The Arizona Rattlers are playing in the Indoor Football League in 2017, their first season in the league.

Each week, azcentral sports will preview the matchup and recap the game on this page.

Darrell Monroe rushed for 93 yards, quarterback Darron Thomas threw three touchdowns and the Rattlers (1-2) rolled to their first win in the Indoor Football League, burying the Colorado Crush 71-27 on Saturday at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Adam Sauder led Arizona with 15 total tackles and recovered a fumble, while Chris McCallister racked up two sacks and five tackles for loss.

The Rattlers now enter a bye week before returning to action March 26th against the Green Bay Blizzard.

Preview

Colorado Crush (0-2) at Rattlers (0-2)

When: 6 p.m.

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena.

TV/Radio: YouTube/The Fanatic 1580 AM, 99.3 FM.

Scouting report: Both teams look break through the win column. This is an Intense Conference game. The Crush is coming off a 54-36 loss to the Nebraska Danger. The Rattlers struggled to close out their first two games at Sioux Falls and at home against the Iowa Barnstormers. Rattlers receiver Demarius Washington was the IFL Offensive Player of the Year last season when he played for the Crush. Crush QB Sean Goldrich passed for 131 yards and two TDs last week. Rattlers QB Darron Thomas ranks fifth in the IFL in average passing yards at 172.5. He has thrown nine TD passes and three interceptions. Goldrich is seventh at 136.5.

Interactive football taking IFL by storm

The Rattlers host the Colorado Crush on Saturday, one of two Indoor Football League teams that have fans involved in the play-calling.

Project FANchise ownership group acquired the Crush in October. It also owns the Salt Lake City Screaming Eagles, which had a storm-the-field moment in the season opener after the team’s first touchdown called by the fans, who pay a $9.99/month premium fee to be involved in in-game decisions.

Fans hopped the sideline boards and celebrated as if their team had just won the championship, even though the team was trailing by a touchdown even after the score. They were doing selfies with players, before order was restored and the game resumed.

Through an Eagles app, fans go to their iPad or iPhone and download the play in which they want run. It’s not just Salt Lake City fans. Fans from 99 countries can sign up for it. Fans even voted on the team’s colors, uniforms, logo.

This is ground-breaking stuff.

But can it work?

William McCarthy lasted just two games with the Screaming Eagles, before he was let go after a 42-41 win over Colorado. He has since been replaced by former Arena Football League coach Matt Sauk this week.

In a Screaming Eagles release on the IFL website, team President Thom Carter said, “philosophical differences pertaining to the management of the team have led us to the decision to part ways with Coach McCarthy.”

Rattlers coach and general manager Kevin Guy said he didn’t know too much about the virtual coach concept those teams are doing.

“I don’t know how it works, to be honest with you,” Guy said.

Last month, Project FANchise and the IFL launched Virtual Front Office in a partnership with all 10 IFL teams. Fans can sign up for the premium package for Virtual Coach, Virtual GM, or Virtual Scouting. It allows them have inside access to the team they choose.

“It’s steps to get more fans involved,” IFL Commissioner Mike Allshouse said. “Every team is going  to have its own comfortability level. Each team in the league goes at its own pace. See what’s working. It’s a business model. There is nothing wrong with more input and involvement with the teams. It pays great dividends.”

Asked about it, Guy said, “I have no idea.”

“If it doesn’t make sense to me, I don’t deal with it,” he added.

Rattlers receiver Demarius Washington, who played for Colorado last season when he was the IFL Offensive Player of the Year when he had 1,223 receiving yards, said it would be difficult to run plays called by fans.

“To come in, if you were the coach, you want to call the plays to be successful,” Washington said. “To have the fans call the plays, I think that can be a little bit intriguing.”

Allshouse said it’s too early “to put a feather in our cap” about it, but “the early results are very encouraging.”

“The sample size is not big enough,” he said. “The league as a whole has followed the lead (of the Crush and the Screaming Eagles). We were behind the technology. I think you’re seeing the league and other member teams get more interactive with video or social media.”

So far the biggest hit with the fans, Allshouse said, has been the YouTube live streaming of all games at no cost.

Sunday, Feb. 26

Barnstormers 51, Rattlers 47

Two weeks into a new Rattlers era, coach Kevin Guy said he’ll have a lot of evaluating to do following Sunday’s 51-47 loss to the Iowa Barnstormers.

The Rattlers, among the elite for much of their 24 years in the Arena Football League where they won five championships, are now 0-2 in what many had considered a lesser league, the Indoor Football League.

