KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Arizona Ridge Riders know what they need to do to fuel Alisson de Souza on gameday, and coach Colby Yates and teammates Keyshawn Whitehorse and Chase Dougherty made sure to give Souza a special delivery on Friday afternoon in Kansas City.  

Souza is obsessed with strawberry milkshakes, and the Ridge Riders have comically bought into this new superstition that the more Souza drinks milkshakes, the better he rides.

So, sure enough, Yates and company decided to pick up a milkshake for their leadoff rider ahead of Outlaw Days.

What began in June in Tryon, North Carolina, when Souza helped lead the Ridge Riders to a preseason victory continued in Cheyenne when Souza drank another milkshake on gameday to go 2-for-2 on the final night of competition.

“It's just like Popeye, the guy with big arms who has to eat spinach to get strong,” Souza explained to PBR.com this week with a big laugh and the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “It is my power drink. Every time I had a milkshake, either before or after, I did really well, so we just make sure to give me all the sugar.”

Souza said his love of milkshakes really became a thing once he moved to the United States in 2018. Ironically, when he first tried to order one at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport four years ago the cashier could not understand what he wanted and gave him a fruit smoothie instead.

Of course, a smoothie would be the much healthier and preferred choice for Yates and Crimber to see Souza drinking on game day, but the Arizona coaches are going to keep doubling down on the milkshake theme if Souza continues performing like he did on Friday night at Outlaw Days.

Souza helped kickstart the Ridge Riders (2-1, Outlaw Days 1-0) with an 87-point ride on Off Campus on Friday night and it was the beginning of Arizona spoiling the Kansas City Outlaws (1-2, Outlaw Days 0-1) debut in front its home crowd with a 170.5-80.25 victory.

The T-Mobile Center was absolutely rocking once the Outlaws were introduced, and Souza did his best to hush the crowd to sleep with his ride.

“You get those butterflies in your belly,” Souza said of his reaction to riding in a hostile environment.”

“Just the fact you get anxious, and you want to win, and so many things happen. We were kind of confident we were going to win, and that’s what we’re here for.”

Three-time Missouri High School state champion bull rider Koltin Hevalow got the Outlaws to within 6.25 points of Arizona when he hung on to Big Mac for 80.25 points, leading to a massive ovation from the Kansas City crowd.

At that point, Hevalow had his teammates jumping up down and the fans in attendance were just as jacked up.

It could have been a major turning point.

However, that joy quickly evaporated when Luciano de Castro pushed the Ridge Riders up by 90.25 points with his 83.5-point ride on Arkansas later in the game.

“I knew it was not going to be easy beating the house favorite, the home team,” Castro said with the help of Crimber. “The crowd, the noise, should give the riders a lot of motivation. That’s what we feel like. We knew it was going to be tough because that’s going to help them get ahead and try to get the rides. But we did what we came here to do.”

Marcus Mast tried to rally Kansas City to victory, but his 77.75 points on Cowboy Cool was not going to be enough, and he eventually bucked off his second re-ride bull of the night, Norse God, in 5.75 seconds to end the game.

Both Yates and Crimber were not happy with the re-rides being called at the end of the night, but the coaching duo was all smiles when the final score had Arizona walking out of the victory.

“Alisson’s been great, starting all the games, and Luciano’s been great finishing, and it’s just been amazing,” Crimber said. “We thought we could’ve had a couple different calls there on the re-ride stuff, but God is good, and I think his will is always going to stand up.”

It was a win that would not be possible for Arizona without their Popeye hero Souza and first-round draft pick Castro, and Yates says he will be hunting down more milkshakes this weekend.

“I’m proud of both of these guys,” Yates concluded. “Alisson de Souza and Luciano have been clutch players for our team so far in this early season. Those are guys that we couldn’t do without. They’re the real deal. We like starting with Alisson and ending with Luciano, and it works almost every time.

“Milkshakes are still coming. We’ll keep them coming. I mean, look. I feel like when we fill in those gaps (in our lineup) in the middle, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. I promise.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media