Through the first 28 minutes of Friday’s game the Utah Blaze were in control of the game against the Arizona Rattlers.  From there on it was all Arizona.  The Rattlers outscored the Blaze 49-21 the rest of the night.

Utah had built a 48-34 lead following two consecutive on-side kick recoveries and had all the momentum.  Then everything fell apart.  Offensive Player of the Game Sherdrick Bonner found Randy Gatewood from 32 yards with 15 seconds left in the half.

The Blaze offense struggled to finish the half and they were forced to attempt a 45-yard field goal attempt.  Kicker Steve Videtich’s attempt missed to the right where it was gathered by Darrell Jones and returned 55 yards for a touchdown.  Just like that it was tied at 48 at halftime.

“The momentum really turned to their favor,” Blaze Head Coach Danny White stated about the missed field goal return.  “That’s a bad time for that to happen, going into the locker room.”

Utah third quarter struggles continued as they scored only once in the frame.  So far this season Utah has been outscored 135-83 coming out of halftime.

When asked about the third quarter, White responded, “I hoped we would come out with a lot of fire because of that (missed field goal return) happening, but we didn’t respond.”

Bonner finished the night 17-of-19 for 348 yards and nine touchdowns.  The Rattlers only ran 24 plays in the entire game.  In contrast, Utah executed 56 plays.  There was a stretch during the second quarter when Utah had the ball for over seven straight minutes thanks to the on-side kick recoveries.

“We knew we were going to have to be pretty good offensively,” Bonner said.  “We knew we would get some chances.  Tonight we were able to be fairly mistake free.”

Arizona took the lead, 62-55, with just over three minutes left in the third quarter and never trailed again.  Utah tied it at 62 in the first play of the fourth quarter but was outscored 21-7 from there on.

Arizona scored on 10-of-11 possessions, the lone failure was the final possession when Bonner just ran quarterback sneak to end the game.

Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine was sharp early but struggled in the second half.  He was 17-of-24 in the first half but finished just 34-of-51.  His 51 attempts set a single-game Utah Blaze record.  He also improved his streak to 192 attempts without an interception.

“It was a tough loss,” Germaine noted.  “It will be a true test of our character to see what we have inside of us.  We can improve on everything we did wrong and turn these things into a positive.” 

The game featured 10 scoring drives of one or two plays.  Two more scoring drives took less than four plays.  There were also two kickoffs returned for touchdowns and a missed field goal.

Randy Gatewood hauled in six Bonner throws, including five for scores.  That gives him 12 touchdowns in two games at EnergySolutions arena.  Gatewood was named the Ironman of the game, recording 118 yards receiving and one tackle.

Blaze receiver Siaha Burley tied a team record with 16 receptions, and had a season-high 218 yards, but was shut down in the fourth quarter.  After tying the game on a 25 strike from Germaine with 14:51 left, Burley was held without a reception.

“This is the most disappointed I have been since I have been here,” White said.  “Considering the lack of energy at the end of the game, it’s the most embarrassed I have been since I have been here.”