Funky rule has Rattlers hanging on for last-minute IFL win
A win is a win, but after the Rattlers came a few feet from the game heading into overtime against the winless Duke City Gladiators on Saturday, coach Kevin Guy was the most upset he's been this season following a 55-53 win before 9,562 fans at Desert Diamond Arena.
Former Rattlers kicker Ernesto Lacayo made two deuces — a funky Indoor Football League rule that gives the kickoff team two points for splitting the uprights — and nearly made a third with 17 seconds left.
His kick was just a little low and wide and the Rattlers held on for a much-needed win after giving up nine touchdowns on nine Bay Area Panthers possessions a week ago in a loss.
"We should have won by three or four touchdowns," Guy said. "Our football IQ is not where it needs to be. We blew a coverage at the end of the game. We said we're running this defense no matter what, then they check us into a different defense. Then there's confusion and they throw a touchdown and everything got tight from there."
The game appeared over after Jamal Miles caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Dalton Sneed with 3:30 to play to extend the Rattlers lead to 55-37.
But the Gladiators scored on a 25-yard pass from Joseph Mancuso to Devanaire ConCliffe, recovered Lacayo's high-hopping on-side kick, and scored again on a 14-yard scoring pass from Mancuso to Gregory Dent with 17 seconds to play. A two-point conversion pass by Mancuso made it 55-53, and had the Rattlers reeling.
"We just made some bad decisions down the stretch," Guy said. "Tomorrow morning, I promise you there are going to be some things to get fixed. I'm going to run some people out of here. I'm just tired of dealing with the same stuff every week."
Another sluggish start
The Rattlers (5-4) were down 9-0 before even getting the ball on Saturday. The same problems they had last week when Guy promised changes seemed to plague their defense, as Mancuso hit Gonzales Laquivionte for an 8-yard score, then Lacayo made the first of his two deuces. Lacayo also made field goals of 42 and 52 yards in the game.
For the second week in a row, the Rattlers were stopped in the red zone on their first possession with a sack and had to settle for a Dawson Evitts field goal. Then, they had to play catch-up after the Gladiators (0-8) drove down, before Mancuso scored on an 8-yard run.
Suddenly, it was 16-3.
"We've got to come out ready to play," Guy said. "We came out lackluster. Two games in a row, we kick a field goal. You'd think we'd come out ready to play the game. We took forever to get down there. Ran a lot of clock. Field goal last week. Field goal this week. So tomorrow morning, when these guys come in, we're going to see who's going to be ready to play next week. We're going to address some things. We're going to condition until we get the message."
The Rattlers defense, with the addition of newcomer Traevaris Ferrell at linebacker this week, began to make some stops, and Arizona went on a 23-0 run at the end of the first half and to start the second half.
During that stretch, they got a deuce from Evitts. Another unusual IFL rule, one that Guy had never seen, paid off for the Rattlers, after Evitts had his point-after touchdown blocked. The Gladiators, trying to return it out of their end zone, was called for a blind-side block, which resulted in a one-point safety for the Rattlers.
They'll take any point they can get.
Still a work in progress
Sneed, getting back big, physical target Corey Reed Jr., from an injury, threw three of his six TD passes to Reed. He was 18 of 30 for 191 yards. But Sneed had a couple of passes batted down, including one on fourth down that would have given the Rattlers a first down and allowed him to take a knee with Reed open down the middle of the field.
"We went empty and they brought the backer," Sneed said. "It left the middle of the field wide open. I was trying to get the ball to Corey. The backer jumped up in front of me and batted it down. I've been having more balls batted down this year, so I need to get into the film room and see how I can find windows. The rules changed a little this year with the linebacker able to blitz outside of the D-tackle. It's just different throwing lanes that I need to get corrected."
Guy made defensive changes after the Rattlers allowed touchdowns on all nine of Bay Area's possessions last week. He said he plans to make more coming into this next week, after the way the Rattlers finished on defense.
He was impressed the way Ferrell came in for a first game and made an impact. Ferrell's sack of Mancuso for an eight-yard loss in the final two minutes stopped a Duke City drive. The Rattlers had the ball with a 55-45 lead with under a minute to go, but twice ran the ball out of bounds, keeping Duke City from burning timeouts.
Guy had to use veteran offensive lineman Lamar Mady at nose guard in the closing minutes due to a lack of healthy bodies.
"We're signing a nose guard, so we'll be fine," Guy said. "We're bringing players in for sure."
Ferrell came over from the Tucson Sugar Skulls. Guy felt he played well. He also thought Reed's return was felt with some "big-time plays."
"He came in and seized the moment and that's what we're looking for," Guy said. "Then, we've got guys that are hanging on by a thin thread right now."
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rattlers struggle to put away winless Duke City
