Avengers Face Experienced Rattler team in Quarterfinals
Steven Herbert
Saturday May 31, 2003
That’s the formula the Avengers used in their 63-49 victory at Arizona May 4, the Rattlers only loss in their last eight games.
Los Angeles had three first-half takeaways, including defensive specialist Cornelius Coe forcing and recovering a fumble and defensive specialist Damen Wheeler intercepting a pass from Arizona quarterback Sherdrick Bonner, helping the Avengers to a 35-14 lead at the intermission.
“Arizona will not usually fumble the ball themselves,” Hodgkiss said. “Bonner will not make a misread. We’re going to have to get the ball out by stripping it or we’re going have to play tight man coverage and have to make a play on a ball for an interception.”
The biggest challenges the Rattlers offense poses to the Los Angeles are its experience and chemistry, Avengers wide receiver/linebacker Greg Hopkins said.
“They have the same group of guys who have played together a long time,” Hopkins said. “When they get a little bit of momentum going, it’s hard to stop them.”
Offensively, “the key to our success against anybody throughout the year has been protection,” Hodgkiss said.
The Avengers protected quarterback Tony Graziani well enough in the two games against Arizona to allow him to complete 41 of 59 passes for 618 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The Los Angeles offense was especially effective when it faced Arizona April 13 at Staples Center, scoring touchdowns on each of its first 10 possessions.
However, the Avengers special teams’ inability to make plays ended up costing them the game.
Los Angeles failed to recover a fourth-quarter onside kick. Two plays later, Bonner threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Orshawante Bryant, giving the Rattlers their first lead.
The Avengers twice rallied to tie the score, and were in a position to win when lineman Chris Butterfield recovered teammate Remy Hamilton’s onside kick with three minutes, 19 seconds to play.
Los Angeles drove to the Arizona 11-yard line, setting up a 26-yard field goal attempt by Hamilton.
Hamilton had made eight of nine field goal attempts from 29 yards or less this season going into the kick, but kicked this one wide left, sending the game into overtime.
After the Rattlers turned the ball over on downs on the opening possession of overtime, Hamilton had another chance to win the game, coincidentally with a 26-yard field goal attempt. This one went wide right.
Arizona won on the next possession as Hunkie Cooper ran 24 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-one play with 1:36 left in the overtime for an 82-76 victory, as the Avengers matched the AFL record for points by a losing team.
(That record was broken six days later, coincidentally in another game involving the Rattlers, with Grand Rapids losing 82-81 in overtime.)
“Hopefully it won`t be a shootout,” Hodgkiss said. “[We`re] prepared if it is. Offensively, you always have to go with the mindset that it will be that way. The defense has to go with the mindset that we`re going to get some stops.”
The Rattlers, seeded fifth after a 10-6 regular-season record, opened the playoffs with a 69-26 victory over 12th-seeded Las Vegas last Sunday in Phoenix, matching the second-largest margin in AFL postseason history.
“Arizona was definitely ready to play,” Hodgkiss said. “That`s probably the best their defense played all year long.”
The Gladiators got little production from their quarterbacks in the first half.
Each of Todd Hammel’s first six passes fell incomplete. By the time Hammel was two-for-11 for 27 yards and Las Vegas trailed 13-0 early in the second quarter, coach Frank Haege replaced him with Jay McDonagh, the customary starter who began the game on the bench because of a sprained thumb.
McDonagh fumbled the ball away for a safety on the first snap he took and lost another fumble when he was sacked two plays later. Rattlers linebacker Fran Trentadue recovered in the end zone for a touchdown, giving Arizona a 21-0 lead, 7:15 before halftime.
Hammel then returned to the game, finishing the first half four-for-16 for 60 yards, as the Rattlers led 28-7.
“[Arizona] really got after the quarterback and caused a lot of the poor quarterback play,” Hodgkiss said.
The Rattlers’ 69 points, the seventh-highest total in AFL postseason history, are no concern for the Avengers, Hopkins said.
“Las Vegas didn’t have it together,” Hopkins said. “They didn’t play well. Las Vegas’ offense struggled, turned the ball over. [The Arizona] offense looked effective, but you can’t give all the credit to Arizona’s offense.”
Los Angeles received a first-round bye, courtesy of its No. 4 seeding after going 11-5 during the regular season.
Hodgkiss said he considers the first-round bye a victory, putting his team into the quarterfinals, a step farther than last season, when as the No. 5 seed it was upset by 12th-seeded Tampa Bay, 66-41, in a first-round game.
The week off allowed the team to be “as healthy as we can be, except for the guys that had the long-term injuries,” Hodgkiss said.
“All of the other guys are healed up,” Hodgkiss said. “Their bodies are feeling a little bit better.”
Guarding against the possible ill effect of a layoff is always a concern when a team has a bye week, Hodgkiss said. To do so, Hodgkiss adjusted the practice schedule to include a Saturday practice, “so there wasn`t a long time they were actually off,” Hodgkiss said.
The Rattlers began the season 4-5. Its slow start was partially caused by the loss of Bonner for two games because of a shoulder injury and offensive specialist Chris Horn leaving the team after its seventh game to sign with the NFL`s Kansas City Chiefs, Hodgkiss said.
“Once Bonner came back and Orshawante Bryant got comfortable at offensive specialist, they really started to get back to where Arizona usually is,” Hodgkiss said.
The Rattlers have qualified for the playoffs 11 consecutive seasons, only failing to qualify during their inaugural 1992 season. Arizona has won at least one playoff game for each of the past eight seasons. The Rattlers have reached the ArenaBowl three times, winning in 1994 and 1997, and losing last year’s game.
The Avengers are playing in the playoffs for the second consecutive season after missing the playoffs their first two seasons
“Last year, [to] this franchise, this team, [the playoffs were] a new thing,” Hodgkiss said. “We were kind in uncharted waters. Maybe we were happy to be there. Now we realize it`s an expectation to get there. We`re not going to be happy with just being there. We want to go far and deep in the playoffs. The expectations are a bit different.”
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.
