Post by Nevadanut on Apr 12, 2017 21:01:15 GMT -8
Arizona Rattlers at
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles
What: The Screaming Eagles are at home to face the Rattlers first the first of two meetings between the teams this season.
When: Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. (PST)
Where: Maverick Center; West Valley City, Utah.
National Media: Stream - YouTube
Series History: This is the first-ever meeting between the teams.
Note I: Arizona of the second former AFL team the Screaming Eagles face this season. The other is the Spokane Empire, whom Salt Lake had played twice already, and will see two more times in 2017.
HELPFUL LINKS
Indoor Football League Rules
Indoor Football League Schedule and Results - 2017 Season
Arizona Rattlers Vital Statistics
Arizona Rattlers 2017 Schedule
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles Vital Statistics
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles 2017 Schedule
IFL Franchise Index
The Rattlers are 3-3 overall, 2-1 on the road and 2-0 in Intense Conference play. They are coming off a 39-36 road win over the Nebraska Danger on April 7. They are averaging 44.3 points per game and are allowing 40.5 points per game. The Rattlers are third in the United Conference.
The Screaming Eagles are 1-5 overall, 0-3 at home and 1-4 in Intense Conference play. They are coming off a 39-33 road loss to the Wichita Falls Nighthawks on April 8. They are averaging 40.3 points per game and are allowing 50.7 points per game. The Screaming Eagles are tied for fourth in the Intense Conference.
BREAKDOWN
Total Yards per Game - Rattlers 244.5; Screaming Eagles 243.0
Pass Yards per Game - Rattlers 142.8; Screaming Eagles 184.3
Rush Yards per Game - Rattlers 101.7; Screaming Eagles 58.7
3rd Down Conversion - Rattlers 47%; Screaming Eagles 38%
4th Down Conversion - Rattlers 36%; Screaming Eagles 52%
Total Tackles - Rattlers 197.5; Screaming Eagles 161
Tackles for Loss - Rattlers 24; Screaming Eagles 12
Total Sacks - Rattlers 7; Screaming Eagles 3
Fumble Recoveries - Rattlers 3; Screaming Eagles 0
Interceptions - Rattlers 2; Screaming Eagles 7
ARIZONA RATTLERS
Rattlers DB Allen Chapman (photo courtesy azcentral.com)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Tee Shepard (DB)
2 - Darron Thomas (QB)
3 - Allen Chapman (DB)
4 - Nathan Lindsey (DB)
5 - Anthony Amos (WR)
6 - Adam Sauder (DB)
8 - Fred Williams (WR)
11 - Arkeith Brown (DB)
14 - Derrell Monroe (RB)
16 - Jamal Miles (WR)
17 - Jon Wolf (QB/RB)
19 - Cody Sokol (QB)
22 - Sawyer Petre (K)
24 - Justin Martin (DL)
30 - Justin Shirk (LB)
31 - Chris McAllister (DL)
42 - Ketrich Harmon (RB)
49 - Edward Mosley (DL)
50 - Glen Haisley (OL)
55 - Lamar Mady (OL)
58 - Damian Love (OL)
95 - Joshua Gordon (DL)
Leon Mackey (DL)
Dante Moses (OL)
Jordan Mosely (OL)
Kevin Guy - Head Coach
Kani Kauahi - Assistant Head Coach
Note: Roster information is subject to change and is presented here as a basic guide for following the game. Roster information is gathered from the IFL and the team's official websites, and other sources.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Yards - Darron Thomas 500
Passing TDs - Darron Thomas 13
Passing Ints - Darron Thomas 4
Rushing Yards - Darron Thomas 200
Rushing TDs - Ketrich Harmon 4
Receptions - Anthony Amos 25
Receiving Yards - Anthony Amos 308
Receiving TDs - Anthony Amos 9
Total Tackles - Adam Sauder 37.5
Sacks - Chris McAllister 3
Interceptions - Arkeith Brown/Allen Chapman 1
KO Return Ave - Jamal Miles 18.4
KO Return TDs - Jamal Miles 1
SALT LAKE SCREAMING EAGLES
Screaming Eagles QB Verlon Reed (Photo courtesy of Screaming Eagles via facebook)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Verlon Reed (QB/WR)
2 - Breon Allen (RB)
3 - Don Unamba (DB)
4 - Brock Lutes (WR/DB)
5 - Jesse Scroggins (QB)
6 - Ed Burns (DB)
9 - Devon Price (WR)
10 - Trent Andrus (K)
11 - James Calhoun (DB)
12 - Rashad Greene (DB)
13 - Cy Strahm (WR/K)
15 - Gianni Olivas (DB)
21 - Juwan Dotson (WR)
25 - Antion McBee (DB)
51 - Alex Land (OL)
52 - Michael Ward (DL)
56 - Steven Gurrola (OL)
84 - Devin Mahina (WR)
93 - Seante Williams (DL)
96 - Ben Compton (DL)
97 - Jerrod Black (DL)
99 - David Gilbert (DL)
Elijah Walker (WR)
