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By ANDY SROKA
STOCKTON, Calif. – The San Jose Sabercats (17-1) are back in the National Conference Championship against a familiar foe, the Arizona Rattlers (14-4). The Rattlers are on the verge of a fifth straight ArenaBowl appearance while the SaberCats are looking to defeat the Rattlers in the postseason for the first time in three tries since 2012. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., and can be seen live on ESPNEWS.
It feels like now or never.
The San Jose Sabercats assembled some All-Arena talent in the offseason and it paid off in the regular season, and so far in the postseason, too. In his first year in San Jose, quarterback Erik Meyer, named to the Second Team All-Arena Offense on Tuesday, has helped develop a more efficient and dangerous offense than the SaberCats possessed a season ago. In 2014, the team was just another blockade in the way of the Rattlers’ runaway train. It was a familiar feeling, considering Arizona has eliminated them in three straight playoffs.
This year feels different, though. While Meyer has reestablished himself as one of the League’s most proficient passers, he also shares a locker room with Arena Football’s most vicious defense. It’s a confidence booster.
The SaberCats tallied 45 team sacks in 2015, tying the League record for the most team sacks in a single season in history. Middle linebacker Francis Maka and nose guard Jason Stewart were both First Team All-Arena Defense selections, collecting 11.5 and 10 sacks this season, respectively, while defensive end Donte Paige-Moss notched nine sacks himself. But Paige-Moss, specifically, will be on the mind of Rattlers’ MVP quarterback Nick Davila. A few weeks ago, in the latest meeting between these two, Davila was sacked three times by the ‘Cats and one and a half sacks came from Paige-Moss.
And while Davila was busy lifting himself from the turf in Week 19, Meyer found open man after open man. He fed top target Reggie Gray for three touchdowns and 88 yards receiving, but former Rattlers star turned SaberCats stud, Maurice Purify, bit his old team back, racking up a game-high 108 yards receiving and scoring three times, too.
It’s never been this easy. No team in the last four years has grated Davila and the Rattlers like the SaberCats did in their two regular season wins this season. Meyer has found passing lanes with ease while San Jose’s defense line has been able to break through a typically sound Rattlers O-line.
But it hasn’t only been the Rattlers. At 17-1, the SaberCats have crushed their opposition this season, averaging a margin of victory 22.2 points – the largest average in AFL history. Their only loss came in a strange overtime game with the playoff-less LA KISS. Meyer threw three of his six picks this season in that game. Outside of that Week 12 blunder, San Jose has been near perfect. Meyer works like a surgeon, despite the linemen protecting him having allowed him to be sacked 25 times this season. Defensively, in addition to Paige-Moss, Maka and Stewart, defensive back Ken Fontenette intercepted 12 passes and logged 146.5 tackles this year, the second-highest total in one season in League history.
At each level, the SaberCats have standouts and stars. But, no matter how convincing the argument for the San Jose is, can you ever bet against a dynasty in the middle of its reign?
Nick Davila and the Arizona Rattlers are duking it out in this year’s conference championship for a shot at their fifth straight ArenaBowl appearance and fourth straight victory. In the last four years, Davila is averaging a passer rating of 116.04 in 12 postseason games. In those four years, he has posted a higher passer rating than the playoffs prior every season. It feels like he’s only getting better. And after an uninspired finish to the 2015 season, Davila passed for 315 yards and eight touchdowns in last week’s matchup with the Spokane Shock. I imagine after four straight deep playoff runs, in the fifth season, you’re just waiting around for the playoffs to start up again. When they did, the Rattlers looked like their old selves.
Counting out the Rattlers is a bad idea. They have the experience from returning pros like Davila, Rod Windsor, Kerry Reed, Jeremy Kellem, Marquis Floyd, Tyre Glasper, Anttaj Hawthorne and Cliff Dukes. And Glasper and Kellem were both named to the First Team All-Arena Defense this week, too. They’re littered with All-Arena talent on both sides of the ball. But newcomers Michael McAdoo and Ben Wells are also a sight for sore eyes. These are two hungry and impactful rookies eager to make their mark on this game to feel what their more experienced teammates have felt in these last three trophy-winning seasons.
McAdoo has injected this defense with the vitality its needed to carry them to this point in the season. His 11 sacks this year are a Rattlers rookie record and it earned him a selection to the Second Team All-Arena Defense. He did all that in just 14 games. It’s easy to forecast the rookie as a game-changer, especially against an offensive line as porous as San Jose’s. Unnerving the SaberCats’ Meyer is the name of the game. It’s not easy, but McAdoo is among the only ones who will dress Saturday night formidable enough to distract Meyer.
Unlike their Week 19 matchup with San Jose, the Rattlers buffed up with a clean win over the Shock in the quarterfinals last week and played fluid offense and a tighter defense. They staggered into the postseason, but a convincing win last weekend reminded everyone how they were able to win three straight ArenaBowls, the SaberCats most of all.
San Jose will not underestimate their semifinals opponents. Of all the teams in this League, they’re the most familiar with the Rattlers – and the cost of a loss to them. The Rattlers have ended the SaberCats’ season three times in a row and they’re readying themselves for a fourth straight win. But it feels different this time. With the addition of an All-Arena quarterback in Meyer and the play of one of the best defenses in recent memory, they’re prepared.
This is the game we’ve been waiting for since Meyer landed in San Jose. They’re setting out this weekend to exorcise their playoff demons while the Rattlers attempt to further etch their names into the League’s annals. The unstoppable force and the immovable object meet on the turf Saturday night in California.
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