Blaze blitzed — Rattlers' offense runs amok

At one point last season the Utah Blaze lost four consecutive games. That hurt Blaze coach Danny White.

But not as badly as Friday night's 83-69 loss to the Arizona Rattlers at EnergySolutions Arena.

"This is the most disappointed I've been since I've been here," said White. "I've never witnessed anything like that."

He was disappointed primarily about his team's so-called defense. The Blaze didn't stop quarterback Sherdrick Bonner and the Rattlers' offense a single time all game. That happens sometimes in the scoring-happy Arena Football League, but what was amazing was how quickly Arizona scored. The Rattlers, in fact, had a grand total of just 24 offensive plays, scoring 10 touchdowns — with two more on kick returns. That's a TD every 2.4 offensive plays. The Blaze defense forced just one third down all game and zero fourth downs.

And this was against a team that entered the game 1-6 on the season. Arizona — the team White coached for 14 seasons — is now 2-6. The Blaze fall to 5-3 at the midway point of the season but remain alone in first place in the AFL's Western Division.

"That's the most embarrassed that I've ever been here," said White.

It was enough to make the coach want to start making personnel changes immediately.

"I love to talk about three or four guys that I would send home right now, but that wouldn't be the smart thing to do," said White just minutes after the game. "Right now, I've got to try to be smart, as hard as it is."

The season-high home crowd of 15,313 started to get restless by the end of the game with the lack of defense too, as some boos could be heard. White completely understood.

"Fans were frustrated, but I was frustrated too," said White. "I wanted to boo."

Bonner was 17-for-19 for the game for 348 yards and nine touchdowns. He had Randy Gatewood, his favorite receiver, back from injury for the first time in four games. Gatewood torched the Blaze defensive backs all night, scoring five touchdowns on his six catches.

"We had Randy Gatewood back and that was big," said Arizona coach Gene Nudo. "Randy is Sherdrick's go-to guy and there is a comfort level there. All in all, the protection was good and (Bonner) threw some great balls out there."

Utah's offense, meanwhile, had another solid performance — scoring three more points than their league-leading average — but it wasn't enough.

"We had some momentum going and we took a step back today," said Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine, who finished with 433 yards passing and eight touchdowns with no interceptions.