Bradley Wilcox (OL)
Matthew Sauk - Head Coach
The Fans - Offensive Coordinator(s)
Sergio Gilliam - Co-Defensive Coordinator
Kevin Bello - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coach
Jaren Skinner - Offensive and Defensive Line Coach
Ron McBride - Special Assistant to the Head Coach
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Yards - Verlon Reed 1,094
Passing TDs - Verlon Reed 24
Passing INTs - Verlon Reed 5
Rushing Yards - Verlon Reed 237
Rushing TDs - Verlon Reed 4
Receptions - Cy Strahm 33
Receiving Yards - Cy Strahm 365
Receiving TDs - Devin Mahina 6
Tackles (total)- Don Unamba 25.0
Sacks - Ben Compton 2
Interceptions - Don Unamba 4
KO Return Ave - Gianni Olivas 27.5
KO Return TDs - Gianni Olivas 1
*Not on Active Roster
Note: Roster information is subject to change and is presented here as a basic guide for following the game. Roster information is gathered from the IFL and the team's official websites, as well as other sources.
HEIDI'S TAKES
RATTLERS:
Arizona has had to adjust its focus this season, but has seemed to right the ship after making a change at quarterback from Darron Thomas to Cody Sokol. They showed fight in a seven-point loss to the Wichita Falls Nighthawks, then were able to come back against the Nebraska Danger last week. Head coach Kevin Guy has seemed to settle on his starting quarterback.
The Rattlers opened the season with losses to the defending champion Sioux Falls Storm and the Iowa Barnstormers. A pair of wins over the Colorado Crush and Green Bay Blizzard drew them to 2-2. They then fell to the Wichita Falls Nighthawks in a close game at home before pulling to .500 again last week with a last-second win over the Nebraska Danger. In losing to the Storm, Barnstormers and Nighthawks, the Rattlers have lost to the top three teams in the United Conference. Their Intense Conference schedule is barely beginning.
Arizona plays the Screaming Eagles twice, the Spokane Empire three times, and the Danger and Crush once each. That's seven games in its last 12 games. Since the Danger hold the tiebreaker over the Spokane Empire due to the win in their only scheduled game this season, Another win over the Danger just may be able to propel the Rattlers into the playoffs. The Rattlers play five games against teams who have just one win going into week 9.
Since taking over for Darron Thomas, Sokol has completed 55.2 percent of his passes for 389 yards. He has thrown for eight touchdowns and just one interception. Sokol, who also has a rushing touchdown, holds an advantage of 194.5 to 125.0 passing yards per game over Thomas. Sokol likely will get the start, but Thomas could get into the game.
Ketrich Harmon has 200 rushes on 45 rushes with four touchdowns. Darell Monroe comes in with 36 rushes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. The pair lead a rushing attack accounting for 101.7 rushing yards per game.
AFL veteran Anthony Amos is the teams top receiver by far, having caught 25 passes for 308 yards and nine touchdowns. It will be up to Jamal Miles and Fred Williams to fill in the gaps. Miles has 16 receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Williams has 12 catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns of his own. Demarius Washington, who was unexpectedly traded to the Nighthawks last week, had led the team in yards per catch at 15.4.
The Rattlers, who have won three of their last four, will have to keep up their play as of late to fight off a pesky group of Screaming Eagles who are starving for their second win of the season, and first win at home in the history of their franchise.
Player to Watch: Anthony Amos (WR).
SCREAMING EAGLES:
Salt Lake is improving. From the play calling of the fans to the execution on the field, things are getting better. After falling to the Nebraska Danger in week one and coming back to beat the Colorado Crush the following week, the Screaming Eagles have dropped four straight, but have been in just about every game. If not for an apparent game-tying touchdown called back by a penalty, they might even stolen last week's game against the Wichita Falls Nighthawks, who improved to 6-1 with the win. That's good for second best in the IFL.
