San Jose Brings Home Bowl XVI
The SaberCats have won their first ArenaBowl.

San Jose has won their first-ever Arena Football League title against the Arizona Rattlers at the Compaq Center at San Jose before almost 17,000 fans.

The SaberCats, winning by 38-points, is currently the largest point deficit in ArenaBowl history. While the 52 points scored by San Jose is the sixth-most in championship-game history.

Finishing the 2002 season, the SaberCats were scoring 50-or-more points in all 17 games they played this season, while their 16 wins are the most-ever in an AFL season.

The Rattlers, who have won AFL titles in1994 and 1997, suffered their first ArenaBowl loss in team history.

" We are going to enjoy this championship," said San Jose head coach Darren Arbet, who won his first-ever AFL title as a head coach.

" We just go out and play the game. I have a lot of guys that play with passion everyday and they love to come to work and compete against each other. Whether we are the best team, I don't know."

Earning MVP honors was San Jose QB John Dutton, as he threw for 236 yards and five TD's while completing 20-of 26 passes. These five touchdown passes tie Dutton with Jay Gruden for the third-most thrown in a championship game.

" We were confident coming in," said Dutton. " With the rivalry and all that, we were ready to play and we had something to prove. We came in and dominated from the get-go."

Earning the Ironman of the Game honors was wide receiver/defensive back Omarr Smith after recording 5.0 tackles, all solo, one interception, and a defensive fumble recovery. He also added four receptions for 34 yards and nine rushing yards on two attempts.

Catching eight passes for 97 yards and three scores for the winners was offensive safety James Hundon.

Moving into a tie for second place in ArenaBowl history for career rushing touchdowns with three after scoring on a two-yard run in the second quarter was veteran wide receiver/defensive back Barry Wagner.

Completing 14-of-32 passes for 172 yards, one touchdown, and one interception was Arizona QB Sherdrick Bonner. Maurice Bryant, offensive safety, caught eight passes for a game-high 126 yards and one score for the Rattlers.

Adding the only other score for Arizona, a three-yard touchdown run, was fullback/linebacker Bo Kelly. Defensive safety Ricky Parker led the Arizona defense with 5.5 tackles.

The only points in the opening quarter were scored by the SaberCats, as Dutton found Hundon on a 28-yard scoring strike three plays after Arizona kicker Kyle Pooler misfired on a 37-yard field goal attempt.

The second scoring opportunity of the game for the Rattlers was foiled after Kelly committed the first turnover of the 2002 title game. San Jose's defensive safety Clevan Thomas, the AFL's 2002 Rookie and Defensive Player of the year, caught a short screen pass from Bonner at the five, stripping Kelly of the ball and recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.

" When you started adding up the turnovers, they am ount to something," said Arizona head coach Danny White. " The fumbles, the interceptions - they all hurt. But those things were created by the way San Jose was playing. It was not a fluke. They were physical and they were playing hard."

Taking a 24-point lead into halftime, San Jose took halftime lead in ArenaBowl history, after scoring 17 second-quarter points.

Connecting on a two-yard pass were Dutton and Hundon, kicker Daron Alcorn converted a 31-yard field goal, and Wagner added his rushing score, his sixth touchdown overall.

" They were dominating us pretty good," said White. " They were better prepared. We were out-played and out-coached in every phase of the game."

Dutton finished the half by completing 12-of-16 passes for 148 yards and two scores. Leading all receivers with four receptions for 78 yards and two TD's was Hundon.

Bonner, who was picked off once and sacked another time, connected on only eight of his 20 attempts for 72 yards.

Receiving some sobering news early in the second quarter, Arizona learned veteran lineman Stacy Evans was lost for the game after tearing his right ACL on the last play of the first quarter. Also lost was the Rattlers lineman Sebastian Barrie in the second half to a meniscus tear in his knee.

This was only the second time in ArenaBowl history a team has been shut out in the first half. In addition, this was the first time in Arizona's 11-year history where they have been shut out in any half.

" We finally played a darn near perfect game on defense," said San Jose's Smith. " Every game we've had some busted coverages and some mental mistakes. We knew all year we had the athletic ability and talent to dominate a game."

Continuing their offensive prowess in the third quarter, San Jose tacked on two more touchdowns, 12-yard and 32-yard scoring receptions by James Roe and Jerry Reese. Joining Pittsburgh, Arizona is the only other team in league championship history to be held scoreless through the first three quarters.

" We just couldn't get anybody off the press," said Bonner. " We had guys open, but I couldn't make the throws. We could not get anything going. We could not make any plays. It just wasn't meant to be for us today."

Finally scoring, Arizona's offensive safety, Bryant hauled in a 30-yard TD pass from Bonner. Finishing with two catches for 16 yards on offense and 5.0 tackles on defense, wide receiver/linebacker Hunkie Cooper, caught the ensuing two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 45-8.

The TD pass was Bonner's fifth career ArenaBowl touchdown pass.

Hundon tacked on his third score of the game a little over three minutes later to push San Jose over the 50-point mark, but Kelly capped the scoring with his three-yard scoring run.