Post by Monika on Jul 28, 2024 18:36:18 GMT -8
Strike Force 49, Panthers 40
7/28/24 --
SAN JOSE, CA - Nate Davis connected with Arthur Jackson III on four touchdown passes as the San Diego Strike Force catapulted themselves into the Western Conference Championship Game with a 49-40 defeat of the top-seeded Bay Area Panthers tonight at SAP Center.
San Diego garnered the win in its first-ever playoff game over a team they had fallen to three out of four times in the regular season (see below). The Strike Force had earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference by the conclusion of the regular season. They will visit the Arizona Rattlers in the Western Conference Championship Game on Monday, August 5 at 7 p.m. Arizona upended the second-seeded Vegas Knight Hawks in the first round, 39-38, to earn their ticket to the next round. The Rattlers play their home games at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The game was set for Monday due to the arena being booked on August 3-4 for a Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party.
The Strike Force move to 11-6 including this game, while the Panthers fall to 13-4 as the defense of their 2023 IFL championship comes to an end. The panthers still lead the overall series 5-4 with a 3-2 mark at home.
Elsewhere, the Massachusetts Pirates will visit the Green Bay Blizzard in the Eastern Conference Championship Game on August 2 with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. The Pirates and Blizzard defeated the Frisco Fighters and Quad City Steamwheelers in the first round, respectively.
Bay Area took just three plays to score on the opening drive of the game when Daquan Neal called his own number and scampered 32 yards up the middle for the score. San Diego answered with a 20-yard touchdown strike from Davis to Jordan Kress in the shallow left corner of the end zone. Jazeric Peterson's 45-yard return on the ensuing kickoff put the Panthers back up 14-7 four minutes into the game. The Strike Force tied it up at 14 apiece with Davis nine-yard touchdown strike to Jackson. The Panthers went back up by a touchdown when Neal churned himself into the end zone from two yards away. Bay Area forced a turnover on downs by the Strike Force and took over the ball.
The Panthers led 21-14 at the end of one. With Bay Area driving in the red zone, Neal's pass was intercepted by KiShawn Walker and returned to the nine yard line where San Diego started their next drive. Davis hit Kress for a 41-yard pass down to the Bay Area seven-yard line. They scored when backup quarterback Rudy Johnson took the snap out of the wildcat formation and scrambled around the left side for a two-yard touchdown with 5:47 left in the first half. The Strike Force have utilized Johnson as a running back and receiver during much of this season. Neal's two-yard rush up the middle put the Panthers back in front by a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the half. Conor Mangan nailed a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut into the Panthers lead. Bay Area led 28-24 at the half.
The Strike Force took its first lead of the game four minutes into the third quarter when Davis hit Jackson for a 15-yard touchdown across the middle. Mangan's point after try, however, sailed wide left. The Panthers were forced to try a 37-yard field goal from Craig Peterson, but his kick went wide left. San Diego went up by eight when Davis found Jackson in the back left corner of the end zone.
Neal pulled the Panthers closer with a 22-yard strike to Peterson, but Neal's pass to the end zone for the two-point conversion was deflected, leaving the Strike Force with a two-point lead. They added to that courtesy of Davis' 13-yard strike to Xavier Amey, who was open in the right side of the end zone. Mangan missed his third straight extra point and the Strike Force led 42-34 with 9:19 remaining. Neal rushed for a 26-yard score down the right sideline with six minutes remaining to pull Bay Area to within two. The Panthers went for the two-point conversion, but Neal's pass was broken up by the Strike Force's Atoa Fox. Jackson caught his fourth touchdown pass from Davis; a 10-yarder as he was going to the ground in the middle of the end zone to put the Strike Force up with 2:12 remaining. Down nine, the Panthers drove down to the San Diego two-yard line where Neal was intercepted by the Strike Force's Elijah Belle with 53 seconds left. That allowed the Strike Force to run out the clock to move on to the next round.
Davis completed 15 of 32 passes for 216 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Jackson had five catches for 54 yards to go with his four touchdowns. Jordan Kress caught three balls for 71 yards and a score, while the newly signed Amey had a pair of receptions for 41 yards and a score. Johnson rushed for 27 yards off six caries and a touchdown. Fox led the defense with four tackles and was a menace to Panthers receivers all night. Belle and Walker had interceptions and Javian Williams recorded a big sack in the final minute.
Neal threw just eight passes, completing two of them for 29 yards with a touchdown and a pair of picks. He also rushed for 107 yards off 17 carries and four scores. Shane Simpson rushed nine times for 49 yards. Antwon Kincade, who had 101.5 tackles in the regular season, paced the Bay Area defense with 6.5 tackles.
San Diego outgained Bay area 247 yards to 180. That included a 187-yard advantage in the passing game, while the Panthers had a 125-yard edge on the ground. The Strike Force were flagged 10 times for 80 yards, while the Panthers were cited six times for 138 yards.
The teams met four times during the regular season with the Panthers winning three. A "(H)" denotes the home team in each game.
April 20 - Panthers (H) 53, Strike Force 50
April 23 - Panthers 33, Strike Force (H) 32
June 16 - Strike Force 43, Panthers (H) 42
July 20 - Panthers 30, Strike Force (H) 20
All playoff games with the exception of the National Championship Game will be streamed live on the Stadium 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. Click for our complete IFL 2024 Schedule.
