The Tucson Sugar Skulls outscored the San Antonio Gunslingers 19-7 in the fourth quarter and was one onside kick away from potentially winning in miraculous comeback fashion, but a scoreless first quarter and turnovers proved to be the difference.
Tucson (2-13) lost its seventh consecutive game, a 49-43 setback Saturday night to San Antonio (8-7) in its last game at the Tucson Convention Center in the 2024 season.
The Sugar Skulls will travel to play the Las Vegas Knight Hawks on Saturday for their final game of the season. The last time these two teams met, Tucson upset the Knight Hawks 51-50 at the TCC on May 18.
“I think we played hard,” Tucson coach Billy Back said of Saturday’s loss to San Antonio. “We started out slow in some phases of the game, but our guys put some effort out there. We battled a lot games. It came down to the last possession to make it one more play. we’re a young team, we gotta get passed that hump at some point. We haven’t done it yet.”
Tucson found itself down 49-23 in the beginning of the fourth quarter, but just as the seats were starting to clear, the Sugar Skulls would attempt to mount a comeback.
In 10 minutes, the Sugar Skulls scored three unanswered touchdowns to put them within six points of at least tying.
Mike Carrigan started the comeback attempt with an 8-yard rushing touchdown, making it a 49-30 game with 9:07 remaining.
Tucson followed the touchdown with a successful onside kick attempt, giving it the ball back at its own 11.
Brian Smith was responsible for the last two touchdowns scored for the Sugar Skulls. Five plays after the successful onside kick attempt, Vincent Espinoza connected with Smith on a 17-yard passing play making it 49-36 with 4:39 left to play following the failed 2-point attempt.
After a drive that resulted in no points for San Antonio, Tucson got the ball back and wasted no time in scoring another touchdown.
In four plays, Espinoza found Smith once again for a 22-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 49-43 with 44 seconds left.
Tucson tried another onside kick, but it failed. San Antonio lined up in victory formation for the final few plays of the game.
The Sugar Skulls hoped to get revenge on the Gunslingers (8-7) from the last time they played on April 18, when San Antonio won convincingly 60-36 at home.
The wide receiver corps continued to impress just as they have been doing all season, despite having eight different quarterbacks in the back field through 18 weeks.
Carrigan and Smith were electrifying in Saturday’s game, having a combined total of four touchdowns and 140 receiving yards.
Espinoza, who is the latest quarterback to call the plays in a Sugar Skulls uniform, was shaky in the beginning of the game, but quickly picked things up in the second half.
“I think he played solid,” Back said. “I think early on he missed a couple of reads, but at the same time he ran well , threw it well. He did a lot of good things for us and he’s eager to learn. He’s a great kid.”
San Antonio won the coin toss and elected to kick the ball to start the game. Carrigan caught the kickoff and ran it back to the 15-yard line.
Tucson gained 13 yards on the beginning drive, but two bad snaps put the Sugar Skulls back to its own 13 and attempted a field goal on fourth down.
The Gunslingers returned the missed field goal to their 18 to set their beginning drive. San Antonio made its way to the Tucson 3 before capping the drive off with a quarterback run, putting the Gunslingers up 7-0 with 4:49 to play in the first quarter.
Carrigan set Tucson with great field position at the San Antonio 14, but a holding penalty moved it back to its own 6.
Espinoza connected with Mike Jones on a 2-yard passing play, but San Antonio’s Tre Long forced a fumble, giving them the ball back at the Tucson 16.
San Antonio moved the ball to the Tucson 4 and finished the drive off with a rushing touchdown by Kali Rashaad, putting the Gunslingers up 14-0 with 13 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Tucson’s next drive began at its own 20 after San Antonio’s kick sailed out of bounds. It only took one play to answer back with a touchdown of its own.
Espinoza found a wide-open Carrigan strafing down the field and completed the 30-yard pass in the end zone, slicing San Antonio’s lead in half at 14-7 with 14:23 left in the half.
San Antonio and Tucson exchanged drives that did not result in any points after that. San Antonio’s drive stalled out at Tucson’s 24 and Espinoza’s pass was intercepted on the San Antonio 13.
An unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the Gunslingers even closer to the end zone at Tucson’s 22.
San Antonio took advantage of the turnover and scored on a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Castronova, putting the Gunslingers back up by two possessions with a 21-7 score with 4:34 left in the half.
Tucson started its next drive at the 25 after the kickoff went out of bounds behind the end zone. The Sugar Skulls took little time to answer back with a touchdown.
With 51 seconds remaining in the half, Espinoza found Tyron Laughinghouse in the right corner of the endzone to cut San Antonio’s lead to 21-14.
In just 30 seconds, the Gunslingers went back up by two possessions. Castronova connected with DJ Myers on an 18-yard passing play to go up 28-14 with 20 seconds left in the half.
Tucson found itself at San Antonio’s 1-yard line with 13 seconds left on its next drive, but could not punch it in despite three rushing attempts.
San Antonio received the ball to start the second half and was set at the 25 after the ball hit the roof. The Gunslingers scored on the very first play after Castronova ran a run-pass-option, bolstering their lead at 35-14 with 14:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Tucson started its drive at its own 20 and couldn’t gain much yardage after that. Its drive stalled at the San Antonio 23 and a field goal was attempted and made, making it a 35-17 football game with 10:06 left in the third.
San Antonio began its drive at its own 8 and took its time to get across the field. in seven plays and six minutes, Castronova scored on a 2-yard rush to put the Gunslingers up 42-17 with 3:39 left in the third.
The Sugar Skulls stopped the bleeding with a 13-yard touchdown by Espinoza, making it a 42-23 game with 1:12 in the third.
San Antonio finished its next drive with a 13-yard touchdown from Castronova to Nyqwan Murray, putting it up 49-23 with 10:51 to play.
Tucson scored the next three touchdowns.
Espinoza ended the game completing 12 of 24 passes with four touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one interception.
Carrigan finished with seven catches for 101 yards with a receiving touchdown and rushing touchdown. Smith had two catches for 39 yards and two touchdowns.
Laughinghouse had one catch for 4 yards and a touchdown.
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