PHOENIX -- The Arizona Rattlers clinched a trip to the United Bowl in their inaugural Indoor Football League season, powering past the Nebraska Danger 62-36 on Saturday night to become the 2017 Intense Conference champions in front of 15,038 fans at the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The Rattlers (13-4) will look to knock off the six-time reigning champion Sioux Falls Storm (15-2) in the ninth installment of the United Bowl at the Denny Sandford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. on July 8
“It does not matter how you start it is how you finish,” Rattlers coach Kevin Guy said. “We were 4-4 in the first half of the season and now we are in a position to play for a championship.
“You have to give the players all the credit. They have been buying in all year long.”
The Rattlers and the Storm each won their respective championships by at least four possessions.
Saturday marked the third-time Arizona faced against the Danger, and each matchup ended with the Rattlers on top. Arizona got the lead early, scoring 41 points while holding the Danger (9-8) to 14 total points in the first half. The Rattlers never trailed.
Arizona quarterback Cody Sokol went 13 of 18 for 110 yards and four touchdowns in tonight’s victory. RB Ketrich Harmon led the Rattlers in rushing with 60 yards on 11 carries and two total touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. WR Anthony Amos had 52 yards receiving as well.
The Rattlers are the Indoor Football League Intense Conference champions. (Bruce Yeung/Yeung Photography)
“I think we are really starting to believe and come together for this championship,” Sokol stated after the game.
On defense, LB Justin Shirk had four and a half tackles, two of which for loss and one and a half sacks. DBs Allen Chapman and Dillion Winfrey each had an interception in tonight’s contest. In the end, the Rattlers held Nebraska to only 36 total points and 22 yards on the ground.
“We made big plays, shut their running game down and shut their quarterback down,” Shirk said. “We kept everything our front and did not let them have any big plays.”
