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May 9, 2008 - 1:16AM
Rattlers host SaberCats in battle for Western Division lead
Comments | RecommendMike Tulumello, Tribune
The Rattlers need to beat the team they want to become if they’re going to get to the place they want to reach. The place? First place in the Arena Football League’s Western Division.
The team they want to be surpass? The San Jose SaberCats, who have been the Rattlers’ nemesis the last few years.
Arizona coach Kevin Guy knows all about this. He worked the past two years as the SaberCats’ defensive coordinator.
The secret to their success, he said, is that, “They’ve had a good veteran core of players they’ve kept there for a long time in a salary cap era ... which is pretty impressive.”
Linebacker David Garay, who played in San Jose two years ago, agreed.
“When you have that, you can get a lot of wins,” he said. “They expect to be in the championship every year, if not winning it.”
Guy thinks he has the right players to reach that level, if he can ever get them all on the field. The Rattlers, limited early by injuries on the offensive side, have gotten healthy and have been putting up points. But now they are hurting on the defensive side. The main injuries are to defensive back Keyuo Craver and linebacker Kurt Kahui.
“I don’t want to play the injury card. Injuries are part of the game,” Guy said. “But if we ever get the 20 we want on the field, we’re going to be a pretty dangerous team.”
EXTRA POINTS: Guy said league officials are reviewing a play from the team’s game against Los Angeles on Saturday when the Rattlers appeared to return a kickoff for a touchdown with a series of laterals. It was ruled that the Rattlers’ Chris Robinson had fumbled the ball forward into the end zone.
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