Week 5 Preview: Arizona Rattlers (4-0) vs Portland Steel (0-3)
Wednesday April 27, 2016
Phoenix, Ariz. - After playing three of four games on the road, the Arizona Rattlers (4-0) finally return home to face a conference opponent, the Portland Steel (0-3). The Rattlers will face the Steel on Saturday, April 30th at 6:00 p.m. PDT, at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The game will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network.
The Rattlers are coming off an electrifying overtime victory over the 2015 American Conference champions, the Jacksonville Sharks (1-3) by a score of 75-68. The game featured seven ties, four lead changes, and a final minute that included three turnovers and two missed extra points. When 60 minutes was not quite enough, the defense came up big with a game ending interception by defensive back Arkeith Brown.
The Rattlers’ offense was firing all cylinders. Quarterback Nick Davila threw a season high 390 yards and 8 touchdowns in the win. Five of those touchdowns went to wide receiver Maurice Purify, who earned the J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Week award in just his second game back as a Rattler.
Arizona now faces the Portland Steel, who are coming off a much needed bye week. The last time Arizona faced the Steel, they had the highest point differential in a single game in Rattlers history (52).
The Steel have made some changes since the opening night defeat. Gone is veteran quarterback Danny Southwick, and replacing him is the dual threat former Oregon Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas, who played for Portland in 2014-15.
Portland has played by far the most difficult schedule to start the season (total combined opponent record is 15-1 including Saturday’s game), and despite still not winning a game this season, the Steel have improved greatly, and even took the currently undefeated Orlando Predators down to the wire, leading the game with 27 seconds to go before allowing the Predators to score.