Post by alecs on Jul 16, 2023 16:13:02 GMT -8
Panthers 44, Gladiators 35
7/16/23 --
RIO RANCHO, NM - Sunday night held one final contest to wrap up the 2023 Indoor Football League regular season, as Duke City hosted the playoff-bound Bay Area Panthers in an attempt to close out the season with a victory. Despite resting some starters for the game, including quarterback Dalton Sneed, the Panthers still spoiled the home finale for Duke City, collecting their tenth win of the season by a score of 44-35.
After Panthers kicker Craig Peterson began the game with a deuce on the first kickoff, the Bay Area defense forced a quick four-and-out on the Gladiator offense. Felix Harper would lead his Panthers to the one-yard line, but tossed an interception to Tyron Laughinghouse, who played snaps both offensively and defensively today for the Gladiators. Duke City's offense was unable to capitalize, however, falling into a 4th-and-long situation and trotting Ernesto "The Most Interesting Man in the World" Lacayo for a 39-yard field goal attempt, which went wide to the left. The Panthers took over on their own five-yard line, and ran out the rest of the first quarter on that possession. The score after 15 minutes of play, 2-0 favoring Bay Area.
The first touchdown of the game would be provided by MVP candidate Justin Rankin, taking the first play of the quarter in for a one-yard plunge. After missing the extra point off the left post, Peterson atoned for that mistake with his second deuce of the ballgame, which made it 10-0 Panthers. A deep pass into the endzone from Charles McCullum was intercepted by Marquise Bridges for a touchback. An eight-play scoring drive by the Panthers would follow, with Rankin again finding paydirt on a two-yard rush. Bridges would once more get his hands on an errant McCullum pass for his second interception of the quarter. But then Harper tossed his second interception shortly after, with Kam Prewitt providing the pick for Duke City. Inside the one-minute warning, the Gladiators finally got on the board, thanks to a 17-yard pass from McCullum to Xavier Amey. A long field goal attempt by Peterson sailed wide right for the Panthers to close out the half, but they still carried a 17-7 lead into the locker room nonetheless.
The Panthers received the second half kickoff and got the first massive play of the game, when Harper found a wide open Cutrell Haywood for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Another missed PAT by Peterson kept the score 23-7. On a lengthy seven-play drive, the Gladiators found the endzone for a second time on a McCullum to Laughinghouse hookup for two yards. Bay Area was quick to respond though, requiring just one play for Harper to complete a touchdown pass to J.T. Stokes from 25 yards out. Desperately trying to stay in the ballgame, Duke City scored once more on Amey's second receiving touchdown of the contest (nine yards). After a first half that saw just 24 combined points, the third quarter accounted for 26, and the Panthers led 30-20 after three.
The next Panthers possession saw Rankin complete his hat trick, taking a one-yard rush in for his third touchdown of the ballgame. McCullum led another scoring drive that was bookended by a three-yard to completion to Laughinghouse, the receiver's second score of the evening. A successful two-point rush by Demry Croft cut the deficit down to nine points. The Panthers were able to put the game away with a drive that took the time all the way down to the one-minute warning; the scoring play was a Harper 14-yard pass to Stokes. The Gladiators would provide one final highlight-reel score before the game's conclusion, with Amey hauling in a 25-yard pass from McCullum that he was able to secure while flipping over the corner boards of the endzone. An attempted onside kick by Lacayo was very nearly recovered by Duke City, but Bridges was able to obtain possession of the ball for the Panthers, who then salted the rest of the clock away to preserve the 44-35 victory.
In the spot start for Dalton Sneed (rest), Felix Harper went 17-of-23 passing for 225 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the Panthers with 23 yards on three carries. Justin Rankin had three rushing touchdowns, but on a modest six-carry, three-yard rushing line. Cutrell Haywood was the team's leading receiver, with seven catches on eight targets for 114 yards and a touchdown. J.T. Stokes had six catches on seven targets for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Marquise Bridges made waves on defense with a pair of interceptions.
Charles McCullum completed 14 of 26 passes for 129 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in the loss, while carrying seven times for 36 yards to lead Duke City in rushing. Tim Whitfield turned six total touches into 15 yards. Xavier Amey caught four of seven targets for 57 yards and three touchdowns, while Tyron Laughinghouse netted three catches on seven targets for 13 yards and two scores. Laughinghouse also had an interception while playing some "Ironman" snaps on defense. Claude Davis recorded one sack, while Kam Prewitt had the other interception for the Gladiators defense.
Bay Area finishes the season with a 10-5 record, good for second place in the Western Conference. They will host the #3 seeded Tucson Sugar Skulls on Sunday evening in the first round of the IFL Playoffs, set for a 3:05 kickoff. Duke City will conclude its season with a mark of 5-10, tying them for the worst record in the West along with the Vegas Knight Hawks.
The Panthers sweep the season series from the Gladiators, having defeated them 69-52 in the reverse fixture at SAP Center on June 3rd. The all-time season series is now tied at two apiece heading into the 2024 campaign.
Any times listed in this recap are pacific daylight time. Click for our complete 2023 IFL Schedule.
