Rattlers Give Preseason Performance in Season Opener
Patrick Daly
Wednesday February 5, 2003
Although they trailed 21-14 at the half and scored on their opening possession of the second, the Rattlers didn’t fare any better than their season-ending loss in San Jose last year, eventually losing 49-28.
“This was the worst effort I’ve ever seen from an Arizona Rattlers team; worse than the ArenaBowl last year,” said Arizona Rattlers head coach Danny White. “I can’t explain it. There were just a lot of guys that didn’t show up today.
“They didn’t come to play. I don’t know if it was the difference in time, the fact that we haven’t played a preseason game, there’s all kinds of excuses, but they have the same excuses. I’m very, very disappointed and embarrassed at the way we played. The mental mistakes were just overwhelming.”
San Jose had their share of mental mistakes early, but the SaberCats overcame them. Ironically, the preparation that led up to Sunday’s game did not give any indication of how poorly things would go on game day.
“I felt really good,” said White about his feeling prior to the game. “The practices have been great. They’ve been spirited. They’ve been sharp the last couple days with very few mistakes. One of the things that happened early on is their pass pressure was so good that a lot of our stuff wasn’t working. It’s like everybody just went into a funk at that point.”
In the end, the only way to describe the Rattlers’ performance against San Jose was to liken it to a practice game.
“We played like it was a preseason game,” White said. “We made the kind of mistakes you make in a preseason game. They didn’t have any preseason games either, so it’s hard to use that as an excuse. It’s not an excuse.”
In addition to losing their opener, QB Sherdrick Bonner suffered a sprained shoulder late in the first half that will force him to miss at least two weeks. Backup quarterback Chris Hixson replaced Bonner to start the second half and started strong with a 35-yard touchdown pass to offensive specialist Maurice Bryant, but the Rattlers managed only one other score, an 18-yard catch and run by fullback Bo Kelly in the second half.
Bonner never really got into a good rhythm, nor did his counterpart, Mark Grieb, as both quarterbacks overthrew open receivers or had receivers drop balls, while Hixson saw much of the same. Despite a strong Rattler pass rush -- one of the few bright spots for Arizona in the game -- Grieb hit James Roe and James Hundon for two touchdowns each, while Barry Wagner added two touchdown runs.
“The mistakes were going to be there, but they played through them,” White said. “They kept playing hard and they made plays. They made enough plays to put points on the board and win the game, and we didn’t.”
The same SaberCats defense that stifled the Rattlers for three quarters in the ArenaBowl came to play for San Jose, which kept the Rattlers off balance for much of the day.
“It’s always difficult to get the tempo going against San Jose,” said Bonner. “Their method is so unorthodox it doesn’t allow you to be smooth on offense. It’s a backyard dogfight and you’ve just got to out-punch them and try to win it that way. It’s going to be ugly, but you’ve just got to get it done.”
The Rattlers were never really able to get it done, but, with Bonner out until at least the February 23rd game in Indiana, Hixson assumes the starting role against Las Vegas this coming Sunday.
“Whatever your role is, you’re one play away from being in the ball game,” said Bonner. “It’s nowhere else more prevalent than in this league. The way the pass rush is in this league you don’t have a lot of time and guys have to be ready. Chris has always been ready whenever he’s been called on.”
Hixson will need help, even though he should be prepared for his first start as a Rattler. That help includes better protection from the guys up front and better adjustments by the receivers.
“We’ve got to give our quarterback a little more help than we did tonight,” said White.
It’s a little early to start talking about how this team needs to handle adversity, but White has made it clear that he does not want to see another performance like this.
“I hope our veterans realize that everybody’s job is on the line and that’s the situation that we’re in right now. Every guy on our team needs to feel like their job is in jeopardy, because it is.”
With that in mind, America West Arena could be a scary place for the Las Vegas Gladiators when Sunday rolls around.
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
