The last time the Utah Blaze prepared to play Arizona, the Rattlers were struggling in last place in the Western Division of the Arena Football League with an 0-3 record.
Tonight the Blaze will host the division-leading Rattlers. It seems Arizona's 45-38 victory over Utah in Phoenix back in mid-February got the Rattlers rolling. They went on a streak where they won five of their next six games.
"When you look at (the Rattlers') roster, they are as talented a team as there is in the league," said Blaze coach Danny White.
And White knows a whole lot about the Rattlers' roster. He was the team's coach for 14 years, leading them to five ArenaBowls and two ArenaBowl titles.
"They have veteran players who know that game," said White. Arizona's turnaround after their poor start "is not surprising at all."
One of those veteran players White was speaking of is record-breaking quarterback Sherdrick Bonner, who has 45 touchdowns in nine games this season. His favorite receiver has been Randy Gatewood, who has 41 catches for 556 yards on the season with 14 TDs.
"They've just turned it on," said White of Bonner and Gatewood. "They are hot and are working great together. They are two veteran players that are just hard to stop."
Utah, meanwhile, has a guy that is pretty hard to stop himself in Siaha Burley, a former Arizona Rattler. Burley, who led the league in TD catches last year in Arizona, is second in the league this season with 28 scores. He has 84 catches on the year for 1,212 yards — second only to Colorado's Damian Harrell.
The Blaze will be trying to end a three-game losing streak that has coincided with the three games rookie quarterback Jason Gesser has started in place of injured Joe Germaine.
"I just need to keep on getting better each week and become more consistent," said Gesser. "That last game I made a bunch of good throws, but at times I made bad throws. I need to become more consistent and make good throws all the time."
White believes his team's problems the past three games have been far greater than just at quarterback. In fact, he says Gesser has played well enough for the Blaze to win the past two weeks.
"We've got a lot of people right now who are pressing, that are trying too hard," said White. "Instead of just playing within themselves and taking care of their own roles, everyone is trying to do a little extra. From an attitude standpoint, that's a good thing, but we've got to get it under control and make sure that everybody realizes that there are seven other guys on the field out there that are going to do their jobs. We need to start trusting each other more."
Blaze on the air
Arizona Rattlers (5-5) at Utah Blaze (3-7)
Tonight, 7 p.m.
Delta Center
TV: FSN
Radio: 1280 AM
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com