs for a combined 169 yards, including a 39-yard return in the fourth quarter.
“Chris was fighting until the end. I would be surprised to see anything different out of Chris,” Coach White said.
The Rattlers played strong on defense, especially in the first half. “Defensively, to talk about the positives, especially early in the game. Kelvin Hunter did a nice job with his catch technique. They really didn’t have an answer for it, and it allowed us to get some heat on Grieb early.”
As for Chris Hixson, he will be the starting QB next week, with emergency QB Travis Cole suiting up as his backup.
“Chris will be fine, and he will get better as long as we can help him out a little bit,” White said.
Coach White and company will begin practice this week in hopes of getting on the right track heading into next week’s game. The Rattlers host the Las Vegas Gladiators on Sunday, February 9th at 1 p.m. at America West Arena.
Brian Knapp was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2003 to 2005.
