Post by DiamondThief on Jun 3, 2023 14:19:47 GMT -8
Sugar Skulls 42, Knight Hawks 41
6/3/23 --
HENDERSON, NV - Sometimes one point makes all the difference in the world.
The Tucson Sugar Skulls completed a fourth quarter rally, which included a rouge, to claim a 42-41 win over the Vegas Knight Hawks this afternoon at Dollar Loan Center. With the victory, Tucson moves into third place in the Western Conference standings regardless of other results from week 12's Indoor Football League action.
Tucson improves to 5-4 with the win, while the Knight Hawks fall to 4-6 and into sixth place. Should the San Diego Strike Force defeat the Tulsa Oilers at home tomorrow, Vegas would technically be bumped down to seventh in the conference behind the Strike Force by virtue of the tiebreaker. This was the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They square off on July 1 at Tucson to complete the season series. The Sugar Skulls now lead the overall series 3-0 (1-0 home, 2-0 away).
The game was originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (pacific daylight time), but was moved to 12:05 p.m. due to the Vegas Golden Knights' National Hockey League playoff game which was scheduled for 5:05 p.m. once their series schedule was set.
Tucson won the toss and deferred. Vegas took the opening kickoff 34 yards and capped it off with a four-yard run around the left side from quarterback Daquan Neal. After getting the ball at the Vegas 12-yard line on the kickoff, the Sugar Skulls Ramone Atkins' fumble was recovered by Jeff Ejekem of the Knight Hawks deep in Vegas territory. They capitalized on an eight-yard strike from Neal to Quentin Randolph. Stevie Artigue's squib kick turned out to be had to handle for Benjamin Jones and the Sugar Skulls started the ensuing drive at their own one-yard line. The Knight Hawks led 13-0 at the end of the opening quarter.
Vegas got on the board early in the second quarter when Atkins found Carrington Thompson, Sr. in the back right corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to six. The Knight Hawks struck back on a four-yard run around the right guard from Malik Honeycutt with 8:45 remaining in the quarter. Atkins found a leaping Thompson again; this time for a nine-yard score four minutes later. Neal hit Randolph in the back of the end zone to make it a two-score game with 47 seconds left. The Knight Hawks held a 27-13 advantage at the half.
The Sugar Skulls struck first in the third quarter on a three-yard run around the left side from Mike Jones. The Knight Hawks extended their lead on the next drive when Neal rushed in from six yards out. Tucson scored once more when Benjamin Jones battered his way in from seven yards away. The Knight Hawks led 34-27 going into the final quarter.
The Knight Hawks went back up by two scores on a one-yard touchdown lob from Neal to Caleb Holley in the back of the end zone with just under nine minutes to play. Atkins' 15-yard scramble up the middle once again pulled the Sugar Skulls to within a single score midway through the quarter. Tucson added the rouge when Benjamin Jones tackled Honeycutt in the end zone on the ensuing kickoff. With Vegas driving for what could have been the icing on the cake, Neal was intercepted by Rashie Hodge, who returned it to the Tucson 15-yard line. The Sugar Skulls tied the game on Jones' four-yard run up the middle. Michael Hall gave Tucson its first lead at 42-41 with 26.9 seconds left. Artigue attempted a 25-yard field goal for the win, but it went wide left and The Sugar Skulls preserved the win.
Atkins completed 12 of 13 passes for 118 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for the Sugar Skulls. He also rushed for 79 yards off 13 carries and another score. Mike Jones rushed nine times for 30 yards and two scores. Thompson's six catches, which gave him 52 for the season, went for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Maurice Jackson's 10 tackles led all players and Hodge's interception was Tucson's team-leading fourth of the season.
Neal went 16 of 21 for 228 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also finished with 56 yards off 12 carries with another two scores. Holley had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, and Thompson finished with five grabs for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Gabriel McCoy and Zachary Hannibal had nine and eight tackles, respectively, and Jalen Graves added a sack.
Vegas had an edge of 112 yards in total offense. The major difference came in receiving yards with an advantage of 126 yards. The Sugar Skulls outgained the Knight Hawks on the ground by 26 yards. Vegas was penalized nine times for 96 yards, while Tucson was flagged seven times for 27 yards.
The Knight Hawks will visit the Massachusetts Pirates on June 10 for a 4:05 p.m. kickoff. The Sugar Skulls will host the Duke City Gladiators on June 10 with kickoff set for 6:05 p.m. All times listed are pacific daylight time. Click for our complete 2023 IFL Schedule.
6/3/23 --
HENDERSON, NV - Sometimes one point makes all the difference in the world.
