Wednesday, October 18, 2017

AFL: Rattlers Defeat Drive, 24-20

PHOENIX-Kadeem Raburn threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to give the Arizona Rattlers a 24-20 victory over the Detroit Drive in a Week 9 AFL game.

The game started with Arizona driving 69 yards on 10 plays. Raburn ended the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Shelby Lerti to give the Rattlers a 7-0 lead with 9:29 remaining in the first quarter.

The teams traded punts, then Detroit moved the ball 90 yards on 11 plays. Lou Couch threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Patch Brolie to tie the game at 7 with 13:37 remaining in the second quarter. The Rattlers looked to get into the end zone on their next drive, but T.T. Presley would intercept a Raburn pass at the Drive 3-yard line. Detroit then drove 60 yards on 11 plays, and Cletis Frayer kicked a 54-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 4:49 remaining in the half.

The Drive began the second half moving the ball 43 yards on 5 plays. Frayer kicked a 22-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-7 with 12:01 to go in the third quarter. The Rattlers responded with a 14-play, 64-yard drive. Burt Hamrick kicked a 31-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 4:29 to go in the third.

Detroit would answer with a 10-play, 51-yard drive. Couch would throw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dave Huntley giving the Drive a 20-10 lead with 14:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. Arizona punted on their next possession, then Couch would get picked off by Whitey Teel who returned it 14 yards to the Drive 45-yard line. Five plays later, Raburn hit Lerti for a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-17 with 8:53 remaining in the fourth. On the Drive's next possession, Couch was sacked by Adam Radecic and fumbled. Teel recovered for the Rattlers at the Detroit 32-yard line. Four plays later, Raburn fired a 35-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Sidney to give Arizona a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter. A short kick gave Detroit the ball in Arizona territory, but they were stopped nine yards short of the end zone on fourth down with less than 4 minutes to go. The Drive had another chance from their own 28-yard line with over a minute left, but were stopped short again.

Arizona (3-6) gained 299 yards of total offense. The Rattlers ran for 97 yards on 27 carries. Melvin Jones led the team with 37 yards on 9 carries. Raburn was 20-of-29 passing for 221 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 19 yards. Lerti (54 yards, 2 TD) and Sidney (47 yards, TD) each caught four passes in the game. The Rattlers visit the Milwaukee Mustangs next week.

Detroit (4-5) gained 374 yards of total offense. The Drive ran for 113 yards on 25 carries. Brolie led the team with 36 yards on 8 carries. Couch was 24-of-39 passing for 275 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 14 yards. Huntley led the receivers with 8 catches for 93 yards and a TD. Next week, the Drive will host the Tampa Bay Storm.

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