Outlaws stun Rattlers to win first Arena Football League game
It’s a good thing Motley Crue is on its farewell tour, because lead singer Vince Neil’s voice might not hold up much longer if the Las Vegas Outlaws keep playing as they did Saturday night.
Neil, who owns the expansion Arena Football League franchise, was hoarse from shouting after the Outlaws’ first victory — a 70-53 upset of the three-time defending ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers before an enthusiastic crowd of 4,019 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“Was that amazing? I’m freaked out. Our first win. That’s badass,” a giddy Neil said before jumping up and down and yelling “wooo” on the field after the game. “I’m so proud of those guys. They just hung in there and did what they had to do.
“I’m losing my voice. And I never lose my voice.”
Outlaws quarterback JJ Raterink completed 20 of 32 passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a score, Ladon Hudson had eight catches for 100 yards and two TDs, and Gerald Young returned two missed field goals for TDs for Las Vegas (1-1).
The Outlaws, who fell behind 28-0 in Monday’s season-opening 59-41 home loss to the San Jose SaberCats, erased two 13-point first-half deficits to Arizona (1-1), which scored TDs on its first five possessions.
Las Vegas took its first-ever lead on the final play of the first half, when Young caught Jeremy Shelley’s missed field goal off the net in the end zone and returned it 52 yards for a score to tie the game at 34. Ross Gornall’s extra point gave the Outlaws a 35-34 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“Once I get the ball, I do what I do. I make my cut,” said Young, a Division I-AA product from Charleston Southern. “There are a lot of offensive linemen out there. I know they’re slow, so I take advantage of that.
“We played horrible our first game, but we had a really good week of practice and we knew we could come here and give them a shot. We’re always optimistic. We know what kind of talent we have.”
Backup quarterback Sean Brackett scored on a keeper from 3 yards on the opening drive of the second half to put Las Vegas ahead 42-34.
The Rattlers closed to 42-41 and 49-47 before the speedy Young returned another missed field goal 54 yards down the sideline to make the score 56-47.
Dwight McLean then intercepted Arizona quarterback Nick Davila, the reigning AFL Most Valuable Player who threw for 264 yards and six TDs, five to Markee White.
Las Vegas capitalized, as Raterink hit offensive lineman Terrence Campbell for an 8-yard TD pass to push the lead to 63-47 with 6:03 left. The Outlaws defense, which had two sacks, took care of the rest.
As far as first wins go, this one can’t get much better for Las Vegas, which was a 19-point underdog at the Golden Nugget.
“We put a great team together. We knew we had a lot of talent, and we just believed in each other,” coach Aaron Garcia said. “We might’ve surprised a lot of people, but that’s what we expected coming in.”
After the game, Neil embraced Garcia and called him “a badass.”
The feeling is mutual.
“He gives us a feeling that we can go out and be reckless, but not in a bad way,” Garcia said of Neil. “We can go out and have a good time. A lot of times in pro sports, you lose that aspect because everything is so political and stressed out, basically.”
Young said the team appreciates the fact that Neil — who watched the game from front-row seats on the 25-yard line — is around a lot.
“It’s a blast, man. Vince is a real hands-on owner,” Young said. “He comes out to practices. We like that, so we come out and bust our ass for him.”
Raterink is amazed at how quickly the team has jelled.
“For this team to only be together for a few weeks and come together, you really could not ask for anything more right now,” he said. “Anytime you open up a franchise, that first win is always huge.”
NOTE — Coronado High School product Tysson Poots, who had three TD catches and 123 receiving yards in the opener, was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.
