Defense has been the Tucson Sugar Skulls' M.O. this season, but the Sugar Skulls surrendered a season-high in points in their 59-54 loss to the San Diego Strike Force Saturday night at Tucson Arena.
The setback (6-5) snapped a two-game winning streak for Tucson and moved the Sugar Skulls into third place of the IFL Western Conference standings behind the Bay Area Panthers (8-4) and the Arizona Rattlers (7-4).
Entering Saturday, Tucson had the second-best defense in the IFL, allowing 39.8 points per game. San Diego quarterback Nate Davis threw for 207 yards and five touchdowns in the win.
"We played against a quarterback that has an arm that will beat your coverage no matter how good the coverage is sometimes," said Sugar
Skulls head coach Hurtis Chinn. "No matter how good the scheme is sometimes, his arm will beat your coverage, and we didn't get enough pressure on him to make him uncomfortable. He was comfortable the whole and we didn't get him to fourth down, and that was the difference in the game."
Tucson led 7-0 in the first minute after Sugar Skulls wide receiver Dequan Dudley returned the opening kickoff 55 yards for a touchdown. Dudley, who signed with the team two weeks ago, had three returns for 92 yards in the first half.
Tied at 7-7, Sugar Skulls star receiver Carrington Thompson hauled in a 30-yard, over-the-shoulder touchdown pass on fourth down from quarterback Ramone Atkins, but the score was nixed after San Diego challenged a no-call for false start.
The Strike Force then stopped Atkins' rushing attempt on the following play, then converted the fourth-down stop into a touchdown by running back Edward Vander to take a 14-7 advantage. Tucson was 3-for-6 on third- and fourth-down conversions in the first half — 4-for-9 for the game; San Diego was 4-for-4 — all on third down.
Atkins, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, and the Sugar Skulls had 117 yards of total offense on 21 plays in the first half, and Tucson trailed San Diego 33-27 at halftime.
Tucson didn't generate one stop in the second half and with an opportunity to regain possession trailing 59-54 with a minute left to play, Sugar Skulls defensive lineman Zachary Blackistone was controversially penalized for roughing the passer on third down. The penalty gave San Diego an automatic first down inside the Tucson five-yard line, and the Strike Force ran out the clock to secure the win.
"They told me that (Blackistone) shouldn't have put his body weight on him," Chinn said. "I was speechless just like you. ... I think refs should ref, players should play, and in that moment, it wasn't an obvious call and not something that's blatant that everyone in the arena saw, then let the players play.
"Everything we still want out of this season is still in front of us, we just have to stay the course. ... As a coach and a man, I won't feel sorry for myself — and I won't let my team do it."
Up next: Tucson will visit the defending IFL champion Northern Arizona Wranglers (6-6) on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. in Prescott, which will be streamed on the IFL YouTube channel.
