Rattlers Seek Strong Finish to Close Regular Season

By Jay Gonzales ꟾ Rattlers Media

With 15 games under their belt and a playoff berth in their pocket, the Arizona Rattlers have one more piece of business to take care of before embarking on their 17th straight postseason run – finish strong.

The Rattlers, 10-5 and virtually locked into a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, travel to San Antonio to finish their regular season with a matchup with the Gunslingers, 4-10, who are hanging on to the slimmest of hopes of making it to the playoffs as a No. 4 seed.

Kickoff is Sunday, 1 p.m. MST, at Freeman Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Yahoo! Sports.

Arizona is on a three-game winning streak at just the right time as most teams generally try to "peak" as the postseason arrives. They've beaten New Mexico, first-place San Diego and rival Tucson in that three-game stretch which has coincided with the return of quarterback Max Meylor to the starting lineup.

"The message this week has been, I want momentum going into the playoffs," Head Coach Kevin Guy said as his team prepared for the Gunslingers. "We're heading in the right direction as we get closer to the playoffs."

Meylor has been confident and effective since getting the starting job back three games ago after losing it after the sixth game of the season.

Since returning as the starter, Meylor is 37 of 54 passing for 453 yards, 11 touchdowns and, importantly, only one interception. He's also got four rushing touchdowns in that stretch.

"Early in the season, it was a new offense for him," Guy said of his quarterback who came to the Rattlers from Green Bay following an MVP season. "He had to go through a little bit of a learning curve."

A significant amount of credit also has to go to the Rattlers defense, the top defense in the league allowing only 189 yards and 35.8 points per game, both league bests in those categories. The defense is on a streak of six straight games holding opponents under 40 points.

The Rattlers have a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year and certainly Defensive Rookie of the Year in Yahsyn McKee Sr. who leads the league with 11 interceptions. He's returned two of those for touchdowns, has four multi-interception games, and is the team's leading tackler.

The Rattlers face a team that has struggled generating offense averaging 35.3 points and 213.9 yards per game but is making it tough on teams with a stingy defense. The Gunslingers allow only 204.6 yards and 41 points per game. Arizona won the first meeting in Glendale on April 11, 44-31.

As always, Guy said his focus is on what his team does to get ready for the playoffs. After San Antonio, the Rattlers have a bye week while most other teams in the league play one more game to finish their regular seasons. Then it's on the road for the duration of the postseason, something that doesn't bother Guy in the least.

"Out of the nine championships that we've played for in my era as the head coach here, every championship that we won − five of them − has been on the road," he said.