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ArenaBowl VIII was the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
's eighth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #3
Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...
(8–4) of the American Conference against the #1
Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...
(11–1) of the National Conference. The Rattlers were making their first ArenaBowl appearance in their three-year history, while the Predators were in their second ArenaBowl in their four years in the league (having lost to the
Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...
in
ArenaBowl VI ArenaBowl '92 (or ArenaBowl VI) was the Arena Football League's sixth Arena Bowl. The game featured the #2 Detroit Drive (8–2) against the #1 Orlando Predators (9–1). Earlier in the regular season, these two teams met with the Predators winning ...
). Arena Bowl VIII was the first to use a
roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
in its name (''a la'' the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
); all previous games used a shortened version of the year in which it was played (such as ArenaBowl '93).


Game summary

In the first quarter, Orlando struck first with
Ben Bennett Allen Beverly Bennett II (born May 5, 1962) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. He also was a member of the Jacksonville Bulls, Chicago Bruisers, D ...
completing a 5-yard TD pass to Alex Shell, while Arizona responded with
Sherdrick Bonner Sherdrick Deon "Sed" Bonner (born October 19, 1968) is a former American football quarterback who played fifteen seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). High school years Bonner attended Azusa High School in Azusa, California and was a stude ...
completing a 33-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman. The Predators wrapped up the first quarter with
Jorge Cimadevilla Jorge Cimadevilla (born November 11, 1965) is a former American football placekicker who played seven seasons in the Arena Football League with the Orlando Predators, Tampa Bay Storm and Nashville Kats. He played college football at East Tennesse ...
making a 24-yard Field Goal. 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 Luis Fernando Zendejas (born October 22, 1961) is a Mexican former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Arena Football ...
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 McCurey Hercules "Herkie" Walls (born July 18, 1961) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League and Arena Football League. Walls is currently the head coach of the Orlando Predators of the National A ...
. 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 Barry Wagner (born November 24, 1967) is a retired American football player in the Arena Football League for the Orlando Predators, with whom he won his first ArenaBowl Championship, and the San Jose SaberCats, with whom he won two championships. ...
'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.http://www.arenafootball.com/mediaPlayer/video.dbml?DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=38064&SPID=3172&DB_OEM_ID=3500&CLIP_ID=29172&CLIP_FILE_ID=33146&CONTENT_TYPE=ONDEMAND * The Orlando Predators were favored by 16 points.


References


External links


ArenaFan box score
{{Orlando Predators
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1994 Arena Football League season Arizona Rattlers Orlando Predators 1994 in sports in Florida Sports competitions in Orlando, Florida 1994 in American television September 1994 sports events in the United States 1990s in Orlando, Florida