Arizona Rattlers Rally Late to Defeat the Grand Rapids Rampage 52-48

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com –

PHOENIX – The playoff-guaranteed Arizona Rattlers came back from a 7-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the Grand Rapids Rampage 52-48 in front of 12,559 playoff-ready fans at the U.S. Airways Center. With the win, the Rattlers move to 6-6 and sit in third place in the American Conference and need just one more win and one Kansas City loss to clinch a playoff spot.
 
The Rattlers outscored the Rampage 17-6 in the final frame thanks mostly to the outstanding play of DB CHRIS MCKENZIE. McKenzie had six pass breakups in the game, five coming in that final frame, including three in a row on a crucial drive in the fourth quarter to force the Rampage to turn the ball over on downs.
 
“It was time to just make plays,” gleamed a modest McKenzie, “and we did. I was excited that I was able to come through.”
 
QB JEFF SMOKER had another solid outing in his second game since returning to the starting lineup. Smoker went 23-of-37 for 272 yards with two passing touchdowns and one on the ground. And, again for the second straight week, Smoker stepped up big in the fourth quarter, passing for 61 yards and adding two of his three touchdowns.
 

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“We did a great job executing and playing in the moment,” said COACH KEVIN GUY, “We are starting to play our best football down the stretch.”
 
The Rattlers scored five rushing touchdowns to break the old team mark of four, with four of those TD’s coming in the first half. FB CHRIS ROBINSON tied a career and team record with three rushing scores on his own, marks he also tied earlier in the season.
 
WR TRANDON HARVEY had a milestone night, catching nine passes for 90 yards, bumping his career total to 2,443 yards, with two touchdowns (one rushing). After his impressive game, he moved up from seventh to fifth on the all-time team receiving yards list, passing WR MARUICE BRYANT and WR CEDRIC TILLMAN. Harvey, who now has 180 career catches, also passed two Rattlers to move up to sixth on the all-time receptions list.
 
“We found a way to win tonight,” said Guy, “We did a great job overcoming adversity. We had some guys step up and show resilience. But the crowd really made all the difference in the game with their energy in the fourth quarter.”
 
The Rattlers have two consecutive road games, at Orlando on May 31 and at American Conference rival Kansas City on Sunday, June 8. They come home to take on the Colorado Crush in a key American Conference match-up on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday on June 16. Kickoff is slated for 7:00pm.
 
GAME NOTES
K ERIC HOULE went 7-for-7 on extra points and 1-for-1 on field goals… This is the Rattlers first two-game win streak of the season, their first since April 7/15, 2006… The Rattlers dominated time of possession, controlling the ball for 40:35 compared to just 19:25 for the Rampage… The Rattlers are now 5-1 in games decided by seven points or less… The Rattlers went 3-for-4 on fourth-down conversions… WR TODD DEVOE had his second straight standout game with seven catches for 102 yards.
 
BOX SCORE
                                                            1          2          3          4          F
Arizona Rattlers                               14        21        0          17        52
Grand Rapids Rampage                7          21        14        6          48
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing
Arizona – Jeff Smoker, 23-of-37, 272 yards, 2 touchdowns
Grand Rapids – James MacPherson, 13-of-26, 270 yards, 6 touchdowns
 
Rushing
Arizona – Chris Robinson, 7 rushes, 14 yards, 3 touchdowns
Grand Rapids – Chris Johnson, 1 rush, 9 yards
 
Receiving
Arizona – Trandon Harvey, 9 catches, 90 yards, 1 touchdown
Grand Rapids – Chris Johnson, 4 catches, 121 yards, 4 touchdowns
 
Defense
Arizona – Chris McKenzie, 1.5 tackles, 6 pass breakups
Grand Rapids – William Haith, 3.5 tackles, .5 tackles for loss, 3 pass breakups
 
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Offensive – Jeff Smoker, Arizona
Defensive – Chris McKenzie, Arizona
Ironman – Marvin Brown, Arizona
 

Catch all the action when the Georgia Force take on the New Orleans VooDoo on Russell Athletic Arena Football Monday, May 26 at 5:00pm PT on ESPN2.
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