Monday night (March 10) the Los Angeles Avengers travel to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Rattlers at US Airways Center in a Mitsubishi Motors Western Division matchup on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday. The game, which will be broadcast live in high definition at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2, will provide a national showcase for a number of notable arenafootball2 (af2) alumni on both sides.

 

The Avengers (1-0, No. 5 in the Week 2 AFLWA rankings) will take the field with seven players with af2 experience. Among the group, one to keep a close eye is WR/KR TIMON MARSHALL. Marshall, in his first year with Los Angeles, has spent the last three years with the Grand Rapids Rampage. In his Avengers debut last week, Marshall made an immediate impact with nine catches for 119 yards and three touchdowns (180 all-purpose yards). He is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he led the AFL in all-purpose yards. In 2007, he played in 13 games for Grand Rapids before signing with the Chicago Bears in early June. Despite missing the Rampage’s final three games, he still led the League with 3,050 all-purpose yards in addition to catching 102 passes for 1,134 yards and 27 touchdowns. Marshall also returned 83 kickoffs for 1,901 yards (averaging 22.9 yards) with six return touchdowns. The former two-year af2 veteran (Oklahoma City 2004, Tulsa 2003) enjoyed his best af2 campaign in 2004 with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. That year Marshall amassed a team-high 2,139 all-purpose yards, including 1,073 on 73 receptions (28 TDs) and 1,004 on 50 kick returns (2 TDs). He also recorded 38 tackles on defense.    

 

The Rattlers (1-0, No. 9 in the Week 2 AFLWA rankings) feature six players on their roster with af2 experience. The athlete to focus on among them is WR KEVIN NICKERSON. Nickerson is in his fourth season in the AFL and his first with Arizona. In his debut with Arizona last week, the former Central Missouri State standout caught nine passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns, all game highs. He also scored one rushing touchdown as well. Last year in Austin, he was the second-leading receiver for the Wranglers with 90 receptions for 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns. Nickerson played nine games as a wide receiver/defensive back with the af2’s Tulsa Talons in 2002, catching 14 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned six kickoffs for 146 yards for an average of 24.3 yards per return and one touchdown, and notched six tackles and intercepted one pass for 30 yards and a touchdown. Another player who had a strong start to 2008 was DB ISAIAH TRUFANT, a former af2 player with Spokane. Trufant registered three tackles and one interception in the Rattlers one-point win over Utah in Week 1. The second-year player from Eastern Washington spent his rookie year with Kansas City in 2007, starting seven of the eight games in which he participated. Despite only playing in half the team’s games, Trufant led the Brigade with 17 pass breakups and was third on the team with 52.5 tackles. He also led the team with three recovered fumbles. Before earning his AFL opportunity, Trufant was a key contributor down the stretch for the af2’s Spokane Shock in 2006 as the team won the ArenaCup title.

 

Los Angeles	Arizona
Eddie Canonico – Cincinnati 2003	Patrick Afif – Rio Grande Valley 2006
David Davis – W-B/Scranton 2004-07	Asi Faoa – San Diego 2005
Clay Harrell – Everett 2006	Jerrian James – Pensacola 2002, Tenn. Valley 2003-04
Tim Hicks – Charleston 2003, W-B/Scranton 2004,	Kevin Nickerson – Tulsa 2002
W-B/Scranton/Bossier-Shrev. 2005, Quad City 2006	Chris Robinson – Peoria 2004, Rio Grande Valley 2005
Greg Krause – Mohegan 2003	Isaiah Trufant – Spokane 2006
Timon Marshall – Tulsa 2003, Oklahoma City 2004
Sean McNamara – Quad City 2000

             

The Rattlers coaching staff is also heavily laden with af2-experienced individuals. They are led by former af2 head coach turned AFL head coach KEVIN GUY. Guy joined Arizona after spending two seasons with the San Jose SaberCats as their Defensive Coordinator. Guy helped lead the team to two consecutive Western Division Championships and an ArenaBowl XXI title in 2007. Prior to joining San Jose, Guy served as a head coach in the af2 for four seasons where he finished with the most coaching victories in the history of the league. Guy amassed 52 career wins, a Sportexe Coach of the Year honor and compiled a .732 winning percentage while leading the Tennessee Valley Vipers (2002-04) and Rio Grande Valley Dorados (2005). In 2005, Guy guided the Dorados to a 10-6 regular season record and a trip to the league's National Conference Championship game. He currently ranks fourth overall on the all-time af2 coaching wins list behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s RICH INGOLD (60), Arkansas’ CHRIS SIEGFRIED (57) and Austin’s BEN BENNETT (56). Guy began his Arena Football coaching experience in 2000 after a four-year playing career. He started the 2000 campaign as the Defensive Coordinator with the New Jersey Red Dogs before, at only 26 years of age, being elevated to Interim Head Coach for the remaining four games of the season. Guy’s top two assistants this season are Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator SKIP FOSTER and Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach TONY BOWICK. Foster was an af2 head coach for three seasons with Tulsa, guiding the Talons to an ArenaCup title in his final season with the team in 2003. Bowick spent 2006 as an assistant with the Albany Conquest.          

 

Los Angeles swept the Rattlers in 2007 and hold a 5-2 record all-time in Arizona as they look to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2004 after defeating the New Orleans VooDoo, 59-42, in the season opener. Arizona looks to ride the momentum from their 63-62 Week 1 victory over the Utah Blaze and begin their season with two consecutive victories for the first time since 2000.