(Henderson, NV) This game was for all the marbles here in the shadow of Sin City. A huge Rattler contingent came out in force and had the place rocking in the pregame.
Both teams are perennial playoff contenders and the Snakes had revenge on their minds for a 21-20 loss a couple of years back to Massachusetts at home in the Footprint Center.
There was a lot of Pregame hype with Sean Merriman of the Las Vegas Raiders who did the coin toss.
On the opening kickoff, the ball bounced sideways and allowed the Snakes special teams to tackle the player in the end zone for a one point rouge. The seats hadn’t even gotten warm yet and the house was deafening. Arizona up 1-0.
The Pirates on their first possession from scrummage moved the ball effectively down the field but were stopped on a third and one, The next play, the Pirates’ Robinson who is an All IFL Player, fumbled the ball on the two yard line and Arizona recovered and kept the momentum.
Former Horizon High star Dalton Snead as he’s done all year long, calmly drove the team down with his legs on a long 31 yard scramble up the far sidelines to get them in scoring position. That led to a 9 yard touchdown pass to former Sun Devil Jamal Miles to go up 8-0 midway through the opening half.
Massachusetts was snakebitten in the first quarter on their next drive they got hemmed up by the Arizona defense and subsequently missed a 31 yard field goal to keep them off the scoreboard the entire first quarter.
The Pirates couldn’t catch a break as a near interception in the end zone was call pass interference and Shannon Brooks bowled over two defenders to reach the promise land and a 15-0 lead.
You could tell that the Pirates were rattled (pun intended), as they had no rhythm in their offense. A defensive holding call on Arizona kept their drive alive. They gave the penalty yardage back on their own holding penalty on the following play.
Finally something good happened for the Pirates as Jimmy Robinson went up the sideline on a 21 yard run to get it to the eight yard line. The fortunes didn’t last long as once again, as the Rattlers defense stopped them on four downs to regain possession.
Three possessions for the Pirates in the first half and nothing to show for it as Arizona came to play here in the Las Vegas desert.
Snead kept the foot on the pedal as he ran 10 yards for another Arizona touchdown as the shocked Pirate fans were in disbelief on what was happening on the field to their Eastern Conference Champs. Snakes up 22-0 with under three minutes left in the first half.
Penalties continued to hamper Massachusetts just outside their own end zone. With the Snakes getting the ball back just prior to halftime, Brooks scored his second touchdown with just a few seconds left to make it 29-0 and all Arizona in the first half.
The Pirates could have gone two ways on the second half kickoff. Coach Kevin Guy had his guys set up for a possible onside kick, but Massachusetts chose to attempt a deuce kick to get a couple of points in the board without the clock moving. Their luck just as in the first half wasn’t there.
Arizona on their first possession of the second half advanced down the field, but the drive bogged down but Dawson Ebbits hit a 23 yard field goal to rub more salt in the wound of the Pirates 32-0.
Bennifield got Massachusetts finally got the goose egg off the scoreboard and the drop kick two point conversion was good to make the score 32-8.
That didn’t sit right with Arizona as they worked their way down the field with Snead mixing the pass and run effectively culminating in a 2 yard touchdown pass to the near sidelines. Snakes up 39-8.
The teams traded turnovers on downs and that marked the first time that the Massachusetts defense had stopped the Rattlers.
On the second play after the turnover, a sideline route turned crazy as the Pirate receiver bounced off the wall and fumbled into the end zone and was recovered by Massachusetts for an apparent touchdown, but Coach Guy successfully challenged the call and the points were taken off the board.
The Pirates were still in good shape at the Arizona two yard line and facing a third and goal. Once again, Merriweather with his second interception denied Massachusetts of an0ther scoring opportunity.
Just as in previous turnovers, the Rattlers made them pay as on a 13 yard touchdown run by Brooks, his third of the game and a 46-8 lead.
Davonte Merriweather wanted his “stat game” padded on the next Pirate possession he got his third pick.
To add insult to injury, backup signal caller Garrett Kettle ran untouched into the end zone from 14 yards out and the party for Rattler Nation was already in motion with 4:58 left and a 53-8 lead.
Teo Redding on a push off in the end zone that wasn’t called caught a touchdown for the Pirates to at least get their point total to double figures 53-16 and 3:42 left.
Arizona as expected kept the ball on the ground to run what little time was left on the clock.
A late interception by Jebionski Green Jr. gave Massachusetts one more crack at the ball near the one minute warning. That went by the waste side as the Snakes got the ball back after another interception and ran out the clock to clinch their National Championship Title 53-16.
Davonte Merriweather was selected the MVP with his three picks and stellar tackling. The entire Arizona defense never let up and Massachusetts never got into any kind of consistent offensive flow.
Today’s attendance in Lee’s Family Forum, home of the IFL Knight Hawks drew 1,967.
Thank you to Matt Loeschman of the Daily Independent and YourValley.net for co-hosting the Pregame and Halftime Live segments.
602 Sports Talk would like to give a special thanks to our three game time sponsors who made it possible for us to attend the game in Henderson Nevada. CMS Mortgage with Moe “the Mortgage Lady,” Bianchi’s Italian and Tuxon Chix.
More game videos can be seen on the 602 Sports Talk Facebook page.
