Arizona Rattlers unable to overcome 5 turnovers in ArenaBowl loss to Philadelphia Soul

Four minutes into ArenaBowl XXIX, Rattlers Nation still was filling Gila River Arena in Glendale, trying to get used to seats they've never sat in, when the "home" team fell into a 21-point hole.

The Rattlers chased and finally caught up with the Philadelphia Soul in the first minute of the final quarter.

But, even after blocking an extra point on the Soul's next touchdown, the Rattlers ran out of touchdowns and fell to the Soul 56-42 before a late-arriving crowd of 13,390 on Friday.

This got away quickly for a team that had scored more than 80 points in its first two playoff games, winning both of those by 40 points.

All-Arena defensive lineman Damien Borel, the motor to the Rattlers' pass rush, was lost with a knee injury on the game's second play. The Rattlers hardly touched quarterback Dan Raudabaugh the rest of the game. Raudabaugh, on the losing end against the Rattlers in the 2012 and '13 championship games, threw six touchdown passes and didn't have an interception.

Fullback Mykel Benson had the ball stripped from him at the Soul 1-yard line by Beau Bell, who had never beaten the Rattlers in five years in the league until this year. Dwayne Hollis scooped up the ball and returned it 49 yards for a score.

Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Tracy Belton, the Arena Football League's Defensive Player of the Year, recovered a ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

It was 21-0 Soul before four minutes into the game.

"They got the breaks," coach Kevin Guy said. "In the end, we turned the ball over five times and got behind early."

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The Rattlers (15-4), who were 10-0 inside Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix (67-7 there since 2011), looked careless and over-hyped from the start, playing in Glendale for the first time since the team began playing in 1992.

They are 1-3 in ArenaBowls in the Valley, the only win coming in 1997.

In their last ArenaBowl at home, in 2011, the Rattlers lost on the final play of the game to the Jacksonville Sharks.

They had to move this ArenaBowl to Glendale because of the WNBA Mercury's return from the Olympics fell on Friday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Before the season began, the league had set this date with ESPN for the final game.

Even though the team had to move to Glendale, Guy said it felt like a home game.

"I thought we had a great crowd, and it was loud in there," Guy said. "The sound system was pretty strong. And our fans were in it. Unfortunately, the way they started it kind of affected them a little bit. It really got loud when we got the momentum back."

Nick Davila, who was 3-1 in ArenaBowls with the Rattlers before Friday, wasn't able to rally them after the blocked extra point gave them a chance to go down and take their first lead in the final quarter.

The Rattlers had five turnovers, three by Davila, who also was intercepted twice.

None of the Rattlers players were made available to talk to media after the game.

Defensive lineman Jake Metz, who will be reporting to the Philadelphia Eagles' NFL camp on Monday, came up with the biggest play yet. He broke free and knocked the ball loose from Davila before he had a chance to throw. Metz recovered at his 20, and Raudabaugh inserted the dagger, hitting Shaun Kauleinamoku in the end zone for a 20-yard score. After Raudabaugh found Ryan McDaniel for the two-point conversion, the lead was 56-42 with three minutes left.

"We got some bounces our way early," Raudabaugh said. "You can't count them out, though. They've got probably the best quarterback who ever played the game. They fought hard and got back in it. We made plays at the end when we needed it. I'm just proud of our guys."

This was big for Raudabaugh, who stumbled twice at ArenaBowl neutral sites. In the 2012 game, the Rattlers built a huge lead early with Raudabaugh throwing three interceptions.

Philadelphia won its first ArenaBowl since 2008, when rock star Jon Bon Jovi was part of the ownership group.

"My offensive line, as good a pass rush as Arizona has, kept me upright about 99 percent of the time, about 99 percent of the year," Raudabaugh said. "I treated this like any other game. You've got to be ready for this experience. Coach (Clint Dolezel) put in a great game plan. It just exudes confidence and energy and we came out like that tonight."

Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.