ArenaBowl XXVII Records and Factoids
Adam Markowitz
Saturday August 23, 2014
CLEVELAND - The Arizona Rattlers have beaten the Cleveland Gladiators 72-32 to win ArenaBowl XXVII for their third straight championship. The crack staff at ArenaFan.com has amassed all of the records and factoids from the game.
-Arizona now has the most ArenaBowl titles in AFL history with five. The team ties the Pittsburgh Gladiators/Tampa Bay Storm franchise for the most championships in league history, but the Rattlers stand alone as title holders for a single city.
-Arizona now has the most ArenaBowl appearances in league history with nine appearances of the 27 games. This ties the Pittsburgh Gladiators/Tampa Bay Storm franchise for the most appearances in league history, though the Rattlers have the most ArenaBowl appearances by a single city.
-Arizona now holds the record for the most points scored in ArenaBowl history with 458. The next close is the Pittsburgh Gladiators/Tampa Bay Storm franchise, which has amassed 362 points in nine title game appearances.
-Arizona's 72 points was the second most in ArenaBowl history. There have been four teams score at least 70 points in the ArenaBowl. Arizona has done it three of the four times.
-Arizona became the third team in ArenaBowl history to score at least two touchdowns in all four quarters. The Grand Rapids Rampage in ArenaBowl XV and the Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVIII also both accomplished this goal.
-Head Coach Kevin Guy now has three ArenaBowls championships and four ArenaBowl appearances. He is tied for second in ArenaBowls behind the legendary Tim Marcum, and he is tied for fourth in terms of ArenaBowl appearances. Guy is the second man to win three straight championships along with Marcum, but he is the first to win three straight ArenaBowls with the same team.
-The attendance of 18,404 at Quicken Loans Arena was the highest at an ArenaBowl since ArenaBowl XVII in Tampa. It was the fifth highest attended ArenaBowl in league history. It was the second highest attended game in Arizona history and the highest attended game in Cleveland history. It was the 26th highest attended game in Arena Football League history.
-The 32 points scored by the Gladiators was the lowest in an ArenaBowl since ArenaBowl XVII when the Rattlers scored 29 points. It was the 11th fewest points scored in an ArenaBowl.
-The 30 points scored in the 2nd quarter by the Rattlers was the most by a team in a second quarter in ArenaBowl history. The Jacksonville Sharks hold the record for the most points scored in any quarter in ArenaBowl history with 35 in ArenaBowl XXIV.
-The 40-point margin of victory in ArenaBowl XXVII was the biggest blowout in ArenaBowl history. The Rattlers also broke the record for the biggest lead in an ArenaBowl at 47 points when the score was 72-25 with 5:54 left in the fourth quarter.
-Arizona led by 39 points through three quarters and by 31 at halftime. Both are the biggest leads in ArenaBowl history at those intervals.
-Arizona's 44 points scored in the first half was an ArenaBowl record. The most points scored in any half in ArenaBowl history was 45 by the Rattlers in ArenaBowl XXV.
-Kerry Reed and Jeremy Kellem each had two interceptions. It was just the second time in ArenaBowl history that teammates each had two interceptions in an ArenaBowl. Jo Jo Heath and Cornelius Ross each had two interceptions for the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl III.
-The safety in the second quarter by Cliff Dukes was the sixth safety in ArenaBowl history. The last safety was in ArenaBowl XXII by the Philadelphia Soul's Raheem Orr.
-Nick Davila's completion percentage of 79.2 percent was the second highest in an ArenaBowl in league history with a minimum of 20 passes. Mark Grieb was the only man better when he went 24-of-29 in ArenaBowl XXI.
-Nick Davila is now the career leader in a number of ArenaBowl categories. He has 87 career completions, six more than Sherdrick Bonner, 1,156 yards, 181 more than Jay Gruden, and 31 TDs, 11 more than Mark Grieb.
-Nick Davila is the first quarterback to win three straight ArenaBowls as a starter. He is now second all-time in ArenaBowl titles for a starting quarterback, one behind Jay Gruden, who has four. Davila is also tied for the most ArenaBowl starts under center in a career, and he is the only to do it in four straight.
-Nick Davila has thrown for eight or more touchdown passes three times in ArenaBowls. There are only four other times that any quarterback threw at least eight TDs in an ArenaBowl.
