June 28,2014
San Jose Sabercats Press Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The
San Jose Sabercats (10-4) put an end to perfection, toppling the
Arizona Rattlers (14-1), 62-33, Friday night at the SAP Center in front of 7,373 fans. Quarterback
Nathan Stanley completed 14-of-22 passes for 167 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Fullback
Odie Armstrong
had a big night, finishing with 10 carries for 17 yards, with a career
tying four scores. The defense was the big story, however, as they held
the best offense in the league scoreless in the second and third
quarters. They tallied three sacks, one apiece from
Terrance Carter,
Jason Stewart, and
Francis Maka. In addition, Carter forced a key fumble that Maka picked up and returned for a touchdown.
The SaberCats opening drive featured two receptions by offensive lineman; the first to
Rich Ranglin who hauled in a nice one-handed grab for 19-yards, and the second, a three-yard dart to rookie
Jeff Nady for his first career catch and touchdown. The Rattlers quickly answered, when
Nick Davila drove Arizona into the Red Zone, where he connected with
Tysson Poots
for a six-yard score to tie the game up at 7-7. San Jose would go back
on top when Stanley found a streaking Rod Harper for a 28-yard catch and
run for the touchdown. The SaberCats then extended their lead when
Carter got around the edge and crushed Davila, forcing a fumble, which
Maka scooped up and returned eight yards to pay dirt. Through 12 minutes
of play, San Jose held the 21-7 lead.
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In the second quarter, the SaberCats defense picked up right where it
left off, forcing a turnover on downs. However, San Jose’s offense
stalled on their next drive. Thankfully, their defense stood tall again,
forcing the high-powered Rattlers offense into yet another turnover on
downs. The SaberCats then went to their ground game, marching down the
field, culminating in an easy one-yard scamper from Armstrong around the
right edge for a touchdown. The score extended San Jose’s lead to 28-7.
The SaberCats defense continued to come up big, forcing their third
turnover on downs in the quarter. San Jose took over on the 10-yard
line, and took just one play to find pay dirt when Stanley connected
with Harper again for the score, making it a 34-7 game after the extra
point attempt sailed right. After another Arizona drive stalled early,
Armtrong punched it in again, this time from two yards out. His second
touchdown of the game made it 41-7. With time running out, Davila put up
one last heave that
Maurice Purify
came down with, but was ruled down at the one-yard line. That sent both
sides into the locker room, with the SaberCats maintaining their
34-point lead.
The Rattlers brought in quarterback
Jason Murrietta in relief of Davila to open up the second half. His first throw from scrimmage was picked off by
Ken Fontenette,
and returned 32 yards. San Jose took advantage of great field position,
handing it off to Armstrong, who rumbled in from one-yard out for the
touchdown. His third score of the game gave the SaberCats a 48-7 lead.
Consecutive sacks from Stewart and Maka shut down the Arizona offense
once again, giving the ball back to San Jose. The SaberCats offense
wasted little time, going to Armstrong at the goal line for his fourth
touchdown scamper of the evening, extending their lead to 55-7. That is
where the score would remain heading into the fourth quarter.
To open up the fourth quarter Arizona finally snapped San Jose’s streak of 48 unanswered points, when Murrietta found
Rod Windsor
for a two-yard touchdown. A failed two-point attempt made it a 55-13
game. On the following drive the SaberCats brought in quarterback
Dennis Havrilla
in relief of Stanley. On his first play he fumbled the snap, which the
Rattlers recovered. Arizona quickly found the end zone on a five-yard
pass to Poots. They went for two-points again, but came up empty. That
left San Jose with a 55-19 advantage. Stanley was inserted back in at
quarterback, but his first pass was intercepted by defensive back
Allen Chapman,
and returned 22 yards for a touchdown. Arizona went to zero-for-three
on two point conversions, reducing the SaberCats lead to 55-25. Havrilla
was put back in under center, but this time found much better results,
tossing his first career touchdown pass, a 48-yarder to a wide open
Reggie Gray. That put San Jose up 62-25. The Rattlers got back on the board when fullback
Alex Singleton
scored on a one-yard run. A successful two-point conversation made it
62-33. On their final possession, the SaberCats ran out the clock to
seal the victory.
Edmonton 
Winnipeg 
Calgary 
Saskatchewan 
BC 
Ottawa 
Hamilton 
Montreal 
Toronto 
“The
Hall of Fame Advisory Board and our great AFL fans have nominated ten
tremendous and very deserving finalists for this year’s Hall of Fame
Class,” AFL Commissioner Jerry B. Kurz said.