Records Abound at Arizona-L.A. Match-Up
Steven Herbert
Tuesday April 15, 2003
The Avengers matched the AFL record for points by a losing team in an 82-76 overtime loss to the Arizona Rattlers, ending their franchise-record five-game winning streak, in a game filled with league and franchise records for both teams.
This is the third time an Ed Hodgkiss-coached team has scored 76 points in a game and lost. When Hodgkiss was the offensive coordinator of the Albany Firebirds, they scored 76 in one-point losses to the Iowa Barnstormers in 1999 and 2000.
Los Angeles (8-3) was a Remy Hamilton field goal away from avoiding that distinction, but he missed 26-yard attempts on the last play of regulation and with four minutes, 17 seconds remaining in overtime. Hamilton had made eight-of-nine field goal tries from inside 30 yards entering Sunday’s play.
The Rattlers (6-5) won as Hunkie Cooper ran 24 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-one play with 1:36 left in overtime.
The missed field goals weren’t the only problems the Avengers had in the kicking game. Arizona’s successful onside kickoff led to a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Rattlers their first lead.
“The biggest difference was that we didn’t recover those onside kicks and were unable to convert on the field goals,” Hodgkiss said. “We do those things, we win the game and probably don’t go to overtime.”
Despite the loss, Hodgkiss said he was “pleased with our performance.”
“I really am pleased with the way our guys battled, all the way in, all the way out,” Hodgkiss said. “They did what I asked them. They put themselves in a [position] to win and we’ve done that every time this year, except one game.”
The Los Angeles offense scored touchdowns the first 10 times it had the ball, then were held scoreless on their final two possessions, both on Hamilton’s missed field goals.
“They are absolutely loaded, and trying to find a way to slow them down offensively is a difficult thing to do,” Arizona head coach Danny White said. “Finally at the end, we changed some things up to create just a little time for our pass rush to get to [quarterback] Tony [Graziani] and that was the key.”
Graziani threw a career-record nine touchdown passes, completing 19 of 28 passes for 329 yards.
“The offense did a good job,” Hodgkiss said. “They were on fire. Tony played great. We protected well. Greg Hopkins had a big game and Chris. The offense was really clicking.”
Hopkins tied a team record by scoring six touchdowns, catching five touchdown passes and returning an interception nine yards for a sixth score, increasing his AFL record for interception returns for touchdowns to nine.
In addition to Hopkins’ interception, the Avengers defense stopped the Rattlers two other times.
“I thought they did a good job,” Hodgkiss said. “It was kind of typical -- they came through big in the end. Obviously, I’d like to get more stops every game, but the defense played well enough for us to win the game, two times.”
Defensive specialist Damen Wheeler tackled fullback Bo Kelly for a three-yard loss on a second-and-goal from the Los Angeles two-yard line on the final play of the first half.
Arizona turned the ball over on downs on its first possession of overtime, after Bonner threw three incomplete passes from the Los Angeles nine, with the Rattlers needing just one yard for a first down.
The Avengers and Arizona combined for an AFL-record 23 touchdowns, surpassing the previous mark by one. The 158 total points matched the third-highest mark in AFL history, nine short of tying the record.
Bonner set team records with 37 completions and 471 yards, and tied records with nine touchdown passes and 54 passes.
With wide receiver Tom Pace throwing a five-yard touchdown pass to Randy Gatewood in the first quarter, the Rattlers set a team record with 10 touchdown passes.
Los Angeles and Arizona both set team records for points scored and points allowed.
“On paper, this looked like exactly the kind of game it became – two defenses that have given up a lot of points, two offense that are really playing pretty well right now,” White said. “The scoring pace was just unbelievable.”
The Avengers played the second half without linemen Sean McNamara and Tony Plantin. McNamara fractured his right ankle and will be sidelined four-to-six weeks while Plantin had a strained back, a team spokesman said.
“A lot of guys had to play more minutes then they’re used to,” Graziani said. “Butter [Chris Butterfield] played pretty much the whole game. L.Z. [La’Zerius White] came in and stepped up.”
The loss dropped Los Angeles from first to second behind Tampa Bay (9-2) in the race for the league’s best record and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Avengers remain a game ahead of second-place San Jose (7-4) in the race for the Western Division lead.
Steven Herbert began covering Arena Football in 1988, the league’s second season. He has covered the sport for The Associated Press, Arizona Republic, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Palm Beach Post, Daily Oklahoman and other publications. Herbert has also written on college and NFL football for The Washington Post and spent five years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer.