The Tucson Sugar Skulls completed a fourth quarter rally, which included a rouge, to claim a 42-41 win over the Vegas Knight Hawks this afternoon at Dollar Loan Center. With the victory, Tucson moves into third place in the Western Conference standings regardless of other results from week 12's Indoor Football League action.
Tucson improves to 5-4 with the win, while the Knight Hawks fall to 4-6 and into sixth place. Should the San Diego Strike Force defeat the Tulsa Oilers at home tomorrow, Vegas would technically be bumped down to seventh in the conference behind the Strike Force by virtue of the tiebreaker. This was the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They square off on July 1 at Tucson to complete the season series. The Sugar Skulls now lead the overall series 3-0 (1-0 home, 2-0 away).
The game was originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (pacific daylight time), but was moved to 12:05 p.m. due to the Vegas Golden Knights' National Hockey League playoff game which was scheduled for 5:05 p.m. once their series schedule was set.
Tucson won the toss and deferred. Vegas took the opening kickoff 34 yards and capped it off with a four-yard run around the left side from quarterback Daquan Neal. After getting the ball at the Vegas 12-yard line on the kickoff, the Sugar Skulls Ramone Atkins' fumble was recovered by Jeff Ejekem of the Knight Hawks deep in Vegas territory. They capitalized on an eight-yard strike from Neal to Quentin Randolph. Stevie Artigue's squib kick turned out to be had to handle for Benjamin Jones and the Sugar Skulls started the ensuing drive at their own one-yard line. The Knight Hawks led 13-0 at the end of the opening quarter.
Vegas got on the board early in the second quarter when Atkins found Carrington Thompson, Sr. in the back right corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to six. The Knight Hawks struck back on a four-yard run around the right guard from Malik Honeycutt with 8:45 remaining in the quarter. Atkins found a leaping Thompson again; this time for a nine-yard score four minutes later. Neal hit Randolph in the back of the end zone to make it a two-score game with 47 seconds left. The Knight Hawks held a 27-13 advantage at the half.
The Sugar Skulls struck first in the third quarter on a three-yard run around the left side from Mike Jones. The Knight Hawks extended their lead on the next drive when Neal rushed in from six yards out. Tucson scored once more when Benjamin Jones battered his way in from seven yards away. The Knight Hawks led 34-27 going into the final quarter.
The Knight Hawks went back up by two scores on a one-yard touchdown lob from Neal to Caleb Holley in the back of the end zone with just under nine minutes to play. Atkins' 15-yard scramble up the middle once again pulled the Sugar Skulls to within a single score midway through the quarter. Tucson added the rouge when Benjamin Jones tackled Honeycutt in the end zone on the ensuing kickoff. With Vegas driving for what could have been the icing on the cake, Neal was intercepted by Rashie Hodge, who returned it to the Tucson 15-yard line. The Sugar Skulls tied the game on Jones' four-yard run up the middle. Michael Hall gave Tucson its first lead at 42-41 with 26.9 seconds left. Artigue attempted a 25-yard field goal for the win, but it went wide left and The Sugar Skulls preserved the win.
Atkins completed 12 of 13 passes for 118 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for the Sugar Skulls. He also rushed for 79 yards off 13 carries and another score. Mike Jones rushed nine times for 30 yards and two scores. Thompson's six catches, which gave him 52 for the season, went for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Maurice Jackson's 10 tackles led all players and Hodge's interception was Tucson's team-leading fourth of the season.
Neal went 16 of 21 for 228 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also finished with 56 yards off 12 carries with another two scores. Holley had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, and Thompson finished with five grabs for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Gabriel McCoy and Zachary Hannibal had nine and eight tackles, respectively, and Jalen Graves added a sack.
Vegas had an edge of 112 yards in total offense. The major difference came in receiving yards with an advantage of 126 yards. The Sugar Skulls outgained the Knight Hawks on the ground by 26 yards. Vegas was penalized nine times for 96 yards, while Tucson was flagged seven times for 27 yards.
The Knight Hawks will visit the Massachusetts Pirates on June 10 for a 4:05 p.m. kickoff. The Sugar Skulls will host the Duke City Gladiators on June 10 with kickoff set for 6:05 p.m. All times listed are pacific daylight time. Click for our complete 2023 IFL Schedule.
Both games, as well as all IFL games this season, will be streamed live on the IFL's Official YouTube Channel. SCtoC will present previews of those, and all, games this season. Those previews will be posted on the board of the home team in each game.
- ANM
To share this post on social media, please go to the right side of the page (the top of the page on the mobile site) to the social media icons and choose which social media site(s) to share the thread. To comment on this thread and others on this forum, please login or register.