Rattlers fail to make a stop, fall to Iowa Barnstormers in OT

Rattlers coach Kevin Guy was about to enter the record book for most franchise wins.

But after a 69-68 loss to the Iowa Barnstormers in front of an announced record crowd of 18,381 on Sunday at Talking Stick Resort Arena, Guy said he will take a look in the mirror.

The Rattlers (9-2), who had an 11-game home winning streak end at the hands of the Indoor Football League's second-best team, didn't stop Iowa (8-2) once in the game.

Arizona needed a 17-yard field goal at the end of regulation by Sawyer Petre to send it to OT.

Then, Guy threw a challenge flag as Iowa was lining for a game-tying extra point in overtime that ended up being costly.

After scoring first on a 3-yard pass from Jeff Ziemba to Anthony Amos on fourth down (a play that was reviewed) in OT, the Rattlers again couldn't stop quarterback Drew Powell, who ran 18 times for 94 yards and four touchdowns and completed 19 of 21 passes for 191 yards and five more scores.

After Powell converted on fourth down, a 3-yard scoring run that cut the Rattlers' lead to one, Iowa coach Dixie Wooten trotted out kicker Cody Barber to try to send it into a second OT.

But Guy, who needs one win to reach 142 as a Rattlers coach (breaking Danny White's franchise record), said he heard the sideline yell, "Challenge."

He threw out his red challenge flag. Teams are only allowed one timeout in overtime and the Rattlers had used theirs. Because of that, the Rattlers were charged with a delay penalty that moved the ball to the 1.

From there, Barber, who missed two PATs, went back to the sideline, and Powell faked a run, sucking in the defense, before lofting a pass to a wide-open Brady Roland for the two-point play to win it.

The crowd went eerily silent in the same way it did in 2011 when the Rattlers lost the ArenaBowl at home to Jacksonville on Aaron Garcia's TD pass with no time remaining.

"Our sideline was yelling, 'Challenge, challenge, challenge,' " Guy said. "It was heat of the moment. They were lining up to run a play. I threw the challenge flag. It shouldn't have been thrown. It was a mistake. We'll address that as a staff. We have to understand the rules. We can't be yelling things at the heat of the moment and not know the rules.

"I personally felt like I let the team down in that moment."

The Rattlers were stopped twice – two Petre field goals. But the offense played well enough to win, even with the league's two best running backs, Darrell Monroe and Shadrach Thornton, out with injuries.

Ziemba passed for five touchdowns, completing 22 of 27, and ran for two more scores, finishing with 35 yards on five carries. Third-string tailback Dylan Peebles ran for 49 yards and two scores. But the Rattlers weren't able to punch it in when they needed it most after a great return by Dezmon Epps gave them the ball at the Iowa 11 with 16 seconds left.

Peebles was stuffed at the 1 with two seconds left, as the Rattlers called timeout for Sawyer to send it into overtime.

"That's two straight home games that we got into shootouts and our defense did absolutely nothing," Guy said. "I'm going to look in the mirror, start with myself, see what changes we need to make as a team. Then, we'll address it with the players."

The Rattlers' only two losses have come against the Barnstormers (8-2), whom they play one more time at Iowa on June 2.

"Failure is never final," Guy said. "They've got the tie-breaker. We play them again and we have three more games.

"We can't put that pressure on the offense to have to score every time. We did not make a play. We are just flat out soft. Soft, soft, soft. OK, here I'm going to say it one more time: soft."

Another pro team

May 18, 2018

The Rattlers have been able to survive since 1992 in the competitive Phoenix metropolitan sports market.

But when they come up against another pro football team, this one from the recently formed Alliance of American Football, next February, they'll see how much of an impact it will have on the team and the fan base.

The league is set to announce the new Valley team and introduce the coach on Friday.

The Rattlers have been playing 8-man, indoor football since 1992 when then Suns owner Jerry Colangelo bought an Arena Football League franchise to book summer dates in the then-new downtown Phoenix arena.

The Rattlers broke off from the AFL last year and joined the Indoor Football League, their new season beginning in February.

Next year, there will be an overlap with the Alliance team. The IFL season begins in late February. The Alliance league will start its season in early February, the week after the Super Bowl, and will play a 10-game schedule. The Rattlers play a 14-game regular season.

"I'm not concerned about it at all," said coach Kevin Guy, who on Sunday, with a win at home against the Iowa Barnstormers, can become the winningest Rattlers coach in their history. "I was shocked they even came to this market, because it's such a saturated market. They're going to have to figure out marketing dollars and a lot of that.

"We'll see. I'm not going to hate on anybody. If they pull it off, great."

Guy, who has led the Rattlers to three ArenaBowl titles and a United Bowl championship since he became the head coach in 2008, said nobody from the league reached out to him to coach the new Valley team, which will play at Sun Devil Stadium.

"You’re going to get the ASU fans, the Cardinals fans," Rattlers majority owner Ron Shurts said of the new Valley team. "Our Rattlers fans are just loyal.

"I don’t see it affecting us. It probably helps us. It is bringing attention back to football."

Guy has 141 wins as Rattlers coach, tying him with Danny White for most in Rattlers' history.

Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.