Through the first five games of the IFL season, the Tucson Sugar Skulls are playing in the Big 12.
You know what we mean. Tucson boasts a high-scoring offense with a defense that coughs up so many points that the scoreboard looks like a basketball game.
Led by star quarterback Daquan Neal, Tucsonβs professional indoor football team is averaging 54.4 points per game, making them the highest-scoring offense in the IFL.
However, Tucsonβs defense is allowing 56.2 points per game. The Sugar Skulls gave up 62 in Saturdayβs 72-62 win over the Northern Arizona Wranglers. Tucson scored points on every possession and set a franchise record for most points in a game. The teamβs in-state rival had 298 yards of total offense and averaged 7.6 yards per play. (Reminder: the IFL plays on 50-yard fields.)
Sugar Skulls coach and general manager Dixie Wooten said his defensive line forces βprobably like 15 quarterback hitsβ per game and stops the opposing teamsβ rushing attack. Against Northern Arizona, the Sugar Skulls allowed 72 rushing yards, but the Wranglers averaged 13.3 yards every completion in the passing game. Wranglers wide receiver Quentin Randolph, who was named the IFL Offensive Player of the Week, had seven receptions for 115 yards and five touchdowns, while tacking on 31 rushing yards and two scores.
Itβs a product of the Sugar Skullsβ turnstile secondary thatβs hindered them all season.
βDefensive backs just donβt grow on trees, so you canβt just pick one here or there,β Wooten said. βYou have to pick the right ones, bring them in and hope they can help us out.β
The Sugar Skulls brought reinforcements last week, signing Middle Tennessee State product Mike Minter. Minter played for the Sugar Skulls last season, starting at cornerback.
βHe played great for us. He made one mistake, but he was communicative. The thing about him, he understands what offenses are trying to do to him, and he understands how to recognize formations,β Wooten said. βHim calling out formations, it makes us lineup faster and get our alignment right, so we could make sure our assignment is right, too. Heβs been big for us.β
Leading up to their rematch against the Duke City Gladiators on Saturday, Tucson signed Ephraim Kitchen. The former Louisiana Tech defensive back was in Tucson for training camp, but returned home after his wife gave birth to their baby.
Wooten hopes his defensive can force more fourth-down stops; Northern Arizona was 2 for 3 on fourth-down conversions against Tucson.
βThe way we play, we score on one-play drives or two-play drives, so it gives the other team a lot more possessions. Usually people play possession-style (offense), where they run the ball, run the clock out and thatβs why you see these low-scoring games,β Wooten said.
βWhen you see us score 72 points, nine times out of 10, the other team will score maybe 45 or 50, because they just get more possessions. What I did as a coach was break down our biggest faults on defense, and we got the lowest percentage (of stops) on third and fourth down as a defense. So, we have to find a way to get off the field on third and fourth down. β¦ As long as we keep scoring and stop these other guys two times in a row, thatβs how weβll win ball games.β
For now, Wooten is content with winning β especially after losing three straight games.
βJust how we were able to finish. β¦ If we play every close game like this, weβre going to come out victorious,β Wooten said.
Added Wooten: βWe just gotta get the back-end right. When we get the back-end right, we have a really good chance to win a championship.β
Upset over onside kicks
Special teams mistakes have plagued the Sugar Skulls this season. Over the last three weeks, opposing teams have attempted five onside kicks against Tucson, recovering four of them.
βTheyβre tough and you never know what to expect. This is the indoor game, so youβre 10 yards away and you can pretty much compare it to hitting a baseball; you have tenths of a second to make a move,β said Sugar Skulls wide receiver Quinton Pedroza, who recovered an onside kick in the second half on Saturday.
βYou really have to pay attention to the kicker and the motions, his different tendencies. One of them, they got me, but I think I got hit before the 10 yards. It didnβt go our way and I had to shake it off. The next one he kicked it right at me, and instincts had to come into play and I was able to come up with it.β
Stealing a possession can be a momentum-shifter. An onside kick sparked the San Diego Strike Forceβs 17-point comeback against the Sugar Skulls in Tucson earlier this month. Duke City recovered an onside kick early in its win over Tucson two weeks ago, which helped the Gladiators take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
βThe reason why teams onside kick against us is because they know they have to do everything they can to beat us. Usually those teams donβt onside kick against the other teams, but they do it against us, because they know they canβt go possession-for-possession with us, because they know defensively weβre going to get a stop or two or three,β Wooten said. βThen our offense is going to score off those stops. What teams do to us is just onside kicking to steal a possession from us to get our offense off the field.β
Pedroza said the Sugar Skulls βstressedβ the onside kick recoveries in practice.
βThat was our soft spot, and we practiced that a lot,β he said.
Stuck in 10th
The IFL Week Seven Coaches Poll was released earlier this week, and the Sugar Skulls are rank 10th in the 14-team league. The Arizona Rattlers were first, followed by the Frisco Fighters, Massachusetts Pirates, Quad City Steamwheelers, Northern Arizona Wranglers, Iowa Barnstormers, Bismarck Bucks, Duke City Gladiators, Sioux Falls Storm, Tucson, Green Bay Blizzard, Vegas Knight Hawks, San Diego and Bay Area Panthers.
