The Iron Unkind: SaberCats Bow Out In Old School Classic Versus Rival Rattlers

Adam Markowitz
Sunday August 4, 2013

There was a ton of offense. There was a little bit of defense. There was some Ironman football. And there was that crazy bounce that can only happen in the Arena Football League. Yes, old school arena football might have died years ago, but on Sunday night, two of the best in the history of the game put in an old school fight, as the Arizona Rattlers knocked off the San Jose SaberCats 59-49.

The SaberCats were essentially chasing this game right from the get go. QB Russ Michna and the San Jose offense were stopped on the first drive of the game on downs. From there, both of the offenses went to work and started putting up points in bunches. QB Nick Davila only needed one play to find WR Rod Windsor for a touchdown on the first Arizona play of the game to give the Rattlers a lead, but the two teams went back and forth for seven drives.

The Rattlers went 28-21 on a WR Tysson Poots touchdown with 7:00 to play in the second quarter of the game when things started to get a little crazy. San Jose was stopped on downs for the second time in the half, and Arizona had an opportunity to really put its foot on the gas pedal. The Rattlers could have scored at the end of the second quarter to go up 14 and then taken the ball first in the second half to extend the lead to 21. Instead, the SaberCats held firm defensively, holding Arizona to a missed field goal by K Garrett Lindholm.

However, that was only the start of the fireworks between these two sides. San Jose assistant, Cedric Walker got into a verbal altercation just after the final whistle of the first half with Arizona Head Coach Kevin Guy as the two teams walked to their respective locker rooms.

When asked at the start of the third quarter what the altercation was about, Coach Guy merely said that this was playoff football. He then smiled and said coyly, "No big deal. We all love each other."

Arizona took possession to start the third, but again had to settle for a Lindholm field goal attempt after an eight-play drive stalled out near the goal-line. The soon-to-be Kicker of the Year missed again off the bar, and DB Clevan Thomas returned the kick 49-yards the other way for what proved to be the game-tying score.

Once faced with the possibility of a 21-point deficit, the SaberCats were on terms once again and seemed poised for the upset.

Three drives later, San Jose created some more fortune. With the score tied at 35-35, Davila was forced to step up in the pocket and make a throw over the middle, and the only man that was waiting for it was WR/LB Huey Whitaker. The throwback Ironman rumbled 22 yards to the house to give the SaberCats their first lead of the game.

Whitaker had two grabs for 29 yards and a TD in the first half on offense, and that pick six made him the first player in the AFL since Jomo Wilson in 2011 to have a touchdown on both offense and defense in the same game. Ironically, Wilson scored the touchdowns on both sides of the ball in ArenaBowl XXIV at the US Airways Center against these very same Rattlers.

The lead wouldn't last long for San Jose. The Rattlers scored four plays later to end the third quarter to tie the game at 42-42. Still, the damage had been done, as the SaberCats scored 21 points in the quarter to tie the game in spite of the fact that they only ran four plays on offense.

On the ensuing drive, San Jose started to lose control. On the first play of the fourth quarter, San Jose called a running play on 3rd and 3 to FB Dennis Godfrey. Godfrey was stopped up short of the line to gain, and three plays later, he was replaced by FB/DL Jabar Fletcher. Fletcher fumbled right on the goal-line to give Arizona back the ball, and the SaberCats never had a chance to get back in the game again.

Davila went 4-for-4 on the next drive for 48 yards, setting up FB Odie Armstrong to plunge into the end zone from a yard out to give the Rattlers a lead that they would never relinquish.

Lady Luck on this day, was not on the side of the SaberCats. Lindholm, who had already missed those two field goals and had a kickoff over the net, came up with the biggest play of the season for Arizona, hitting the pipe on the kickoff following the Armstrong touchdown. Arizona recovered and scored three plays later to extend the lead to 56-42.

The SaberCats scored a touchdown on a Michna rushing touchdown to cut the lead to seven, but it was Lindholm that effectively put the game away by kicking a 17-yard field goal to put Arizona up by what turned out to be the final score of 59-49.

"It was huge. San Jose is a great team. We fought through some adversity and the defense stepped up today," said Davila after the game to Cox 7.

Davila finished the day going 21-of-35 for 233 yards with seven TDs and a pick. The fourth-year man now has 49 career touchdowns in seven postseason games. Arizona is 6-1 in those outings.

Michna started off red hot, completing 11 of his first 14 passes. However, he finished the game going just 9-of-22. In total, Michna threw for 238 yards and just four touchdowns.

When asked why the rivalry with San Jose was so special, Davila said after the game, "It starts at the top. They're a great organization just like us.

Up next for the defending ArenaBowl champs is a date with the Spokane Shock on Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. ET in what will be the CBS Sports Network game.

This one might have been an old school battle, but the Shock are going to be bringing some of the new AFL blood to the fight on Saturday night. Coach Guy knows though, that that doesn't mean the game is going to be any easier.

"It's gonna be a battle. They're a good football team… It's gonna be a war."