Saturday could potentially become a turning point in the season for the Tucson Sugar Skulls.Β
If Tucson (2-6) wants to keep its chances alive for the IFL postseason, the Sugar Skulls will likely have to beat the Duke City Gladiators (0-8) Saturday evening at Tucson Arena.
Despite having three home games over the next four weeks, including Saturday's contest against winless Duke City, the Sugar Skulls haven't been able to sustain any success. After handing the Vegas Knight Hawks their first loss of the season, Tucson lost to Northern Arizona in Prescott Valley last week.
In Tucson's first victory of the season, the Sugar Skulls escaped Duke City with a 56-49 win in Albuquerque on April 6. Sugar Skulls quarterback Mylik Mitchell, who has dealt with injuries this season, accounted for seven touchdowns and was named IFL Offensive Player of the Week following his performance. Mitchell, who is eighth in the IFL in rushing, will start under center this week.Β
Tucson head coach Billy Back said, "This is not the same Duke City" from the previous matchup.
"Their defensive line is incredible," Back said. "They got a nose guard, No. 99, and I don't even know his name, but he's scary. They got some players that I would love to have on my team. You can't look at their record. ... They're an athletic team. They have players on that roster that can go. There's talent everywhere.
"It's going to come down to our execution, us getting them to turnover the ball and us scoring on those turnovers. I told them, 'We have an eight-game stretch, and in reality we need to go 7-1, 8-0,' but it's up to them if they want to make the playoffs and push forward. Each game in front of us, we can win. ... Our focus this week is the players have to motivate themselves. I can go in there and give the greatest pep talk in the world, but once we leave the locker room, it's not up to us coaches."Β
Back joined "Spears and Ali" on ESPN Tucson Friday morning to provide updates on the Old Pueblo's IFL franchise. Here's what he said:
Back
How do you feel about your club going into Saturday?
A: "I feel pretty good. We let one slip away last week, and we didn't start playing until the second half. But the way we played against Vegas in the second half, it gives you a great feeling of how we can play and how we should play. Now we look at the eight-game stretch where we gotta win every game in front of us. ... I've had three different quarterbacks this season, so the continuity of the offense isn't clicking like we need it to be to start games. ... I think we need to simplify things for our young offense. The receivers and quarterbacks haven't quite meshed due to the turnover and change. For the most part, what we have in here is a group of guys we can win with. This game will be a simplified offense, where it's just taking the free money on check-downs and four yards with a run. Whatever they give us, we gotta take this week instead of trying for the home-run ball right away."
At the halfway point of your first season with the Sugar Skulls, what do you think about Tucson Arena?
A: "I think it's a great setup. I'm not a fan of the olive-green and purple (seats) inside there. The Roadrunners are black and red, we're black and red, so I would lobby to get that color changed and make it a home-field feeling. The fans we have are passionate fans. They're opinionated and passionate, but they're diehard Sugar Skulls fans. This is not where we want to be with the record at 2-6, but they stuck by it and have remained positive.
"Even our uniform combination was terrible. We were going to wear all-red, but then last minute they said we're wearing red jerseys. So we had helmets in our bags, then we switched the red for the yellows and looked like a big Carmax stick or a number two pencil. Fans said, 'Hey we like the look!' I said, 'No you don't! Heck, I don't even like the look.' So we walked into the game 0-1 with the way we looked. I'm going to make sure we stay with the basics, and we gotta look the part to play the part, and that's why we're going all-black this week."Β
