The Arizona Rattlers dealt with a move to a new home across the Valley, a slow start to the season and more injuries than any time in the Kevin Guy coaching era this season.And there were health scares with two key staff members.But in the end, the Rattlers held up the Indoor Football League national championship trophy inside Lee’s Family Forum on Saturday after taking apart the Massachusetts Pirates 53-16 to cap an improbable late-season run.A rash of injuries hit them early. That included losing newly signed quarterback Dalton Sneed for a month after he sustained a knee injury in the first half of the season opener. They also were without defensive backs Davontae Merriweather, Dillion Winfrey and running back Shannon Brooks for much of the first two months.Sneed, Brooks and Merriweather were vital parts in Saturday’s rout, with Sneed passing for two TDs and running for another, Brooks running for three TDs and Merriweather intercepting three passes, including two in the final quarter, earning MVP honors.It was the seventh championship in Arizona Rattlers’ history playing in the Arena Football League and now the Indoor Football League. The last was in 2017, their first year in the IFL, with the previous titles coming in the AFL.It was their most dominating championship win since their last Arena Bowl title in 2014 when the Rattlers went into Cleveland before a big, raucous crowd and quickly took apart the favored Gladiators 72-32.”There was a lot of life lessons learned from this past season,” said Guy, who won his fifth championship leading the Rattlers. “This team’s story will show it’s about how you finish and working through the process the whole season.”Some had the Rattlers written off in the first month, after a 1-3 start that included three consecutive losses.With Sneed returning at quarterback, the Rattlers ended up going 12-1, with his three best games coming in crunch time in the playoffs, including a 2-yard TD run with time expiring to win at Vegas 39-38 in the first round. Sneed led the Rattlers back from a 15-point deficit to start the final quarter.During the tough beginning, the Rattlers relocated from their Mesa practice digs, leaving Gene Autry Sports Complex to Glendale’s Desert Diamond Arena. The team also left Footprint Center, in downtown Phoenix as their home field, where they had played since they started in 1992. Desert Diamond Arena became their home field.There were other challenges. Their athletic trainer was out with injuries suffered in a car accident as the Rattlers were going through one injury after another. Guy credited the medical partners at OrthoArizona for stepping up big during that time.There were other challenges.For a while, Guy noticed something was off with assistant general manager and coach Jeff Jarnigan, a longtime frien …
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