Arizona Rattlers' offensive firepower too much for Cleveland Gladiators

Saturday night's Arena Football League game in the desert had plenty of down time. Maybe the fan promotion that -- of all things -- turned into an injury topped the cake. All the short dump passes in the first half that had fans complaining about a lack of big plays or maybe just their impatience for a quick score didn't help either.

Even still, this was Arena Football, where scoring is at a premium. And the US Airways Center fans eventually got what they came to see in a matchup featuring two of the league's division leaders. The Arizona Rattlers beat the Cleveland Gladiators, 63-42, to maintain first place in the National Conference West.

In a game where the American East-leading Gladiators (6-4) went from a conventional, methodical drive offense in the first half to a look-to-score-quickly scheme in the second, the Rattlers simply had too much offense.

Arizona (9-2) turned a one-score game for most of the second half into a 20-point lead with just under seven minutes to play when Trandon Harvey caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Nick Davila. It came one play after Virgil Gray intercepted Gladiators quarterback Kurt Rocco.

Cleveland put together a 5:25 drive that required four first downs before the Gladiators cashed in on Rocco's 6-yard touchdown run on the opening possession. The Rattlers scored three straight touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead, the third score coming on Gray's 52-yard missed field goal return.

Cleveland's Russell Monk scored on a 13-yard run with 7:58 left in the first half to cut the Rattlers lead to 21-14. But Davila hit Jason Geathers from 13 yards out to push Arizona up by 14.

Cleveland ran 27 plays in the first half, doubling Arizona's quick-strike offense. The Rattlers scored their 28 first-half points on 14 plays.

NOTES: Receiver Troy Bergeron (727 yards, 19 TDs) did not make the trip after suffering a shoulder strain in the win over the Philadelphia Soul last week. ... Cleveland had a 35-yard touchdown pass called back on the last play of the first half on a holding penalty. ... In one of the Rattlers promotions following a third quarter score, a fan backpedaling toward the end zone in a moonwalker-like suit fell and smacked his head off the turf. Paramedics attended to him in a 15-minute game stoppage.