AVENGERS GET THEIR REVENGE L.A. POWERS PAST RATTLERS AVENGERS 51, ARIZONA 32.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

The sign held by a fan Sunday in the America West Arena stands read ``Nothing But a Championship in 2004,'' an homage to the two-time defending ArenaBowl-finalist Arizona Rattlers and a play to get on television during NBC's broadcast of the game.

By the end of the afternoon, however, the Avengers had made the same statement on the home field of their Arena Football League division rival.

Led by their revamped defense, the Avengers intercepted All-Arena quarterback Sherdrick Bonner a career-high four times, gave up touchdowns on just five of 11 possessions and rolled to a 51-32 season-opening victory in front of 14,343 in Phoenix.

``This is definitely a championship team,'' said Avengers lineman Al Lucas, signed away as a free agent from the Tampa Bay Storm in the offseason, ``and we have everything in place to win the championship.

``I have a good feeling that this could be one of the best teams ever in the history of the Arena Football League. Anything less than an ArenaBowl championship would be a disappointment.''

The Avengers defense, which gave up 50.1 points per game on average last season, looked night-and-day different against the Rattlers, the team that eliminated the Avengers a year ago in the playoffs.

It started with Kevin Ingram, Russell Shaw, Damen Wheeler and Cornelius Coe. Each intercepted Bonner, the former Cal State Northridge quarterback, who threw just seven interceptions all last season.

Rookie Josh Jeffries and the newly signed Lucas each sacked Bonner, and Avengers coach Ed Hodgkiss described his team's pass rush afterward as the best he'd seen in three seasons with the Avengers.

Lucas also forced Hunkie Cooper to fumble with six minutes left, and Shaw recovered to seal the victory. In addition, the Avengers' new defensive toughness was on display at the goal line at the end of the third quarter, stopping the Rattlers on the first three downs. Only a facemask penalty on fourth down enabled the Rattlers to score.

``The defense won this game for us,'' Hodgkiss said. ``Let's hope they can carry on for the rest of the season.''

Quarterback Tony Graziani completed 14 of 27 passes for 214 yards and six touchdowns without throwing an interception. Those six touchdowns went to five different receivers. Offensive specialist Chris Jackson caught two touchdowns and threw another to Kevin Ingram on a reverse.

But the story was the Avengers' resurgent defense. Lucas sacked Bonner on the game's third play, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

``It was something different than we got used to last year,'' Jackson said. ``We made some big acquisitions that have panned out for us. Our whole defensive secondary came up with big games today.''

The Rattlers also helped the Avengers as Arizona kicker Nelson Garner missed three extra-point attempts. The Avengers never trailed and took a 35-18 halftime lead, though Arizona did fight back at the start of the third quarter.

After a Graziani fumble led to a Rattlers touchdown, the third-year quarterback had a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Cooper. But an offside call on Frank Trentadue negated the score.

The Rattlers got back the ball but Wheeler intercepted Bonner along the sideline. Two plays later, Jackson floated a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ingram to make it 42-24.

Bonner finished 18 of 33 for 241 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Former Avengers receiver Siaha Burley had six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns for Arizona but was not a factor in the second half.

It was as big a victory as the Avengers could have in the first week of February. They lost 70-63 to Arizona in last year's playoff quarterfinals and Jackson acknowledged it was ``huge'' to win Sunday.

``To come away with a win against that quality of an opponent hopefully will propel us (to) great things,'' Hodgkiss said.

--Note: Avengers lineman Jeremy Staat suffered a sprained knee ligament in the game. He will undergo an MRI today in Los Angeles.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com