All possessions in Tucson’s first Indoor Football League national championship ended in a score, except for the last one, a stop inches from the goal line by the Vegas Knight Hawks to earn the title over the Green Bay Blizzard on Saturday night at the Tucson Arena.
The game, a 64-61 victory for Vegas, was like basketball with helmets of the Tommy Lloyd variety — up and down, run and gun.
The attendance of 3,251 was less than 50 percent capacity of the 8,962-seat arena, but the volume of the fans, emblematic of the thrill of the game, was at 100 percent.
The MVP once played at Arizona — playmaking quarterback Jayden de Laura — which added to the allure of those in attendance.
In the end, IFL commissioner Todd Tryon was in a celebratory mood, standing next to the platform where he presented the Knight Hawks the IFL championship trophy and de Laura the MVP award.
“Anytime you do a three-year deal, your first year that you do it, you don’t know what to expect, and you build on it each year,” Tryon said, referring to the IFL title game in Tucson through at least the 2027 season. “I’m pretty excited about what we can get it to. You can’t ask for a better game.
“The product was outstanding, and I think we saw that tonight. Now it’s a matter of just continuing to build here in Tucson.”
The pregame tailgate party in the adjacent convention center was well attended. The crowd that included a few fans traveling from Wisconsin and Las Vegas, appreciated the cultural sounds of this area performed by Mariachi Diablitos de Sunnyside and Sunnyside’s folklorico dancers.
The Green Bay and Vegas mascots, as well as the Tucson Sugar Skulls’ Bones, danced, and the IFL Dolls, a cheerleading group featuring members of various teams, also entertained the crowd.
Mariachi Diablitos de Sunnyside and the school’s folklorico dancers performing at the IFL national championship tailgate party. pic.twitter.com/AwGVtL1f4W
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 24, 2025
The premise of two teams from outside of Tucson competing in a spectacle of an event here is similar to the annual Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop, of which Ali Farhang is the chairman of the board.
Farhang, very active in trying to vitalize the community’s image and functionality, is also a minority owner of the Sugar Skulls. He watched Saturday night’s game near the north end zone with former Salpointe coach Dennis Bene, with who he coached with when his son played for the Lancers.
“You get fans from both cities, visiting cities, and obviously, we want a home fan crowd from the Tucson Sugar Skulls, but we’re working on that,” said Farhang while observing the Knight Hawks celebrating on the field at Tucson Arena. “We’re gonna get there. I just thought this was a home run for Tucson.
“I mean, it’s Aug. 23, and in the downtown area, our hotels are full, and our restaurants are full. It’s just another indication of what great things are happening in our community.”
In terms of a national championship hosted in Tucson, the IFL event is very rare for this community. It was the first time a national professional championship game featured teams outside of Tucson.
McKale Center has hosted the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from 1974 to 2011, a total of 59 games, the seventh most at a venue in the nation. Hillenbrand Stadium and Hi Corbett Field have hosted regionals and super regionals in softball and baseball, respectively.
The NCAA men’s golf championship took place at the Tucson National Golf Club in 1971.
The NCAA men’s and women’s cross country championships have been held here three times (1986, 1991 and 1996).
Those who attended the thriller between the Knight Hawks and Blizzard can always say they witnessed history.
Tryon believed Tucson came through the unique experience as well as can be expected.
IFL commissioner Todd Tryon presents the championship trophy to the Vegas Knight Hawks. pic.twitter.com/7FODOwW5fA
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 24, 2025
“The TCC was great to work with,” he said. “They’re all new people to us, and we were trying to figure out people’s names and who has what role, but that took only a little bit. They all did an outstanding job.
“Obviously, they want us back, and so they’re going to treat us right. They did a great job. I am looking forward to next year.”
The IFL has the marketing tool of Saturday night’s epic game to generate interest next season and 2027.
All nine of Vegas’ possessions in the game ended with a touchdown with de Laura directly responsible for three of them. He completed 12 of 15 pass attempts for 130 yards with a touchdown and also rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Jedd Fisch is at the Tucson Convention Center to support former Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura in the IFL championship. pic.twitter.com/pzthc4Vhk8
— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) August 24, 2025
Green Bay had 10 possessions. Eight ended with touchdowns. The Blizzard’s possession at the end of the first half resulted in a 39-yard field goal by Andrew Mevis as time expired.
In the last play of the game, Green Bay quarterback Max Meylor was stopped inches from the goal line by Chizzi Umanakwe and James Ceasar.
The referee Tom Drzazgowski and umpire Jake Shumate — who both hail from Tucson — reviewed the play. Drzazgowski announced to the crowd that the call of Meylor stopped short of the end zone was upheld.
The Knight Hawks went into euphoria. De Laura rushed to the sideline, climbed the wall and hugged members of his family.
Arizona fans in attendance cheered for him.
“It’s good to come back where I finished out my college days,” de Laura said. “It’s like a home away from home.”
Jayden de Laura talks about winning the IFL national championship with Vegas in front of fans in Tucson, and talks about Jedd Fisch here to watch. Noah Fifita surprised him afterward and hugged him. pic.twitter.com/dZomPz1UTj
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 24, 2025
A couple of spectators were his former coach at Arizona, Jedd Fisch, and Fisch’s wife Amber. Fisch’s daughters and Amber reportedly have moved back to Tucson from Seattle, where Fisch is about to start his second year as the Washington Huskies’ coach.
“Man, he’s a great guy,” de Laura said of Fisch. “He’s a great family guy. He tries his best to please everybody, but he can’t please everybody.
“Everything you do, you have people who go against you and support you. … The people next to you, you show them love and appreciation. I’m appreciative of him. I just hope he knows I have his back the same way he has my back.”
De Laura’s former Arizona teammate Noah Fifita, his understudy at quarterback with the Wildcats, surprised him on the field with a hug.
A few minutes later, de Laura stood on the raised platform among his celebrating teammates, lofting his MVP trophy in the air amid all the confetti flying around him.
What a night for de Laura and the Knight Hawks.
More importantly for people from this community, what a night for Tucson.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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