In three of those four losses, the margin of defeat has been just eight points a game. Basically, that's a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Take out the 53-36 loss in Spokane to the Empire in week 6 and that margin of is knocked in half. The Screaming Eagles have lost three games by six points or less. That's a far cry from the 31-point loss to the Danger in the season opener.
As has been written in Screaming Eagles' previews on this site previously, Salt Lake is shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and, of course, early game turnovers. Quarterback Verlon Reed has thrown just five interceptions, but has fumbled three times with all of them being recovered by the opponent. In fact, all six of Salt Lake's fumbles have been recovered by the opponent. The problem is, the Screaming Eagles have developed a bit of a habit of falling behind early in games and having to play catch up. Penalties have been another matter. The Screaming Eagles have committed 73 penalties (accepted) which have set them back 480 yards. That is about a dozen infractions for 80 yards a game.
Reed has been solid all season long. There have been hiccups along the way, but he has put himself in the early conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year. He leads the IFL in total offense at 221.8 yards per game and is second only to Nighthawks' quarterback Charles McCullum in passing yards at 182.3 per game. Those notables take into account that Reed played in only about half of the Screaming Eagles' week 7 loss to the Crush. He seems particularly adept at running the appropriate sounding read-option play. Football is a team game, but this team will look to Reed to elevate his game even further and look to defend the Maverik Center against the Rattlers.
Wide receiver Cy Strahm, who began the season as Salt Lake's kicker as well as a receiver, has come on as the most reliable receiving threat for the Screaming Eagles. He has 33 catches for 365 yards and five touchdowns. In the last four games, he has 26 catches for 277 yards and four touchdowns. BYU alum Devin Mahina is a big target who has 28 receptions for 261 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns. Breon Allen has been more of a receiver than his stated position of running back and has 23 receptions for 194 yards and four touchdowns, including an eight-catch, 61-yard performance two weeks ago against the Crush. Running back James Poole was put on short-term IR earlier in the week, so Allen might find himself in the backfield in this one.
Don Unamba continues to lead the team in total tackles with 25 and interceptions with four. Ed Burns, Rashad Greene and Antion McBee are opportunistic defenders who have combined for eight pass breakups this season. Ben Compton could be disruptive when it comes to getting into the Rattlers' backfield. Compton has two sacks and a pass break up.
The Screaming Eagles can put themselves in a position to win by reducing their penalties and getting off to a good start. The Rattlers are gaining momentum during their first IFL season. Salt Lake could be poised to slow down, or even stop that momentum.
Player to Watch: Verlon Reed (QB).
FEATURED SOCIAL MEDIA
IFL SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
April 14 - *Cedar Rapids Titans at Wichita Falls Nighthawks (), 5:05 p.m.
April 14 - *Colorado Crush at Spokane Empire (4-2), 7 p.m.
April 15 - Nebraska Danger at Iowa Barnstormers (), 5:05 p.m.
April 15 - *Green Bay Blizzard at Sioux Falls Storm (), 5:05 p.m.
All times are pacific standard time. "*" denotes conference game.
EXTRA
(Standings courtesy goifl.com/modified by SCtoC)
Through week 8, there is some separation in the standings as teams vie for one of two playoff spots in each conference.
In the United Conference, the six-time defending champion Sioux Falls Storm are showing their dominance as the only undefeated team in the Indoor Football league. The Wichita Falls Nighthawks are just a game behind but, as it stands now, the Storm own the tiebreaker due to their win over the Nighthawks in week 6. Waiting in the wings are the Iowa Barnstormers, just a game back of the Nighthawks. The Storm and Nighthawks meet two more times this season, in week 11 in Wichita Falls and in week 15 at Sioux Falls. It will be a tough task for the Green Bay Blizzard and especially for the Cedar Rapids Titans to get back in the playoff picture. But, as they say, there is a lot of football left to play.
The Intense Conference is a similar, yet intriguing story all of its own. The Spokane Empire hold a half-game lead over the Nebraska Danger heading into the week. However, the Danger have played one more game and own the tiebreaker over the Empire due to their week 7 win over Spokane. The Arizona Rattlers, after a slow start, are making some noise and are only a game back of the Empire and a half game back of the Danger. The Rattlers defeated the Danger in week 8. Aside from their season opener against the Danger, the expansion Salt Lake Screaming Eagles have been in every game and nearly defeated the Nighthawks if not for a questionable call back of the would-be touchdown play. The Colorado Crush are showing signs of life after going with Liam Nadler at quarterback.
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