Phoenix, AZ. – The six-time world champion Arizona Rattlers (11-2) weathered an early storm and defeated the Spokane Shock (6-6) by a score of 30-20 on Friday.

The Rattlers have now won four straight games and have beat the Shock in both of their meetings this season.

Dominating Defense

Defensive back Dillon Winfrey put out another lockdown performance on the defensive end Friday night. This off the heels of being named the 'Week 16 IFL Defensive Player of the Week.'

Winfrey finished the game with two interceptions (8) and two pass breakups (19). The standout defensive back now has five INTs over the last two games.

DB Tyrell Pearson also got into the action with two pass breakups (18) and an INT (3) to end the first half.

Linebacker Davontae Merriweather is making good on his promise to reestablish the Rattlers secondary as a force to be reckoned with as he led the team in tackles for the second consecutive game with seven (15).

With Friday's win, the defense has now held opponents to under 30 points two weeks in a row (28 PTS |TUC) and forced three turnovers. Arizona's defense forced the Shock to post a season low 20 points total.

MVPowell

After a shaky start, one that saw the Shock D-Line create havoc in the gaps, quarterback Drew Powell shook off an early turnover and propelled the offense to a win.  

Powell finished with 70 rushing yards (883) and three touchdowns (33) on the ground, coupled with 87 passing yards (1578) and a TD (27) through the air.

Powell is now only 63 yards away from breaking the IFL single-season QB rushing record (945 YDS) he set with Iowa in 2018.

Wide receiver Jarrod Harrington was electric for the second game in a row. Harrington helped pull the Rattlers out of trouble after the Shocks took a 13-3 lead in the first quarter.

Harrington finished with a team leading 46 receiving yards (563), on four receptions and caught his one receiving TD (11). That score that gave the Rattlers the lead at the half, 17-13.

And despite the slow start, the Rattler offense went on a 20-3 run over the middle two quarters.

Consistent Special Teams

D-lineman Nik D'Avanzo blocked his third kick of the season during the third quarter and continued the excellent performance by the special teams unit over the past three games.

Kicker Ernesto Lacayo also hit his fourth field goal of the season (1/2) in the first quarter, which got the Rattlers on the board after going down by 10 points early.

Returner Jamal Miles took most of the kickoffs for the Rattlers, returning four kicks for 61 yards (383) to finish with a 15.3 yards-per-return average. This was impressive because the Shock special teams unit is known for sneaky execution. The Rattlers did an outstanding job on kickoff coverage as well, only allowed 54 return yards on five kickoffs (10.8 YPK).

Preview into the Playoffs

The Frisco Fighters (9-2) pit their top-ranked rushing defense (43.3 YPG) against the Rattlers league-best rushing offense (123.3). As of
Week 17, the Fighters are on a three-game winning streak.

Baring a Frisco loss to the Green Bay Blizzard (5-7) Saturday, the August 21 matchup versus Arizona will decide home field advantage throughout the 2021 IFL Playoffs.

Saturday will be first matchup of the season between the two teams.

The Rattlers' regular season finale will take place on Saturday, August 21 at 6:05 p.m. MST at the Footprint Center.