Rattlers Edge Thunder, 52-48

Sunday August 3, 2014

 Arizona (16-3) Sends Portland Packing (5-14), Advances to Conference Final

PHOENIX -- The world champion Arizona Rattlers (16-3) needed some last-second heroics Sunday to secure a 52-48 victory over the Portland Thunder (5-14) on Sunday in an Arena Football League quarterfinal game on Ak-Chin Indian Community Field at US Airways Center.

Not until defensive back Marquis Floyd came up with a game-saving interception with 5.4 seconds left could the Rattlers and the crowd of 6,753 let out a sigh of relief and begin looking ahead to next Sunday’s National Conference championship game against the rival San Jose SaberCats (14-5). The winner will advance to ArenaBowl XXVII on Aug. 23 and square off against the Cleveland Gladiators (18-1) or Orlando Predators (12-7).

Portland, a first-year franchise, gave Arizona everything it could handle before losing to the back-to-back ArenaBowl champions for the fourth time this season. The Rattlers swept the Thunder in a three-game series during the regular season, including a 65-55 victory two weeks ago in Week 19 at US Airways Center.

Portland took its first lead of the second half, 48-45, when quarterback Kyle Rowley connected with wide receiver Jeffrey Solomon on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Arizona responded on its next possession when quarterback Nick Davila completed three straight passes for first downs, setting up a four-yard touchdown run by rookie fullback Alex Singleton that gave the Rattlers a 52-48 lead with 29 seconds remaining.

The Thunder, hoping to pull off the upset and storm into the AFL semifinals, ran two plays before Floyd stepped in front of a pass intended for wide receiver Douglas McNeil III and dropped to the turf to seal the outcome.

Floyd’s interception – his 14th in his last 11 games -- was the AFL Highlight of the Game, but the night on the defensive side of the ball belonged to defensive back Jeremy Kellem, who led all players with 10 tackles and seven pass breakups. He also had an interception late in the first quarter. For his efforts, Kellem was the Riddell Defensive Player of the Game and J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game.

Davila, who didn’t thrown an incompletion until the closing seconds of the first half, finished with 247 yards on 19-of-28 passing and five touchdowns, including four to wide receiver Rod Windsor. Davila also ran for a touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Windsor, who caught nine passes for 113 yards, was the Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game. He also had the Cutters Catch of the Game when he came down with a four-yard touchdown pass from Davila and fell over the boards and into Portland’s bench on the second play of the fourth quarter.

The game marked the debut of Jason Geathers, who was assigned to the team this week and played for the Rattlers in 2011. Geathers started at Jack linebacker, which allowed Kerry Reed to play wide receiver, but the player from University of Miami also saw some action on offense and collected two passes for 23 yards, including one for 16 yards.

Rowley completed 26 of 50 passes for 305 yards and six touchdowns, five of those to McNeil III. The player from Bowie State had 10 catches, as did wide receiver Jamar Howard. Howard led all receivers with 126 yards but didn’t score a touchdown.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Portland 7 13 14 14 48
Arizona 14 14 7 17 52

MEDIA AWARDS
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game: Wide receiver Rod Windsor (Az)
Riddell Defensive Player of the Game: Defensive back Jeremy Kellem (Az)
J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game: Defensive back Jeremy Kellem (Az)
Cutters Catch of the Game: Wide receiver Rod Windsor (Az), 4-yard touchdown catch, falling into Portland’s bench, 14:16 left, fourth quarter
AFL Highlight of the Game: Defensive back Marquis Floyd (Az), game-saving interception, 5.4 seconds left, fourth quarter

ABOUT THE ARIZONA RATTLERS
The Arizona Rattlers are the 2012 and 2013 ArenaBowl champions and are proud members of the Arena Football League (AFL). ArenaBowl XXVI marked the Rattlers’ eighth appearance in the AFL Championship Game, winning in 1994, 1997, 2012 and 2013. For ticket information, call 602-514-TDTD (8383), or visit www.azrattlers.com.