By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, May 2, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – San Jose remains undefeated in six games following a resounding, but potentially costly, 56-34 victory Saturday over the defending three-time Arena Football League champion Arizona Rattlers at US Airways Center.

SaberCats quarterback Erik Meyer left the game with an undetermined injury with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter. Meyer, who completed 12 of 21 passes for 182 yards and five touchdowns, was alert as he was wheeled off the turf on a stretcher.

San Jose (6-0) used a big second half to do their damage after a closely played first half, outscoring the Rattlers 22-7 in the third and fourth quarters while handing Arizona its second defeat of the season.

“We thought we had (San Jose) right where we wanted them,” Rattlers Coach Kevin Guy said. “We tried some little things as far as adjustments, but we just had too many busted coverages and pass protections in the second half. Even after they changed quarterbacks, we still didn’t do a good job of fixing those coverages.

Asked about the two early losses, Guy responded, ”Remember, we’ve won three championships. We’re not going to panic.”

After the Rattlers (4-2) tied the game at 34-34 on a Mykel Benson 1-yard run, San Jose (6-0) went ahead to stay with 6:48 to play in the third quarter on a 45-yard scoring pass from Meyer to Reggie Gray. It was Gray’s third TD of the night and his 11th of the season.

Nathan Stanley, a second-year signal caller from Southeastern Louisiana, took over at quarterback for the SaberCats, completing 8 of 14 passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. After Francis Maka sacked Arizona quarterback BJ Coleman in the end zone for a safety, Stanley completed a pair of TD passes in the fourth quarter to Dariu Reynolds (10 yards) and Adron Tennell (3 yards) to complete the scoring.

Tennell and Gray each snared six passes and a pair of touchdown strikes for San Jose. Tennell led the SaberCats with 88 pass reception yards. San Jose held an edge in total offense of 243 total yards to 187.

Defensive back David Hyland led the SaberCat defense with seven unassisted tackles and two assists. DB Ken Fontenette made five tackles and assisted on two more.

Arizona started backup quarterback BJ Coleman, who stepped in for the injured Nick Davila. Coleman completed 17 of 38 passes for three touchdowns, mostly in the first half. His primary target was Rod Windsor, who caught 10 passes for 95 yards and one TD.

San Jose jumped to a 21-7 first quarter lead on TD passes to DJ Stephens and Tennell, along with a 57-yard kickoff return by Gray – the third consecutive game he has ran a kickoff back for a score. The Rattlers closed their deficit to 21-14 on an eight-yard touchdown catch by Markee White from BJ Coleman.

A kickoff return for an apparent touchdown by Gray was called back due to a holding call, but the SaberCats soon scored again on a 27-yard pass from Meyer to Gray. The extra point attempt by Nick Pertult missed wide left, but San Jose was leading 27-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Markee White made another TD catch for Arizona, pulling the Rattlers to within 27-20. The Rattlers tried an onside kick that failed.

An interception by Cleven Thomas with 8:52 left in the first half snuffed out an Arizona drive, but the SaberCats were unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs at 4:25 of the second quarter.

Arizona tied the game at 27-27 with just under a minute to play on a pass from Coleman to Rod Windsor. San Jose took a 34-27 halftime lead when Meyer found Rich Ranglin open in the left corner of the end zone. Thomas’s second interception closed out the first half.

The SaberCats return home next Saturday to host the Las Vegas Outlaws. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.