GLENDALE, Ariz. – Texas Rattlers coach Cody Lambert has said multiple times this season that his Rattlers team was happy to get a victory but left unfinished business in the arena.

The PBR co-founder has been pushing his team to strive for excellence all year, and his riders would often say the same thing.

Whether it was 47-year-old Ednei Caminhas, 24-year-old Cody Jesus, newcomer Daniel Keeping, or anyone else representing the Rattlers, they all echoed Lambert.

“We know we can ride five bulls.”

Well, Texas picked a great time to finally taste perfection.

The Rattlers (14-12, Ridge Rider Days 1-0) rode all five of their bulls in the team’s crucial 431-256 victory over the Carolina Cowboys (14-12, Ridge Rider Days 0-1) Friday night at Ridge Rider Days.

Texas is sitting fifth in the PBR Team Series standings, but it is only one game back of the league-leading Oklahoma Freedom (15-11, Ridge Rider Days 0-1).

The Top 2 teams at the end of the regular season on Sunday afternoon receive a first-round bye for the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship on Nov. 4-6 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.

“The odds were stacked against us a few weeks ago, and they still are a little bit coming in here, but we knew we had a chance if we win all three of our games,” Lambert said. “If we do that, then we’ll feel really good about it. We’ve won one, so we’ve got to get ready for tomorrow and do the best we can on that one.”

PBR TEAM SERIES STANDINGS (Top-5 teams separated by one game)

No. 1 Oklahoma (15-11, 36 Bonus Points) No. 2 Arizona Ridge Riders (14-11-1, 28.5 Bonus Points) No. 3 Carolina Cowboys (14-12, 65 Bonus Points) No. 4 Austin Gamblers (14-12, 57 Bonus Points) No. 5 Texas Rattlers (14-12, 40 Bonus Points) No. 6 Missouri Thunder (12-14, 37 Bonus Points) No. 7 Kansas City Outlaws (12-14, 31.5 Bonus Points) No. 8 Nashville Stampede (6-19-1, 28.5 Bonus Points)* *Locked into No. 8 seed for the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship

Texas is slated to face the Arizona Ridge Riders (14-11-1) on Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena. The Ridge Riders moved up to No. 2 in the PBR Team Series standings with a slim 86-84.5 victory over No. 1 Oklahoma (15-11).

Alisson de Souza was the difference-maker for the Ridge Riders with his 86-point ride aboard Clark.  

“Man, this is the most important game of the year so far in this deal,” Arizona technical coach Paulo Crimber said. “We have the advantage of being at home. It’s the energy from the crowd. Alisson just told me he felt the energy when he was getting on. It kind of reminded himself in his mind of when he was in Barretos riding a bull there, and that’s what makes a difference. That’s what we want. We need this help. We didn’t expect to ride one bull out of five, but it’s part of it, right? We don’t have to put our heads down. The team is great. They’ll come back strong tomorrow.”

Texas, meanwhile, is the first team ever to ride five bulls in one game and has now won eight consecutive games.

“Oh, that’s exactly what we’re looking for,” Lambert said following the win. “I’m really disappointed that Brady (Fielder) got hurt after such a great ride, too, but the guys all handled it, and it wasn’t five of them that we got lucky on. The bull riders dominated their bulls. They’re the ones that ride them, and I trust them guys to do it.”

Fielder told PBR.com late on Friday night he was released from the hospital and diagnosed with a lower back injury after he was stepped on following his 87.25-point ride on Mikey’s Surprise. Fielder’s ride gave Texas the lead for good after Joao Ricardo Vieira (83.75 points on Next Strand) began the game for Texas with a qualified ride and Cooper Davis (84.25 points on B Hummer’s Gold) answered for Carolina.

The injury was the lone blemish on Texas’s otherwise best performance of the season.

Braidy Randolph kept the mojo rolling for Texas with his 83.75-point ride on Zorro, and Rafael de Brito chipped in 88.5 points on High Plains Drifter.

“That’s always the goal, is to go 5-for-5, because if you ride five, you’ve got a good shot at winning the game if you ride all five,” Randolph said. “It just eliminates any little issue in the game, and just makes it better if you ride all of them.”

By the time Cody Jesus crawled into the bucking chutes, Texas had already clinched the win, but he knew he had to do all he could to help Texas finally pull off the monumental feat of perfection.

Sure enough, the home-state cowboy from Window Rock, Arizona, did not disappoint as he rode Drago for 87.75 points.

“It was huge,” Jesus said. “Once I seen the first one get rolling, and then the second one, and the third one, and then finally the fourth one, then it was me. And I just believed in myself, and I figured Lambert wanted me as a top draft pick for a reason. I wasn’t going to blow it and have us go 4-for-5, so I just stepped up to the plate and tried to do the best I could.

“That’s what we’re shooting for. If we go 3-for-5 and we win a game, that’s cool, but every time we crawl down in the bucking chutes, we want 5-for-5. So I felt like the job wasn’t done yet, so we had to go 5-for-5.”

Now Jesus will look to play spoiler on Saturday night and help Texas continue its pursuit of a first-round bye when the team takes on Arizona. Jesus had expected Arizona to select him with the No. 6 pick of the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft this past May, but the Ridge Riders instead chose Luciano de Castro.

“I know we have a chance at that bye, and we’re going to keep riding our bulls and doing our job,” Jesus concluded.

SATURDAY NIGHT GAME SCHEDULE (9:45 p.m. ET, RIDEPASS ON PLUTO TV) Carolina Cowboys (14-12, Ridge Rider Days 0-1) at Missouri Thunder (12-14, Ridge Rider Days 0-1) Oklahoma Freedom (15-11, Ridge Rider Days 0-1) at Nashville Stampede (6-19-1, Ridge Rider Days 1-0) Austin Gamblers (14-12, Ridge Rider Days 1-0) at Kansas City Outlaws (12-14, Ridge Rider Days 0-1) Texas (14-12, Ridge Rider Days 1-0) at Arizona (14-11-1, Ridge Rider Days 1-0)

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media