The Arizona Rattlers travel to face the Cedar Rapids River Kings on June 1, 2019
River Kings Return Home Against Arizona
With
playoffs out of the question for Cedar Rapids, the rest of this season
is about tightening up loose bolts for next. One of those loose bolts is
at the quarterback position, but Cedar Rapids might have found their
guy.
Dalton Oliver, third quarterback to get behind
center for Cedar Rapids, got his time to shine against Quad City after
Ben Wilkerson’s departure from the game (3-5; 25 yards). His performance
was noticed, as he completed around 50% of his passes (11-21) for 118
yards, three touchdowns, and a lonely interception. His progression in
these next few games will be very good for Dalton to get important
reps.
With a new quarterback throwing to them, the
receivers seemed to be consistent in recent games. Drake White reeled in
five balls for 51 yards, and a single touchdown. Marquel Wade caught
four for 51 yards, and a touchdown, while Jordan Smith also caught four
for 41 yards and two scores. The receiving core seemed to warm up well
to the new guy.
On the ground, Wilkerson was the top
guy. He ran the ball nine times for 23 yards, but he was unable to find
the end zone. Nate Chavious, who has shown he can be an offensive
weapon, rushed the ball a meager three rushes for negative four yards.
However, he was able to make up for his lackluster performance on the
ground by returning three kickoffs for 106 yards returning and a
touchdown. The River Kings will need to find their running game if they
plan on having offensive success, especially with a newer quarterback.
Defensively,
the River Kings find themselves rarely stopping teams from scoring.
Against the Quad Cities, the River Kings only stopped the Steamwheelers
from scoring on two drives. Out of eleven drives, six of them resulted
in a touchdown for touchdowns and two of them resulted in field goals.
If the River Kings want to win anymore games, they’re going to need to
find a way to keep the enemy out of the end zone.
On
the opposing side in this Week 15 matchup, the River Kings will be
facing the undefeated Arizona Rattlers. While, on paper, this game does
not mean much to either team, wouldn’t it be great story if these River
Kings broke up an eleven game win streak?
At
quarterback, Arizona uses Drew Powell for their quarterbacking needs. He
had a near perfect game throwing for around 85% (13-15) which resulted
in 180 yards, five touchdowns, and a goose egg in the interceptions
column.
While Arizona has a lot of offensive weapons,
Powell found himself throwing mainly to two guys Jarrod Harrington (7
receptions, 114 yards, 3 touchdowns) and Quincy Walden (4 receptions, 56
yards, 2 touchdowns). If Cedar Rapids wants to find success against
this white-hot team, they will need to make sure this duo does not rise
above.
As far as rushing went for Arizona, Powell added
onto his five passing touchdowns with a pair of rushing touchdowns. He
ran the ball eight times for 83 yards. Along with Powell, Jabre Lolley
rushed seven times for 39 yards and a single touchdown. Although this
team had its success rushing the ball, if the River Kings can put a stop
to its air attack, they might be able to come out of this game
victorious.
To catch this Week 15 matchup between the Cedar Rapids River Kings and the Arizona Rattlers, you can come on over to the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, or you can catch the game on right here on US Sports Network
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