ArenaBowl VIII
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| Date | September 2, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Arena | Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Sherdrick Bonner, QB, Arizona
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| Attendance | 14,368 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Winning coach | Rick 'Doc' Walker | ||||||||||||||||||
ArenaBowl VIII was the
Arena Bowl VIII was the first to use a
Game summary
In the first quarter, Orlando struck first with
In the second quarter, the Rattlers took the lead with Bonner completing a 6-yard TD pass to Calvin "Shakes" Schexnayder, but the Predators retook the lead with Bennett and Shell hooking up again on a 42-yard touchdown pass. Arizona regained the lead before halftime with Luis Zendejas kicking two field goals, a 23-yarder and a 40-yarder.
In the third quarter, the Rattlers increased its lead with Bonner's 2-yard touchdown pass to Milton Vaughn; Orlando responded with Bennett's 38-yard touchdown pass to Herkie Walls.
In the fourth quarter, Arizona added on to its lead with Zendejas kicking a 21-yard field goal, yet the Predators retook the lead with WR-DB Barry Wagner's 4-yard touchdown run. The Rattlers regained the lead with Bonner and Schexnayder hooking up again on a 24-yard touchdown pass, but the following two-point conversion failed. In the final seconds, Bennett threw a deep ball to try to get a touchdown in order to take the lead for good, but it ended up incomplete.
With the win, the Arizona Rattlers won their very first ArenaBowl in franchise history.
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
- ORL – Shell 5-yard pass from Bennett (Cimadevilla kick)
- ARI – Tillman 33-pass from Bonner (Zendejas kick)
- ORL – 24-yard FG Cimadevilla
2nd Quarter
- ARI – Schexnayder 6-yard pass from Bonner (Zendejas kick)
- ORL – Shell 42-yard pass from Bennett (Cimadevilla kick)
- ARI – 23-yard FG Zendejas
- ARI – 40-yard FG Zendejas
3rd Quarter
- ARI – Vaughn 2-yard pass from Bonner (Czyzewski kick)
- ORL – Walls 38-yard pass from Bennett (Langeloh kick)
4th Quarter
- ARI – 21-yard FG Zendejas
- ORL – Wagner 4-yard run (Cimadevilla kick)
- ARI – Schexnayder 24-yard pass from Bonner (Zendejas drop kick failed)
Trivia
- On the Arena Football League's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown, this game was ranked #14.[1]
- The Orlando Predators were favored by 16 points.