The Tucson Sugar Skulls seemed to have the San Diego Strike Force outgunned for most of Saturday’s game, but a fourth quarter breakdown and multiple players getting injured cost them the win.
Tucson (2-10) lost a heart-breaking fifth game in a row. losing to San Diego 41-40 at the Tucson Convention Center. The Strike Force are now 8-5.
“I’m proud of our guys and I’m pleased with the outcome,” Tucson Sugar Skulls head coach Billy Back said. “I just wish we had won the game, it’s just the luck of the season right there. Our kicker goes down with a dislocated ankle. We can’t kick the extra point and we can’t kick the field goals. That’s the difference in the ball game.”
Historically, the Sugar Skulls have had the advantage over the Strike Force, holding a 7-3 record in its last 10 games played.
The Sugar Skulls were up 40-27 in the fourth quarter and seemed to be cruising to a win that has been hard to come by recently.
It all started unravelling after kicker Brad Namdar went down and wide receiver Mike Carrigan exited the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion.
The Tucson Sugar Skulls defense, which intercepted Nate Davis twice on Saturday, gave up two unanswered touchdowns in just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Aside from the late miscues, the Sugar Skulls defensive backfield was solid in three and a half quarters of play, despite only having four defensive backs available.
“We had two rookie defensive backs,” Back said. “They’ve never played before in the IFL. AJ Beach and Derrick Maxwell played well tonight. We only dressed four DBs tonight and they put it on the line.”
The offense, which had no trouble moving the ball up the field, seemed like it hit a wall late in the game and could not find the end zone after its last touchdown.
The offensive trio of Davonte Sapp-Lynch (younger brother of former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawne Lynch), rookie quarterback Kenyatta Allen and Carrigan was a lethal one as the offense was nearly unstoppable prior to Carrigan getting injured.
Back had high praise for Sapp-Lynch in particular, who was called upon to gain the tough yards when needed.
“He finds a crease, he gets in there he makes a play,” Back said. “He’s elusive, but he also has some power at the same time. We gotta feed him the ball. I wish we could’ve moved the ball a little bit more with the offensive line late in the game.”
Tucson received the ball to start the game off and was returned by Carrigan to its own 17. Allen and Carrigan took over the drive to get on the board first, punching it in from five yards out of the end zone to put the Sugar Skulls up 7-0 with 10:10 remaining in the first quarter.
San Diego returned the ball to its 21 to start its opening drive. Davis found Jordan Kress on fourth down and connected with him to tie the game up at 7-7 with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter.
Carrigan returned San Diego’s kick from the end zone, 50 yards to the other end, allowing Tucson to recapture the lead at 14-7 with 6:19 to go in the first quarter.
San Diego began its ensuing drive at its own 15 and got as close the the Tucson 11. A false start on Xavier Amey pushed the Strikeforce back to the 16. The fourth down attempt failed and gave Tucson the ball back.
The Sugar Skulls took little time to score another touchdown, marching to the goal line and capping the drive off with Allen walking in untouched to put Tucson up 21-7 with 13:54 left in the half.
San Diego took only three plays on its answering drive to cut Tucson’s lead to one touchdown. Davis found Isiah Cox on a 20-yard pass, making it a 21-14 game with 10:10 left to play in the half.
The ball was placed at Tucson’s 20-yardline after it hit the speakers on the kickoff. On the second play, Allen’s pass was intercepted by Atoa Fox at the 25.
San Diego got to the Tucson 9, where the Sugar Skulls’ defense would tighten up and stop the Strike Force from scoring.
Tucson got the ball back at its own 9 drove to the other side of the field.
Sapp-Lynch capped the drive off with a 7-yard rushing touchdown, putting the Sugar Skulls’ lead at 28-13 with 28 seconds left to play in the half.
San Diego started its drive at its 17 and took 26 seconds to score one more touchdown before the end of the first half.
Davis connected with Cox for the 9-yard touchdown, making it a 28-19 game with two seconds on the clock following the missed extra-point.
Tucson had one last opportunity to score before the half ended, but Allen was sacked as time expired.
The Strike Force received the kick to start the second half and took it back to the Tucson 12.
On the first play, Davis’ pass was was intercepted by Derrion Rakestraw and taken back to the Tucson 17.
The Sugar Skulls marched down to the San Diego 10 before stalling, giving San Diego the ball back with plenty of field to work with.
Davis’ pass was intercepted yet again on the first play of the drive, this time by Beach in the end zone. The interception resulted in a touchback.
Tucson took full advantage of the turnover and scored on its first play of the drive. Allen found a wide open Brian Smith for the 45-yard touchdown, putting the Sugar Skulls up 34-19.
Namdar attempted the extra point, but it was blocked by the San Diego special-teams unit and ran back for a 2-point play, resulting in a 34-21 score with 10:35 in the third quarter.
The Sugar Skulls pinned San Diego at its own 1, but it took just four plays to make it across the field.
The Strike Force finished their drive with a 37-yard passing touchdown to Cox, making it a 34-27 game with 6:53 in the third quarter.
Tucson made its way to the San Diego 17 before Allen’s pass was intercepted on the 1 on fourth down, giving San Diego a chance to tie the game.
San Diego made it to the Tucson 17 before its drive stalled, leaving the Sugar Skulls with 33 yards of field to cross.
The Sugar Skulls took seven plays to get to the San Diego 3. On the eighth play, Sapp-Lynch ran it in to put Tucson up 40-27 with 8:24 left to play.
The Strikeforce would score two unanswered touchdowns to escape with the narrow 41-40 victory.
Allen attempted 19 passes and completed 10 of them for 102 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Allen also ran the ball 16 times for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Sapp-Lynch was the second-leading rusher, running the ball five times for 19 yards and catching three passes for 11 yards.
Smith led the wide receivers with two catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Carrigan caught two passes for 17 yards and two overall touchdowns.
Tucson will look to end its losing streak when it travels to Albuquerque on Saturday, when it will take on the Duke City Gladiators at 5:05 p.m.
The teams have split their two previous games with Tucson winning 56-49 at Duke City on April 6 and the Gladiators beating the Sugar Skulls 21-20 at the TCC on June 1.
Three of the last four games for the Sugar Skulls are on the road. Their last home game is July 13 against the San Antonio Gunslingers.
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