Last week the Arizona Rattlers (10-6) lost to San Diego (10-6) 46-26.

Despite that loss and having the same record— the Arizona Rattlers had homefield advantage Monday for the first-round playoff matchup against San Diego, because of conference record.

The two teams split in the regular season, making the playoff matchup the rubber match.

The night before, the No.4 seed Vegas Knight Hawks took down the No. 1 seed Bay Area Panthers, 36-31 leaving San Diego with homefield advantage for the Western Conference championship game.

On Monday, the Arizona Rattlers defense were the ones to strike first when San Diego Strike Force QB Nate Davis lost control of the ball in the endzone, a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Kevin Simes Jr. giving the Rattlers a 7-0 lead.

Both offenses would find the endzone on the next five drives making 21-21, giving the Rattlers the ball with 1:31 left in the half.

The Rattlers drove all the way down, and Dalton Sneed found wide receiver Isaiah Huston for a six-yard touchdown with three seconds left, however it was called back because of an illegal- hands to the face call on offensive lineman Briarson Mays, forcing the Rattlers to kick a 36-yard field goal.

However backup kicker Nick Belcher missed it wide right keeping 21-21 at half.

San Diego started off the second half with a boom, when wide receiver Author Jackson took a short pass 30 yards to the house giving them a seven-point lead.

A short-lived lead however, running back Ron Brown Jr. tied it with a nine-yard rushing touchdown.

San Diego came right back with a nine-yard screen pass to running back Edward Vander, putting them back up seven.

The Rattlers responded when Sneed threw a deep ball that was bobbled and caught by Reed Jr. for a 19-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for the Rattlers, Nick Belcher missed the PAT making it 35-34 Strike Force.

After a defensive stop from both teams, San Diego found the endzone again, with a two-yard Edward Vander rushing touchdown making it 42-34.

The Rattlers offense found the endzone in the form of a Shannon Brooks one-yard rushing touchdown, however the two-point try was unsuccessful, putting the Rattlers down two. 

Arizona being down late, attempted an onside kick, miraculously they recovered it.

The Rattlers capitalized on the recovery, as Sneed found receiver Isaiah Huston in the back of the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown. 

The first two-point attempt was called back for an offensive pass interference putting the second attempt on the 18-yard line. Somehow Sneed created magic and found Isaiah Huston to make it 48-42 with 41 seconds left.

San Diego had no timeouts.

Nate Davis found receiver John Maldonado with 14 seconds left, but he was tackled in bounds, so the clock kept running, hurrying up to the line, somehow someway Nate Davis the snap off with one second left, which lead to him finding Arthur Jackson III in the endzone with no time left.

The extra point from kicker Ernesto Lacayo was right down the middle and the San Diego Strike Force ended the Arizona Rattlers season.

Rattlers Head Coach Kevin Guy went on a frustrated tirade during post-game over the performance of the officials. 

“Operations was bullshit, clock guy, replay guy, they’re fired, they will never work for me again, the flag was thrown for a false start and they went and reviewed and picked it up, they were out of reviews, so they put it on the officials review, the whole thing was a clusterfuck,” Guy said. “It seems like we always get screwed at home at the end, alright, I don’t really give a shit if the league fines me or not, I’m so tired of the referees being part of the game. I’m so freaking tired of it.”

San Diego will host Vegas for the Western Conference Championship next week.