It was déjà vu all over again for the Tucson Sugar Skulls in their 57-52 loss to the Duke City Gladiators on Saturday night in Albuquerque.
The setback dropped Tucson to 1-3 on the season. And once again, the Sugar Skulls fumbled away a fourth-quarter lead and lost in disappointing fashion.
Similarly to the road loss to the Frisco Fighters two weeks ago in Texas, the Sugar Skulls faced a double-digit deficit before even taking an offensive snap. But rather than unraveling, the Sugar Skulls fought back.
Tucson trailed 14-0 in less than four minutes to begin the game. Duke City wide receiver Darryl Stonum, a Rich Rodriguez recruit at Michigan, caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from new starting quarterback Ramone Atkins. Stonum then recovered the onside kick on the following kickoff, which was followed up with a 25-yard touchdown to wide receiver Dello Davis, who is among the top pass-catchers in the IFL.
The Sugar Skulls were potentially facing a three-touchdown deficit in the first quarter, but forced a turnover on downs after a missed field-goal attempt. Tucson answered with a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daquan Neal to leading receiver Arthur Jackson. Kicker Logan Justus, a former Indiana Hoosier, missed the PAT and Tucson trailed 14-6 after the first quarter.
Following an Atkins rushing touchdown, Stonum recovered another onside kick, albeit the Gladiators couldn't convert it to points. Neal connected with wide receiver Quinton Pedroza for a 31-yard touchdown. Then the Tucson defense forced a fumble deep in Gladiator territory, and Neal's goal-line rushing touchdown brought the deficit to 21-20.
Davis hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass just at the end of the second quarter to give the Gladiators a 28-20 advantage heading into the halftime break. Duke City dominated the Sugar Skulls in time of possession in the first half, 20:01-9:59.
Tucson garnered momentum in the third quarter with touchdowns by Jackson and Neal, but the Sugar Skulls still trailed 35-34 entering the fourth quarter.
With 9:02 left to play and the Sugar Skulls trailing 42-41, Justus' 47-yard field-goal attempt barely missed the upright. Despite a chance to possibly take an 8- or 9-point lead, Atkins fumbled the ball and Sugar Skulls edge rusher Tony Winslow recovered the ball just inside the Gladiators 15-yard line. Neal scored on a 7-yard run and converted the two-point conversion to take a 49-42 lead. Duke City answered with a touchdown strike from Atkins to Jared Elmore to lock the score at 49-49 with 2:52 remaining.
Exiting the one-minute warning, Justus made a 50-yard field goal to take a 52-49 lead with 55 seconds. Like in last week's 67-66 shootout loss to the San Diego Strike Force, the Sugar Skulls' defensive secondary coughed up a passing touchdown late in the game, with Elmore giving Duke City a 55-52 lead following the missed PAT.
Justus had a 57-yard attempt with the game on the line and four seconds on the clock, but the snap sailed by him and bounced in the back of the end zone for safety to end the game. Ball game.
The Sugar Skulls are now 7-11 across two seasons under general manager and head coach Dixie Wooten.
Up next: Tucson will host the Northern Arizona Wranglers on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at Tucson Arena.
