It was a typical Arena Football League game Friday night at the Pepsi Center.

There were 21 points in the final minute of the first half and 20 points in the final 1:45 of a game in which the Colorado Crush edged the Arizona Rattlers 56-54 before 12,376 fans.

"In the Arena League, who knows what is going to happen?" Crush quarterback John Dutton said.

He was right; there even was an unusual goal-line stand by the Crush defense in the waning minutes of the game.

Colorado held a 49-41 lead and Arizona had a first down on the Colorado 4-yard line with more than 4 minutes left.

Arizona snapped the ball 11 times and Colorado was whistled for three penalties before the Rattlers finally scored on a 1-yard run by former Crush standout Kevin McKenzie with 1:45 to go.

The Rattlers attempted a pair of unsuccessful two-point conversions.

Robert Thomas intercepted Sherdrick Bonner's pass on the first try, but the Crush was called for pass interference. Then, Rashad Floyd knocked away Bonner's second pass, and Colorado held on to a 49-47 lead.

"We held them, we ran down the clock and they had no timeouts left," Floyd said. "That gave us the opportunity to win the game.

"They ran a lot of plays. But that is what this league is about. Continue to growl and saying no. We're not going to let you score, and if you do, you are going to have to bleed, kick and scratch."

Damian Harrell recovered the ensuing onside kick and almost scored before kneeling down at the Rattlers' 1-yard line. Colorado wasted as much time as possible before Thomas scored with 45 seconds to play as the Crush increased its lead to 56-47 with Jason Ball's extra- point kick.

Arizona, with no timeouts, scored with 20 seconds remaining and trimmed the Colorado lead to 56-54, and Harrell again recovered the onside kick and the Crush was able to run out the clock.

The Rattlers came into the game allowing a league-high 72 points a game, but Arizona was the AFL's second-highest- scoring team, averaging 68 points a game.

Dutton passed for 293 yards and six touchdowns, but he threw two interceptions after Arizona turnovers, which helped keep the Rattlers in the game.

"You kind of exhale when we get a turnover and go up by two touchdowns, and maybe I exhaled a little bit," Dutton said. "I'm going to learn from that. I kept them in the game. Our defense played great."

Harrell, who had three catches in last week's win over Grand Rapids in limited duty because of a quadriceps injuries, caught eight passes in the first half, and four went for touchdowns as Colorado grabbed a 35-27 lead at intermission.

He finished with 10 catches for 154 yards as Colorado, which plays Thursday at Philadelphia, improved its record to 2-1 and concluded a season-opening three-game homestand.

Arizona fell to 0-3.

"We gave one away (season-opening loss to Grand Rapids) and we had to come back and get the next two," Dutton said. "We're all right. We're getting better every game. We have a tough road game, so we'll see how we really are."

ETC.: Vail resident Bob Hernreich purchased the Arizona Rattlers in 2005 because of his attraction to the AFL's action and a bet. "I laid a bet down that they (AFL) were going to get a new television contract," he said. "I was probably a little optimistic. We didn't get a paid contract but we got a great contract with

ESPN where they are coming in not only as our broadcast partner, but as an equity partner. My bet halfway paid off." . . . McKenzie, who was released by Colorado before the season opener for salary-cap reasons, is a backup wide receiver for Arizona. He returned five kickoffs for 91 yards and scored once on a 1-yard run. . . . Harrell extended his AFL-record streak with a touchdown to 68 consecutive games. . . . Defensive back Chris Angel, signed Monday by the Crush, started the game in place of Tony Scott, who was placed on injured reserve with a pulled hamstring.

Arizona......7	20	14	13	-	54
Colorado......14	21	7	14	-	56

First quarter

Colorado - Damian Harrell 5 yd pass from John Dutton (Jason Ball kick), 12:11.

Arizona - Jeremiah Pope 33 yd pass from Sherdrick Bonner (Gary Kral kick), 9:53.

Colorado - Harrell 19 yd pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 7:30.

Second quarter

Arizona - Pope 5 yd pass from Bonner ( Kral kick failed), 10:50.

Colorado - Harrell 11 yd pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 7:08.

Colorado - Willie Quinnie 9 yd pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 2:42.

Arizona - Randy Gatewood 19 yd pass from Bonner (Kral kick), :53.

Colorado - Harrell 14 yd pass from Dutton (Ball kick), :45.

Arizona - Pope 6 yd run (Kral kick), :37.

Third quarter

Arizona - Pope 17 yd pass from Bonner (Kral kick), 13:06.

Colorado - Quinnie 14 yd pass from Dutton ( Ball kick), 9:29.

Arizona - Pope 6 yd pass from Bonner (Gary Kral kick), 1:15.

Fourth quarter

Colorado - Robert Thomas 2 yd run (Jason Ball kick), 11:22.

Arizona - Kevin McKenzie 1 yd run ( Bonner pass failed), 1:45.

Colorado - Robert Thomas 1 yd run ( Ball kick), :45.

Arizona - Gatewood 3 yd pass from Bonner (Gary Kral kick), :30.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Arizona, Kelly 10-19, Pope 1-6, McKenzie 1-1, Bonner 1-0; Colorado, Thomas 3-5, Dunn 1-1.

Passing - Arizona, Bonner 22-37-1-266; Colorado, Dutton 25-36-2-293.

Receiving - Arizona, Gatewood 10-101, Harvey 7-89, Pope 5-76; Colorado, Harrell 10-154; Pyatt 7-36,Quinnie 6-67, Redd 2-36.

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bentonj@RockyMountainNews.com

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