After a back-and-forth first half, the visiting Iowa Barnstormers flexed their muscle in the second half to hand the Tucson Sugar Skulls a 61-48 loss Saturday night at Tucson Arena.
Tucson (8-7) could have clinched the No. 3 seed for the Indoor Football League Western Conference playoffs with a win, but instead will be forced to wait a week. The Sugar Skulls are a game ahead of Duke City (7-8), which beat host San Diego 53-51 on Saturday night by scoring a touchdown on the last play of the game.
Tucson led 28-26 late in the second quarter over the Barnstormers, but Iowa grabbed a 32-28 at the break. The Barnstormers (9-6) then took control in the second half, jumping to a 46-28 advantage and eventually leading 61-42 at one point.
Mike Jones ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts for Tucson. Daquan Neal threw for three touchdowns, but completed just 8 of 21 passes for 100 yards.Β
The Sugar Skulls opened the game with a bang as Benjamin Jones returned the opening kick 50 yards for a score.
The Sugar Skulls finished 5-3 at home. Tucson ends its regular season with a 6:05 p.m. game next Saturday at the Bay Area Panthers (1-14). Duke City hosts second-place Northern Arizona (12-3).
