The Tucson Sugar Skulls captured their first win in franchise history after cruising by the San Diego Strike Force 65-44 in Sunday night’s Indoor Football League opener.
Tucson’s 65 points were the second-highest in the IFL over the weekend, trailing only the Arizona Rattlers who scored 81 against Cedar Rapids.
When the Sugar Skulls scrimmaged the Rattlers prior to the season, the unofficial score was 30-24 in favor of Arizona, so between the close battle at a joint practice and a worry-free win over the Strike Force, everything has been smooth sailing so far for Tucson.
Of course, there is always room for improvement considering it was the season opener.
The Star dives into some key notes from the Sugar Skulls’ first win of the 2019 season:
Starters
Tucson’s roster was trimmed down to 26 last weekend, but only 21 traveled to San Diego. Reminder: only eight players are allowed on the field for each team.
On offense, Tucsonans Antonio Rosales and Alex Rios were the starting tackles while former Florida International offensive lineman Mike Montero anchored the center position. The skill players on offense were quarterback Matt Behrendt and running back Mike Jones, along with wide receivers Shaquan Curenton, Donovan Rasberry and Brandon Sampson.
Despite going 2 of 6 on third-down conversions, Tucson pieced together 304 yards of total offense and averaged 7.6 yards per play.
The defensive line starters were Robert Metz, Keith Jones Jr., and Shakore Philip, while 2018 All-IFL linebacker Zach Allen led the team in tackles with nine.
The defensive backs consisted of Tucson native Cam Gaddis, Dee Maggitt Jr., ex-Texas Tech cornerback Nigel Bethel and Carlos Anderson.
The defense held San Diego to 5 of 12 on third-down conversions and 3 of 5 on fourth downs. San Diego had 55 plays of offense, which is 15 more than Tucson, but was held to 191 yards. Strike Force quarterback Derrick Bernard completed 19 of 40 passes for 179 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Ex-Miami Hurricanes Diego Marquez started at kicker and missed his only two field goals attempts, but managed to make all nine extra points.
Offense’s 1-2 punch
Projected starting running back, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Shadrach Thornton, didn’t play in Sunday’s opener for unspecified reasons, which left the rushing duties to 5-10, 215-pounder Mike Jones.
He made the most of his opportunity.
Jones scored the first touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run and rushed for another one in the second quarter, which gave the Sugar Skulls a 21-10 lead. From that point, Tucson never looked back and Jones piled onto his performance with an 11-yard pass to cap a three-play drive to begin the fourth quarter.
Along with Jones’ multidimensional skillset, the Sugar Skulls found another threat in former Scottsdale Community College wide receiver Shaquan Curenton. He had four catches for 82 yards and three touchdowns. Curenton’s biggest play was a 32-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-10, which provided another 11-point lead in the first half.
Together, the two were 45 percent of the Sugar Skulls’ entire offense.
Cleaning up defensively
It’s always expected to have a few mental errors or breakdowns in football especially when it’s the team’s first game ever.
San Diego trailed 35-24 at halftime after the Strike Force drove down the field in 35 seconds over four plays and scored as time expired. After that, Tucson’s defense ramped up the intensity, limited man-to-man coverage breakdowns and played stingy especially in the secondary.
“We cleaned that up. Obviously we got some work to do and we’ll make sure to handle that before we play Bismarck,” Sugar Skulls coach Marcus Coleman said.
In the second half, Tucson’s defense only allowed 38 yards and Maggitt notched two interceptions and a pass breakup. The defensive unit put a bow on the game with a safety with 1:20 left to play.
Quaterback play
Behrendt signed with Tucson after being released by the Rattlers just over two weeks ago and the 6-2 dual-threat quarterback made the most of his first start.
Behrendt did most of his damage in the second quarter with a 32-yard bomb to Curenton and followed it up with a 15-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds left in the first half.
Then Coleman pulled a switcheroo and plugged in last season’s IFL passing leader Jake Medlock to take the reigns of the offense. Behrendt finished the game with 49 passing yards, 29 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“They’re both capable of being starters in this league and we’re fortunate to have a first-teamer and a second-teamer that have started games and understand the flow of the game,” Coleman said. “We’re very fortunate to have two guys like that. Matt came in and set the tone. He was doing well and made the right reads, got us some scoring and got the offense rolling.”
Medlock didn’t quite pick up where Behrendt left off, because he fumbled the football on San Diego’s 2-yard line when a score would’ve given Tucson some breathing room, but instead, allowed the Strike Force to creep within 35-30.
Like any veteran quarterback, Medlock dusted it off and got ready for the next drive. He finished 10 of 14 for 142 yards and four touchdowns. He connected with Curenton twice and shifty slot receiver Donovan Rasberry once for a 29-yard touchdown.
“To have two guys like that, it’s like we have two starters: 1A and 1B. We’re very lucky to have those guys and we’re thankful they made the decision to come play for us,” Coleman said.
For now, Coleman anticipates utilizing two quarterbacks again this week against Bismarck.
IFL standings
After the win, the Sugar Skulls sit tied for second place in the IFL along with the Sioux Falls Storm and Iowa Barnstormers. Six teams have worst records than the Sugar Skulls right now. The Rattlers are in sole possession of first place with a 2-0 record. Tucson plays the Rattlers on March 16 in Phoenix.
Coachspeak
“We just gotta minimize the mistakes, that’s the main thing. If we minimize the mistakes and keep them down as low as we can, we can play with anybody. I firmly believe that. We have the talent to do it and I’ll put this coaching staff up against anybody. If we clean up the mistakes and make sure we come and execute at an even higher level, I think we’ll be in good shape.” — Coleman on what to improveon before the home opener against Bismarck on Sunday.