-Chris Jackson scored two touchdowns in ArenaBowl XXVII, giving him nine receiving touchdowns for his career in the league's championship game. This is tied for third most in AFL history.
-Chris Jackson, Kerry Reed, Tysson Poots, and Rod Windsor each had at least two receiving touchdowns in ArenaBowl XXVII. This marked the first time that a team had four receivers catch at least two TDs in an ArenaBowl.
-ArenaBowl XXVII marked the first time that four different men threw at least one touchdown pass. Nick Davila threw eight, Shane Austin threw three, Chris Dieker threw two, and Jason Murrietta threw one.
-The 11 rushing yards in ArenaBowl XXVII was the second fewest in league history. The Rattlers and the Orlando Predators combined for just four rushing yards in ArenaBowl VIII.
-ArenaBowl XXVII marked the first ArenaBowl in league history without a single rushing touchdown. Five ArenaBowls had only one rushing score prior.
-Kerry Reed had arguably the best Ironman game in ArenaBowl history. He had two tackles and two interceptions on defense, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and he had three catches for 20 yards and two TDs on offense. Only two other men have had at least an interception return for a touchdown and a touchdown reception in ArenaBowl history, Stevie Thomas in ArenaBowl X and Hunkie Cooper in ArenaBowl XI.
-Kerry Reed's interception return for a touchdown was the 13th defensive touchdown in ArenaBowl history. The pick six covered 46 yards, one yard shy of the ArenaBowl record for the longest interception returned for a TD.
-Kerry Reed's 48 yards of returns of interceptions was the third most in ArenaBowl history. Steve Trimble had 60 INT return yards in ArenaBowl I for the Pittsburgh Gladiators, while Steve Griffin had 58 return yards on interceptions in ArenaBowl II.
-Nick Davila's 41-yard passing touchdown to Rod Windsor to open up the scoring at ArenaBowl XXVII was the longest opening touchdown in ArenaBowl history.
-Jeremy Kellem is the fifth player in ArenaBowl history to have an interception in two straight championship games. Omarr Smith, Tracey Sanders, and Barry Wagner each did it in two straight ArenaBowls, while Kenny McEntyre had an interception in ArenaBowls XII, XIII, and XIV.
-There wasn't a single field goal attempted in ArenaBowl XXVII. This is the second time this has happened, the other of which was the Jacksonville Sharks and the Rattlers in ArenaBowl XXIV.
-Twelve different receivers caught a pass in ArenaBowl XXVII. This marked the most for an ArenaBowl since the Ironman era ended in 2007.
-Shane Austin threw four interceptions, making him the third quarterback in ArenaBowl history to throw at least four picks. Peter Tom Willis threw six interceptions in ArenaBowl XII, while Tony Burris tossed five picks in ArenaBowl III.
-Craig Ratanamorn tied an ArenaBowl record with 10 converted extra points. He matched Jason Witczak, who kicked 10 PATs for the Rattlers in ArenaBowl XXIV. Arizona also became the fourth team in ArenaBowl history to score 10 touchdowns.
-Arizona's four third-down attempts was the third fewest in ArenaBowl history. The only two lower were the Jacksonville Sharks in ArenaBowl XXIV and the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXI.
-Arizona went on scoring runs of 21 and 23 points. It is the only team to go on two separate scoring runs of 20+ points in ArenaBowl history. It should be noted that the San Jose SaberCats had a 45-0 run in ArenaBowl XVI. The Rattlers' 44-7 scoring run was the second largest in ArenaBowl history. The Denver Dynamite also led the Pittsburgh Gladiators 45-8 in ArenaBowl I.
-The Gladiators attempted 50 passes in ArenaBowl XXVII as a team. That's the fourth most pass attempts by a team in ArenaBowl history. The record is 54 by the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl I.
-The Gladiators and Rattlers combined to throw five interceptions in ArenaBowl XXVII. That is tied for the second most interceptions in an ArenaBowl, trailing only the Tampa Bay Storm and Orlando Predators, who combined for seven interceptions.
-The Gladiators have now existed for 17 seasons including their time as the Las Vegas Gladiators, New Jersey Gladiators, and New Jersey Red Dogs. This is the longest stretch any franchise has gone in AFL history without winning an ArenaBowl.