CLEVELAND -- Nick Davila threw for 237 yards and eight touchdowns and the Arizona Rattlers won their third consecutive ArenaBowl title with a 72-32 victory over the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday night.
The Rattlers are the second team in Arena Football League history to win three straight titles. It was also the Rattlers' fifth overall championship, tying them with the Tampa Bay Storm for the most in league history.
"I can't even put into words how I feel right now," Davila said. "In my eyes, Kerry (Reed) was the MVP of the game. I can't even describe how much he means to this team. What an outstanding game he had."
It was Reed's 46-yard interception for a touchdown midway through the first quarter -- which included an escort down the sideline from a jubilant coach Kevin Guy -- that set the tone for a game that never seemed in doubt.
Rod Windsor paced the Rattlers receivers with seven catches for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Despite setting an AFL record with 17 regular-season victories, Cleveland's offense was out of sync, plagued by multiple drops, missed extra points, drive-stalling penalties and turnovers.
Only the late Tim Marcum, the most successful head coach in AFL history, has won more championships (seven) than Arizona's Guy (three) and San Jose's Darren Arbet (three). Guy set a record as the first head coach in League history to guide a team to four straight ArenaBowls.
"You know, it feels great," Guy said. "I give all the players and everybody in the organization the credit for getting here.
"We did what we thought we could do, and that was take advantage of (Cleveland) with our defense. I thought our defense played lights-out tonight."
Gladiators quarterback Shane Austin was 18 of 41 for 210 yards and three touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Gladiators did make a habit of coming from behind in 2014, winning six games on the final play from scrimmage. But the rout continued in the second half, as Arizona pushed the lead to 58-13 in the third.
"What we saw on film was teams were allowing them to get back in games," Guy said. "So we wanted to get up on them, start fast and then just keep your foot on the gas pedal."
The Rattlers kept up the scoring into the fourth quarter, making it 65-19 with 12:28 remaining, putting away any hopes of a Cleveland comeback.
Arizona's defense made life miserable for the Gladiators. It was out of sync, plagued by multiple drops, drive-stalling penalties and turnovers.