A respectable crowd of 11,438 showed up for the Rattlers’ home opener at Talking Stick Resort Arena, where it seemed the Rattlers would take apart the team they beat 20 years ago at home in the ArenaBowl.

Even newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, who was on the losing end as the Barnstormers quarterback in that 1997 ArenaBowl, came out to be part of the pregame coin flip.

But after taking a 14-6 first-quarter lead on two Darron Thomas touchdown passes, the Rattlers were held scoreless until five seconds remained in the third quarter when Thomas found Anthony Amos for a 7-yard scoring pass.

By then, the Rattlers were scrambling back to try to catch the Barnstormers (1-1).

“We have to execute better,” said Thomas, who ran for 61 yards on seven carries. “It just comes with hard work.”

Amos is one of the only two holdovers from last year’s AFL Rattlers that reached the title game, and he served as a complementary piece.

“We’ve got all new players,” Guy said. “It’s not necessarily the rules and the game. You’ve got all new players and you’re learning what they can and can’t do. We’ve only had a few weeks with them. We’re trying to figure out who can do what.

“Right now we need some leaders. We need some guys to step up. Right now I feel like we’ve got too many individuals. It’s too quiet. Not enough energy on the sidelines, and guys stepping up like we’ve had in the past. That’s part of development. We’ve got to develop that right now as a team.”

After Guy felt good about his defense in the 40-29 loss at six-time defending IFL champion Sioux Falls in the opener, he now has to reevaluate that part of the team after the way the Barnstormers ran on his team Sunday.

Quarterback Travis Partridge completed 15 of 19 for 153 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran seven times for 25 yards and a score. Ryan Balentine, a wide receiver, ran nine times for 19 yards and two scores.

Guy didn’t want to see 36 passes thrown, but that is what Thomas did, completing 20 for 189 yards and six touchdowns. But he had two passes intercepted with the last one coming with 24 seconds left.

Thomas showed flashes of what made him such a standout college player at Oregon with his legs. He took off for a 20-yard score, then found running back Ketrich Harmon for a 21-yard score in the final quarter when the Rattlers executed two onside kicks to overcome a two-touchdown deficit and regain the lead 47-44 with 5:51 left.

But a long kick return led to a 9-yard scoring pass from Partridge to Brady Roland with 3:53 left for Iowa’s winning score.

Harmon, starting at running back for the first time, fumbled two handoffs from Thomas. The Rattlers lost one of those fumbles.

“We need to look at our defenses and see if we’re putting them in the right positions,” Guy said. “The first thing I’m going to do is look at myself, critique myself, then we’ll move to the players. At the end of the day, it falls at my desk and I’ve got to get it corrected.”

Friday, Feb. 17

Sioux Falls Storm 40, Rattlers 29

At Sioux Falls, SD

Rattlers on offense: Quarterback Darron Thomas was 14-of 28 passing for 156 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, which was returned 50 yards for a Sioux Falls touchdown that turned the game in the second half and led to the Storm’s 63rd consecutive home win. Anthony Amos had five receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Darnell Monroe lost a fumble.

Rattlers on defense: Allen Chapman led Arizona with nine tackles, including one for a loss. Storm quarterback Lorenzo Brown was held to 59 yards passing with one touchdown.

March 26

Who: Rattlers at Green Bay Blizzard

Where: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wis.

When: 1 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

April 1

Who: Rattlers vs. Wichita Falls Nighthawks

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 6 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

April 7

Who: Rattlers at Nebraska Danger

Where: Eihusen Arena, Grand Island, Neb.

When: 5:05 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

April 14

Who: Rattlers at Salt Lake Screaming Eagles

Where: Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

When: 6 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

April 22

Who: Rattlers vs. Spokane Empire

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 6 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

April 29

Who: Rattlers vs. Green Bay Blizzard

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 6 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

May 5

Who: Rattlers at Cedar Rapids Titans

Where: U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

When: 5 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

May 12

Who: Rattlers at Spokane Empire

Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.

When: 7 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

May 20

Who: Rattlers vs. Salt Lake Screaming Eagles

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 6 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

May 28

Who: Rattlers vs. Nebraska Danger

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 3 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

June 3

Who: Rattlers at Spokane Empire

Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.

When: 7 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube

June 11

Who: Rattlers vs. Cedar Rapids Titans

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix

When: 3 p.m.

TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus

June 16

Who: Rattlers at Colorado Crush

Where: Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colo.

When: 5 p.m.

TV: Indoor Football League on YouTube