---

By S&E News Correspondent—Michael Burtch

Las Vegas, NV—The Arizona Rattlers knocked off the Las Vegas Gladiators 49-42 on Sunday and subsequently knocked them out of the 2005 playoffs. The Rattlers had the role of spoiler for the last three weeks of the season and did their job well, finishing the season with a three-game winning streak. This win also helped the Rattlers (7-9) avoid their first season with double-digit losses.

The Rattlers jumped on top early with a Siaha Burley touchdown catch and a Wendell Gaines 21-yard interception return for a touchdown. They never looked back after that. The Gladiators got on the board when Joe Douglass caught a one-yard pass from Clint Dolezel, but the Rattlers answered with a 13-yard scoring toss from Sherdrick Bonner to Orshawante Bryant to end the first quarter with a 21-7 advantage.

The teams’ offenses sputtered in the second quarter and only scored one touchdown a piece. Arizona went into halftime with a 28-14 lead.

The Rattlers and Gladiators traded touchdowns the entire second half. Each time Las Vegas would get into the end zone and cut the deficit to seven-point, the Rattlers came right back and put the lead back up to 14. After another Joe Douglass touchdown reception, Burley hauled one in from 4 yards out for Arizona to end the season with 45 touchdown catches; one short of the AFL record. After trading touchdowns again, the Rattlers closed out the third quarter with a 42-28 lead.

Las Vegas got within a touchdown once again after Douglass scored his third touchdown, but the Rattlers clinched the game when Bonner found Bryant again from 7-yards out. The Gladiators made it close when Marcus Nash pulled in a 45-yard bomb from Dolezel with 15 seconds left, but on onside kick attempt was recovered by Arizona and they ran out the final 12 seconds.

Bonner had another great passing game, completing 20 of 29 passes for 217 yards and threw for 6 touchdowns while earning Offensive Player of the Game honors. Orshawante Bryant was named the Ironman of the game after he caught 7 passes for 97 yards and scored 3 touchdowns and made 5 tackles on defense. Tom Pace pulled in 5 passes for 63 yards and Randy Gatewood contributed 34 yards on 4 receptions.

Dolezel finished 26 of 50 for 327 yards and threw 5 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. Nash pulled in 8 passes for 120 yards and caught 2 touchdown passes, Coco Blalock pulled in 6 balls for 70 yards, and Joe Douglass caught 5 passes for 36 yards and scored 3 times.

The Gladiators finished the season with an 8-8 record. The AFL playoffs will start this weekend. All the games will be played on Sunday. In the American Conference the top-seeded Colorado Crush (10-6) will host the 4th-seeded San Jose SaberCats (9-7) and the 3rd-seeded Chicago Rush (9-7) will visit the 2nd-seeded Los Angeles Avengers (10-6). In the National Conference, the top-seeded Georgia Force (11-5) will play host to the 4th-seeded Tampa Bay Storm (10-6) and the 2nd-seeded New York Dragons (10-6) welcome the 3rd-seeded Orlando Predators (10-6) to Metropolis. The winners advance to their respective Conference Championship games June 4th and 5th and then the Conference Champions meet in the ArenaBowl the following week (June 12th) in Las Vegas.