7/16/23 --
RIO RANCHO, NM - Sunday night held one final contest to wrap up the 2023 Indoor Football League regular season, as Duke City hosted the playoff-bound Bay Area Panthers in an attempt to close out the season with a victory. Despite resting some starters for the game, including quarterback Dalton Sneed, the Panthers still spoiled the home finale for Duke City, collecting their tenth win of the season by a score of 44-35.
After Panthers kicker Craig Peterson began the game with a deuce on the first kickoff, the Bay Area defense forced a quick four-and-out on the Gladiator offense. Felix Harper would lead his Panthers to the one-yard line, but tossed an interception to Tyron Laughinghouse, who played snaps both offensively and defensively today for the Gladiators. Duke City's offense was unable to capitalize, however, falling into a 4th-and-long situation and trotting Ernesto "The Most Interesting Man in the World" Lacayo for a 39-yard field goal attempt, which went wide to the left. The Panthers took over on their own five-yard line, and ran out the rest of the first quarter on that possession. The score after 15 minutes of play, 2-0 favoring Bay Area.
The first touchdown of the game would be provided by MVP candidate Justin Rankin, taking the first play of the quarter in for a one-yard plunge. After missing the extra point off the left post, Peterson atoned for that mistake with his second deuce of the ballgame, which made it 10-0 Panthers. A deep pass into the endzone from Charles McCullum was intercepted by Marquise Bridges for a touchback. An eight-play scoring drive by the Panthers would follow, with Rankin again finding paydirt on a two-yard rush. Bridges would once more get his hands on an errant McCullum pass for his second interception of the quarter. But then Harper tossed his second interception shortly after, with Kam Prewitt providing the pick for Duke City. Inside the one-minute warning, the Gladiators finally got on the board, thanks to a 17-yard pass from McCullum to Xavier Amey. A long field goal attempt by Peterson sailed wide right for the Panthers to close out the half, but they still carried a 17-7 lead into the locker room nonetheless.
The Panthers received the second half kickoff and got the first massive play of the game, when Harper found a wide open Cutrell Haywood for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Another missed PAT by Peterson kept the score 23-7. On a lengthy seven-play drive, the Gladiators found the endzone for a second time on a McCullum to Laughinghouse hookup for two yards. Bay Area was quick to respond though, requiring just one play for Harper to complete a touchdown pass to J.T. Stokes from 25 yards out. Desperately trying to stay in the ballgame, Duke City scored once more on Amey's second receiving touchdown of the contest (nine yards). After a first half that saw just 24 combined points, the third quarter accounted for 26, and the Panthers led 30-20 after three.
The next Panthers possession saw Rankin complete his hat trick, taking a one-yard rush in for his third touchdown of the ballgame. McCullum led another scoring drive that was bookended by a three-yard to completion to Laughinghouse, the receiver's second score of the evening. A successful two-point rush by Demry Croft cut the deficit down to nine points. The Panthers were able to put the game away with a drive that took the time all the way down to the one-minute warning; the scoring play was a Harper 14-yard pass to Stokes. The Gladiators would provide one final highlight-reel score before the game's conclusion, with Amey hauling in a 25-yard pass from McCullum that he was able to secure while flipping over the corner boards of the endzone. An attempted onside kick by Lacayo was very nearly recovered by Duke City, but Bridges was able to obtain possession of the ball for the Panthers, who then salted the rest of the clock away to preserve the 44-35 victory.
In the spot start for Dalton Sneed (rest), Felix Harper went 17-of-23 passing for 225 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the Panthers with 23 yards on three carries. Justin Rankin had three rushing touchdowns, but on a modest six-carry, three-yard rushing line. Cutrell Haywood was the team's leading receiver, with seven catches on eight targets for 114 yards and a touchdown. J.T. Stokes had six catches on seven targets for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Marquise Bridges made waves on defense with a pair of interceptions.
Charles McCullum completed 14 of 26 passes for 129 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in the loss, while carrying seven times for 36 yards to lead Duke City in rushing. Tim Whitfield turned six total touches into 15 yards. Xavier Amey caught four of seven targets for 57 yards and three touchdowns, while Tyron Laughinghouse netted three catches on seven targets for 13 yards and two scores. Laughinghouse also had an interception while playing some "Ironman" snaps on defense. Claude Davis recorded one sack, while Kam Prewitt had the other interception for the Gladiators defense.
Bay Area finishes the season with a 10-5 record, good for second place in the Western Conference. They will host the #3 seeded Tucson Sugar Skulls on Sunday evening in the first round of the IFL Playoffs, set for a 3:05 kickoff. Duke City will conclude its season with a mark of 5-10, tying them for the worst record in the West along with the Vegas Knight Hawks.
The Panthers sweep the season series from the Gladiators, having defeated them 69-52 in the reverse fixture at SAP Center on June 3rd. The all-time season series is now tied at two apiece heading into the 2024 campaign.
Any times listed in this recap are pacific daylight time. Click for our complete 2023 IFL Schedule.
All IFL games through the conference finals 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.
- AS
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