Davila, Rattlers Ready to Roll in ArenaBowl XXIV
Adam Markowitz
Thursday August 11, 2011
In 2009, the Spokane Shock went 15-1 in the regular season and rolled through the af2 playoffs to finish the campaign with 19 wins and the ArenaCup. That year, Nick Davila was the man under center for the Shock. On Friday night, Davila can lead the Arizona Rattlers to their 19th win of the season if he can get them past the Jacksonville Sharks in ArenaBowl XXIV.
Davila is a man of few words. In his Media Day press conference the day before ArenaBowl XXIV, he stood up, made a brief 30 second statement, and was finished. He's certainly didn't wow the media with his quotes, but he definitely has wowed the Arena Football League with his play. He was announced as the winner of the National Guard MVP of the Year award after throwing for 117 TDs, tying Chris Greisen's record.
Davila was beaming about his coach and the rest of his teammates when he talked about how he reached such amazing offensive plateaus this season. He said, "Our defense gave us a lot of opportunities to get more possessions, and Coach [Kevin] Guy did a good job of having a structured offense and making sure that everyone is on the same page."
The defense was definitely one of the best in the league in 2011. The unit held 11 opponents to 50 points or fewer this season, and it picked off 35 passes as a whole. Both DB Virgil Gray and DL Antajj Hawthorne were named to the All-Arena team on Thursday, but they weren't the only stars of the team this season. Jacksonville Head Coach Les Moss singled out LB Kevin McCullough as the man that he is afraid of, but DBs Vince Hill and Marquis Floyd also combined for 16 picks and 33 pass breakups.
Arizona is absolutely rolling right now, having won 11 straight games and winning those games by a combined 17.1 PPG. This is the longest winning streak in franchise history and is just two short of what the Sharks did earlier this year when they went on a 13-game roll.
This is also a franchise that had a lot of growing to do in the last several seasons. The team won at least 10 games eight times in nine seasons from 1993 through 2004, and it won one ArenaBowl and played in another in that stretch. Of course, crowds averaged over 11,000 fans in all of those seasons, a significantly better number than the 8,585 that the team put together this season. In fact, things are so bad that the Ratts are giving away tickets in exchange for canned goods which will be donated to a local food shelter.
Still, none of that takes away from what the Rattlers have been able to accomplish on the field this year, but they know that they are going to be up against it with the Sharks coming to town. Arizona won that game in Week 1 at the gun 55-52. Everyone is expecting the game to be just as tight this time around, especially knowing that this is likely the final go around for Jacksonville QB Aaron Garcia, who has yet to even play in an ArenaBowl, let alone win a title.
Davila recognizes where he stands in the history of this league and paid a ton of homage to Garcia in his Media Day interviews, stating that he is "honored" to be in this game against the 16-year vet.
However, Davila summed up his preparation for this game by sending a message to Garcia: "I'm coming for him."
If the Rattlers can take a bite out of the Sharks once again on Friday night, they won't just be coming anymore. They'll be here, and they'll have a great gripe about being the best team in the history of the Arena Football League.
