The Tucson Sugar Skulls remain winless against the Arizona Rattlers after losing to their rivals 55-28 on Sunday in Phoenix in an Indoor Football League game. Tucson (4-8) is 0-7 against Arizona all time.
The Sugar Skulls crept within 41-28 early in the fourth quarter on a Ryan Balentine touchdown catch, but were shut out the rest of the way, with the first-place Rattlers (10-2) putting the game away with a 42-yard pick-six in the final minutes.
Demry Croft had two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown for Tucson, but was intercepted twice and threw for only 92 yards on 23 attempts. Balentine had six catches for 74 yards.
Croft had a team-high 43 rushing yards. Mike Jones put Tucson up 7-0 with a 5-yard run. Arizona responded by scoring the game's next 20 points and went on to lead 27-14 at halftime.
Tucson outgained the Rattlers 186-145, but were minus-3 in turnovers. Arizona also had a blocked field goal return for a touchdown to take a 20-7 lead.
Tucson next hosts Duke City (6-6) at 6:05 p.m. Saturday, then wraps up the regular season with a game at Northern Arizona (1-11) on Aug. 21. Duke City beat Northern Arizona 71-11 on Sunday in Albuquerque.
