By Kahlil Najar

SAN JOSE – The San Jose SaberCats (2-3) were defeated by the Arizona Rattlers (4-0) 57-51 in one of the most heartbreaking losses in recent history. The team is now on a three game losing streak and had a scare when big play Reggie Gray was injured in the second half however he seemed to recover well. Russ Michna had a great game for the Cats as he went 27-for-42 for 284 yards and five touchdowns. Gray was the leading receiver for San Jose as he grabbed 13 catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Dominique Curry who made his debut with the Cats tonight showed why he was added to the squad as he pulled in a timely 15-yard touchdown strike and even a momentum turning interception in San Jose’s end zone.

“I’m proud of the guys. They played hard tonight and we just came up a little short,” said Head Coach Darren Arbet. “They were focused all this week and they understood what this game was all about.”

On the three game losing streak – the longest for the Cats since 2011, Arbet said,”This is a twenty-one chapter book. This is chapter five. We have a lot of football yet to be played. They could have got down after those two loses but they came out and fought hard.”

The SaberCats got on the board first when Michna connected with Jason Willis for an 18-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone. On Arizona’s first possession Quarterback Nick Davila drove the team down the field in less than a minute and found their leading receiver Maurice Purify on a 20 yard touchdown to notch the score at seven a piece. After a crazy hit on Willis on the kick return the SaberCats drove down the field again and handed the ball over to Odie Armstrong who was able to dive into the end zone and give the Cats the one touchdown lead. Then like last time, Davila drove the Rattlers down the field again on three plays when he found Tyson Poots for the touchdown to make it a 14-13 game. The Rattlers missed the extra point to give San Jose the one point lead heading into the second quarter.

On San Jose’s first drive of the second quarter, Michna handed the ball to newcomer Curry and he was able to pound his way into the end zone to push the Cats lead up to eight. However Arizona answered right back on their very next play after kickoff when Davila found Purify for his second touchdown of the game on a beautiful 44 yard pass and make it a 21-20 San Jose lead.

The Cats then stalled on their next drive and gave the ball back to Arizona at their own one yard line. After two tremendous stops by the Cats defense, Arizona’s Alex Singleton was able to push it through and gave the Rattlers their first lead of the game and made it a 27-21 game. On their fifth drive of the game, the SaberCats were helped out by two Arizona penalties which led to Gray’s first touchdown of the game and gave San Jose the lead again 28-27. Not to be held without another score in the first half, Davila found his favorite receiver Purify again for this third touchdown of the night. The Rattlers decided to try and make up for the missed extra point and went for a two point conversion but failed and only gave them a 33-28 lead going into halftime.

Arizona’s Poots scored with 12:43 left in the third quarter to widen the Rattlers lead to 40-28. Then like Arizona, San Jose wasn’t to be outdone and Michna found Gray again who was flying through the back of the end zone. Unfortunately Pertuit missed the extra point and made it a 40-34 lead for Arizona. On Arizona’s next drive they were only able to come up with a Ratanamorn 22-yard field goal and gave the Rattlers only a 9 point lead going into the last quarter of play.

With 11:39 gone in the fourth, Michna found Gray again for his third touchdown of the contest and brought San Jose within two points, 43-41. On Arizona’s next drive, Davila tossed up a deep pass into the end zone on third down that was deflected off the net and into the alert Curry who was touched down in the end zone gave the ball back to the Cats. With the momentum on their side, the Cats drove down the field and Michna found Curry streaking on a dig route in the end zone and gave the cats a 48-43 lead. Davila then found Purify again for his fourth touchdown of the night however they went for two again and failed and gave Arizona only a 49-48 lead. San Jose then marched down the field again and after getting stopped on third down they went to their reliable kicker Pertuit who knocked in a 19-yarder to give San Jose a 51-49 lead with 46 seconds left. Unfortunately Davila still had some magic up his sleeve when with seven seconds left he threw his seventh touchdown of the night to Kerry Reed and then went for two and gave Arizona a 57-51 lead. Cats rookie Nathan Stanley came in the game to toss up a Hail Mary at the end of the game but to no avail and ended the game.

The scary moment in the second half for the SaberCats came when Reggie Gray was running a crossing route towards the boards and got hit then he just laid on the ground. After some initial panic by the Cats, Gray was able to get up and walk around and take himself off the field.

“I went low to get the ball and my chest just didn’t feel right. It felt like something was out of place, so I was kind of panicking,” said Gray on his injury. “After evaluation it began to feel better and I was trying to fight to get back on the field.”

Dominique Curry who’s Cats debut was tonight performed extremely well for someone who hasn’t played football in two years. Curry ended with two touchdowns and an interception.

On his performance, Curry said “It was good to be out there. I really hadn’t played football in over two years. I had jitters just from the rivalry of the two teams. I wanted to step up because of the rivalry. I have to get used to getting hit into the walls.”

San Jose now heads to Portland to take on the Thunder who have yet to win a game this year.