Ramone Atkins rushed for 86 yards and a TD, gets by 23 Aujoe Soe while behind the play 99 Jaylon Bass loses his helmet while being blocked by 65 Stacey Wilkens.
Carlvainsky Decius goes high to pick off a Ramone Atkins pass in the second quarter.
Kalen Hicks in pursuit of Rattler QB Max Meylor.
Looking for their first win of the season, the Northern Arizona Wranglers came out and twice built a nine point lead in the first half, then saw things unravel a barrage of penalties and turnovers as the Arizona Rattlers beat the Wranglers 44-32 on a Sunday afternoon matinee at the Findlay Toyota Center.
It was a great start as the Wranglers looked sharp moving the ball down the field and scoring on their first possession on a 1 yard quarterback sneak by Ramone Atkins for a 7-0 lead three and a half minutes into the contest.
Arizona responded with their quarterback Max Meylor going off tackle on a 2 yard run to tie the game at 7.
The Wranglers built a 16-7 lead on a Atkins pass to DeMarcus Harris Sr. and a deuce by Nestor Manuel-Higuera followed on the kickoff as the lead grew.
After the Northern Arizona defense forced a turnover on downs by the Rattlers, the Wranglers gave the ball right back when Carlvainsky Decius went high up with one hand and pulled down the pass for the first interception of the day.
Meylor once again called his own number to trim the Wranglers lead to 16-14. After an unsuccessful onside kick by Arizona, the Wranglers took advantage of the short field and scored when Atkins drilled a pass to Nolan Susel in the back of the end zone with under a minute left in the first half pushing the lead back to nine at 23-14. That left plenty of time for the Rattlers who scored on a Kyami Clarke 1 yard run to make it a 23-21 game at the half.
Arizona took the second half kickoff and took their first lead of the game on a Kymani Clark 5 yard run. The Wranglers got the ball and used up 10 minutes of game clock but came away with nothing to show for it. At one point Northern Arizona had the ball at the Rattlers 4 yard line, but five penalties on five straight plays, 3 on NAZ and 2 on Arizona, with the third NAZ penalty being the costliest. Atkins scrambled and ran in for what appeared to be a go ahead TD, but a holding call negated that resulting in an empty possession. The Wranglers were flagged 13 times for the entire game.
The Rattlers pushed their lead to 31-23 on a 27 yard field goal by Mathew Cook early in the fourth quarter.
On the first play of the Wranglers next possession Atkins threw a long pass down field that was picked off by Yahsyn McKee Jr. The Rattlers then added to their lead on a 19 yard run by Corey Reed Jr. made it 38-23 with nine minutes remaining.
The Wranglers put together their first and only scoring drive in the second half when Atkins connected with Marlon Cook Jr. A deuce by Manuel-Higuera closed the deficit to 38-30 with 4:33 left. A deuce made it 38-32.
Arizona began to burn the clock and was able to score again with under a minute to play. Finally, during the Wranglers desperate attempt to score quickly with just seconds remaining, Autjoe Soe picked off the final Atkins pass of the day.
Arizona improved to (3-1) while Northern Arizona (0-4) will look for their first win at San Antonio versus the Gunslingers on Saturday at 2pm.
ARIZONA RATTLERS 44, NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 32
Score by Quarters – 1 2 3 4 – T
Arizona 7 12 7 16 – 44
Northern Arizona 16 7 0 9 – 32
Scoring Summary
NAZ-Atkins 1 yard run (Manuel-Higuera kick)
A-Meylor 2 yard run (Cook kick)
NAZ-Harris Sr. 5 yard pass from Atkins (Manuel-Higuera kick)
NAZ-Manuel-Higuera Deuce
A-Meylor 3 yard run (Cook kick)
NAZ-Susel 4 yard pass from Atkins (Manuel-Higuera kick)
A-Clarke 1 yard run (Cook kick)
A-Clarke 1 yard run (Cook kick)
A-Cook 27 yard Field Goal
A-Reed Jr. 19 yard run (Cook kick)
NAZ-Cook Jr 2 yard pass from Atkins (Manuel-Higuera kick)
NAZ-Manuel-Higuera Deuce
A-Reed Jr 5 yard pass from Meylor (Pass failed)
ATT:N/A