7/28/24 --
SAN JOSE, CA - Nate Davis connected with Arthur Jackson III on four touchdown passes as the San Diego Strike Force catapulted themselves into the Western Conference Championship Game with a 49-40 defeat of the top-seeded Bay Area Panthers tonight at SAP Center.
San Diego garnered the win in its first-ever playoff game over a team they had fallen to three out of four times in the regular season (see below). The Strike Force had earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference by the conclusion of the regular season. They will visit the Arizona Rattlers in the Western Conference Championship Game on Monday, August 5 at 7 p.m. Arizona upended the second-seeded Vegas Knight Hawks in the first round, 39-38, to earn their ticket to the next round. The Rattlers play their home games at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The game was set for Monday due to the arena being booked on August 3-4 for a Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party.
The Strike Force move to 11-6 including this game, while the Panthers fall to 13-4 as the defense of their 2023 IFL championship comes to an end. The panthers still lead the overall series 5-4 with a 3-2 mark at home.
Elsewhere, the Massachusetts Pirates will visit the Green Bay Blizzard in the Eastern Conference Championship Game on August 2 with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. The Pirates and Blizzard defeated the Frisco Fighters and Quad City Steamwheelers in the first round, respectively.
Bay Area took just three plays to score on the opening drive of the game when Daquan Neal called his own number and scampered 32 yards up the middle for the score. San Diego answered with a 20-yard touchdown strike from Davis to Jordan Kress in the shallow left corner of the end zone. Jazeric Peterson's 45-yard return on the ensuing kickoff put the Panthers back up 14-7 four minutes into the game. The Strike Force tied it up at 14 apiece with Davis nine-yard touchdown strike to Jackson. The Panthers went back up by a touchdown when Neal churned himself into the end zone from two yards away. Bay Area forced a turnover on downs by the Strike Force and took over the ball.
The Panthers led 21-14 at the end of one. With Bay Area driving in the red zone, Neal's pass was intercepted by KiShawn Walker and returned to the nine yard line where San Diego started their next drive. Davis hit Kress for a 41-yard pass down to the Bay Area seven-yard line. They scored when backup quarterback Rudy Johnson took the snap out of the wildcat formation and scrambled around the left side for a two-yard touchdown with 5:47 left in the first half. The Strike Force have utilized Johnson as a running back and receiver during much of this season. Neal's two-yard rush up the middle put the Panthers back in front by a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the half. Conor Mangan nailed a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut into the Panthers lead. Bay Area led 28-24 at the half.
The Strike Force took its first lead of the game four minutes into the third quarter when Davis hit Jackson for a 15-yard touchdown across the middle. Mangan's point after try, however, sailed wide left. The Panthers were forced to try a 37-yard field goal from Craig Peterson, but his kick went wide left. San Diego went up by eight when Davis found Jackson in the back left corner of the end zone.
Neal pulled the Panthers closer with a 22-yard strike to Peterson, but Neal's pass to the end zone for the two-point conversion was deflected, leaving the Strike Force with a two-point lead. They added to that courtesy of Davis' 13-yard strike to Xavier Amey, who was open in the right side of the end zone. Mangan missed his third straight extra point and the Strike Force led 42-34 with 9:19 remaining. Neal rushed for a 26-yard score down the right sideline with six minutes remaining to pull Bay Area to within two. The Panthers went for the two-point conversion, but Neal's pass was broken up by the Strike Force's Atoa Fox. Jackson caught his fourth touchdown pass from Davis; a 10-yarder as he was going to the ground in the middle of the end zone to put the Strike Force up with 2:12 remaining. Down nine, the Panthers drove down to the San Diego two-yard line where Neal was intercepted by the Strike Force's Elijah Belle with 53 seconds left. That allowed the Strike Force to run out the clock to move on to the next round.
Davis completed 15 of 32 passes for 216 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Jackson had five catches for 54 yards to go with his four touchdowns. Jordan Kress caught three balls for 71 yards and a score, while the newly signed Amey had a pair of receptions for 41 yards and a score. Johnson rushed for 27 yards off six caries and a touchdown. Fox led the defense with four tackles and was a menace to Panthers receivers all night. Belle and Walker had interceptions and Javian Williams recorded a big sack in the final minute.
Neal threw just eight passes, completing two of them for 29 yards with a touchdown and a pair of picks. He also rushed for 107 yards off 17 carries and four scores. Shane Simpson rushed nine times for 49 yards. Antwon Kincade, who had 101.5 tackles in the regular season, paced the Bay Area defense with 6.5 tackles.
San Diego outgained Bay area 247 yards to 180. That included a 187-yard advantage in the passing game, while the Panthers had a 125-yard edge on the ground. The Strike Force were flagged 10 times for 80 yards, while the Panthers were cited six times for 138 yards.
The teams met four times during the regular season with the Panthers winning three. A "(H)" denotes the home team in each game.
April 20 - Panthers (H) 53, Strike Force 50
April 23 - Panthers 33, Strike Force (H) 32
June 16 - Strike Force 43, Panthers (H) 42
July 20 - Panthers 30, Strike Force (H) 20
All playoff games with the exception of the National Championship Game will be streamed live on the Stadium 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. Click for our complete IFL 2024 Schedule.
-MMM
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