Rattlers throttle Vegas 49-31, clinch top seed in West
Arizona has bye in final regular season week; playoffs begin July 24
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We've got a bye week and it's important that we get rest. It comes down to how the players attack it and come back.”
Kevin Guy, Arizona Rattlers Head Coach
Arizona Rattlers
PHOENIX — In their 2022 regular season finale, the Arizona Rattlers defeated the Vegas Knight Hawks 49-31 on Sunday to clinch the IFL Western Conference's No. 1 seed and secure home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Arizona finishes the regular season with a record of 13-3.
"We scored every time we had the ball," Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy said. "We executed a few fourth downs. Defensively we had six stops out of ten, so I was pretty pleased with how we played."
Rushers score five of seven touchdowns
Arizona's run game dominated the scoreboard against the Knight Hawks on Sunday afternoon, and multiple Rattlers were responsible.
"We knew coming in that we had to hit the backfield," Guy said. "We wanted to get our run game going not so much with Drew [Powell] but with our running backs and try to control the line of scrimmage."
After a quiet past three games, Arizona running back Shannon Brooks exploded for three total touchdowns in Sunday's win. Two of Brooks' scores came in the first half, which helped power the Rattlers to a 10-point halftime lead over the Knight Hawks.
"He had some good runs tonight," Guy said of Brooks. "When he's on his game, he's a pretty good running back. He can do a little bit of everything.
"He's a complete back. Out of all of the backs we've had, and we've had some pretty good ones, he's probably the one of the most complete. He can do everything really well."
Brooks opened the game with a bang as the second play from scrimmage saw the Minnesota product rush for 21 yards downfield to give the Rattlers a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the contest.
"It was a great play call," Brooks said. "The offensive line executed, anybody could have scored that touchdown. As soon as I got the pitch, I ran to the right, [there was] great blocking with no edge pressure and great blocking by the receivers and from there it was being a football player and using my eyes."
Arizona quarterback Drew Powell complimented Brooks nicely on the ground, scoring two touchdowns as well, both of which helped the Rattlers gain two possession leads over Vegas in Sunday's contest.
It was Rattlers running back/wide receiver Jamal Miles who put the icing on the cake against the Knight Hawks. His three-yard rushing touchdown with 13:31 left in the game put Arizona ahead 42-24, which gave the Rattlers the same lead they finished the game with.
Passing game has equally successful day
Even with Brooks' and the running game's success, the Rattlers remained quite balanced in Sunday's win. In addition to his gains on the ground, Powell threw for 154 and two touchdowns against Vegas.
Most of his damage came in the first half, where Powell threw for 106 yards and had just four incompletions on 14 attempts.
"I was proud of the guys," Powell said. "The offensive line gave me protection and the receivers ran great routes and Shannon was doing his thing."
To go along with his two rushing touchdowns, Brooks caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Powell with 5:10 left in the game to bring Arizona's lead to 18 points once again.
"Catching the ball, I've always taken pride in," Brooks said. "If I want to get to the next level, that's the way to separate."
The second of Powell's two touchdown passes went to Rattlers wide receiver Josh Lanier, who was making his season-debut for Arizona. His 22-yard score was his only catch of the game and gave the Rattlers their first two-possession lead against Vegas.
Into the records books
Arizona's 13-3 regular season marks the eighth time in franchise history that the Rattlers have won 13 or more games in a single regular season. All of those 13-plus win seasons have come under the reign of Guy, who has now won 13-plus games for the 10th time in his career as a head coach in the AFL, af2 or IFL.
The Rattlers recorded 11-plus wins for the 16th time in franchise history in 2022, which continues a streak of 11-straight years in which the team has done so.
Arizona now awaits its opponent in the first round of the 2022 IFL Playoffs, which will either be the Tucson Sugar Skulls or Duke City Gladiators on July 24 at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix.
"We've got a bye week and it's important that we get rest," Guy said. "It comes down to how the players attack it and come back."
Brooks added: "We have the best environment in this league."
