Avengers’ Quest Starts at the Top

The Avengers began their season with a victory over the Arizona Rattlers at America West Arena in Phoenix.

Today, they return to the same building, intent on not having the season end there.

The Avengers (9-7), the lowest-seeded team in the eight-team Arena Football League playoffs, play the top-seeded Rattlers (11-5) in a quarterfinal between teams that finished the regular season going in opposite directions.

Arizona -- which eliminated the Avengers in the quarterfinals last season -- won its final eight regular-season games, including last week’s 50-43 victory at San Jose that earned the Rattlers the top spot in the playoffs. It was the second time in a month that Arizona had defeated the SaberCats.

The Avengers, meanwhile, lost to Orlando, 52-50, at Staples Center, their third defeat in their last five regular-season games.

Not surprisingly, Avenger players and coaches downplayed the momentum factor from the moment they learned they had backed into the playoffs last Sunday.

“We’re not thinking about the regular season anymore,” Avenger defensive back Kevin Ingram said earlier this week. “We’ve proven we can beat this team on the road.”

The Avengers defeated Arizona, 51-32, on Feb. 8 by pressuring quarterback Sherdrick Bonner.

The Avengers intercepted four of Bonner’s passes and sacked him twice en route to their third consecutive season-opening victory.

But the Avengers don’t expect another poor performance by Bonner, an 11-year veteran who led his team to a 42-38 victory over the Avengers at Staples Center on May 1 and has thrown only four interceptions since the opener.