Sugar Skulls look to stop losing skid against rival Rattlers in 'I-10 Tussle'

In the days leading up to last week’s contest for the Tucson Sugar Skulls, quarterback Demry Croft said the team activated “playoff mode” following its 1-4 start.

With eight games left in the IFL regular season and a 1-5 record after falling to the Northern Arizona Wranglers in Prescott Valley, handing the expansion franchise its first-ever win, “playoff mode” has officially been kicked into overdrive for Tucson’s “championship-or-bust” indoor football team.

Bad news for the Sugar Skulls: Their next opponent, the in-state rival Arizona Rattlers (5-1), are next on the schedule as Tucson looks to cease its four-game losing skid at 6 p.m. Saturday at Tucson Arena. The Rattlers are 5-0 against their IFL counterpart since Tucson joined the league in 2019.

The good news? The last time the Sugar Skulls and Rattlers faced each other, on June 12 in Phoenix, Tucson had a 34-30 lead going into the fourth quarter before Arizona won 44-34, courtesy of an interception and a key fourth-down stop.

Second-half miscues have hindered the Sugar Skulls in four games already this season. The only game where Tucson didn’t have a lead in the fourth quarter this season was the 33-13 home-opening loss to the Iowa Barnstormers.

Going into Fourth of July weekend, the Sugar Skulls hope their losing ways come to an end, when they take part in the “I-10 Tussle.” The Star spoke with Tucson head coach Dixie Wooten about the late-game woes and the rivalry with the Rattlers.

What was the lesson learned from losing a game to a then-winless Northern Arizona team and falling to 1-5?

A: “We learned the same thing we’ve been going through all year. We’re not finishing games or finishing those drives where we can go up 14. The game last week, we had two situations where we could’ve went up 14; we scored on one and threw a pick-six on the other. But these guys have come in and still practice as hard as ever. They know if we just win one game, we can turn this around and make that push for the playoffs.”

Do you see a recurring pattern in the last four losses and if so, what is it?

A: “Just making a few mistakes. The turnover bug has been hitting us. But also, we’re just not taking advantage of opportunities. Our defense has been playing well, but we just need those stops late in games. … We gotta make sure we take care of that part and get a victory.”

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Tucson quarterback Demry Croft statistically is one of the top quarterbacks in the IFL, but he’s had costly mistakes in losses this season. What do you make of his rookie season?

A: “As a young quarterback, you start pressing and trying to make spectacular plays when you don’t have to. If you look at it, he’s having an awesome year, but it’s those mistakes that he’s making. Putting him in the film room this week, we showed him the mistakes and he felt just as bad as anyone else out there.

“So, we just gotta make sure when we play situational football with guys, I gotta talk them through it a little bit to calm him down a little more and make those plays that we need. He told me today: ‘Coach, my mistakes cost us the game, and if I don’t make those mistakes, nine times out of 10 we’ll win the ball game.’ When a quarterback is saying that, you have to appreciate that.”

How do you coach a team to finish a game and play the full 60 minutes?

A: “I went back and saw film of old teams from the NFL in the ‘80s, and when teams weren’t finishing games, what coaches did was make (the players) run first (before practice). Before we started team (drills) at practice, we did sprints. So, we’ve done 10 sprints before team (practice) every day. They’re tired as I don’t know what, but at the end of the day, we have to finish. We were tired all week, but we pushed through and I’m hoping we do the same this week.”

Sugar Skulls running back Mike Jones was a part of the inaugural team in 2019 and has yet to beat the Rattlers; has that been brought up at all?

A: “Oh yeah. We talk about it all the time. No player wants to not beat a team they’ve played five or six times. We want to make sure Mike Jones gets that win this week, so we don’t have to say that again, man. I’m the head coach and general manager, and no matter where I’ve been, I’m here now. Every loss that Tucson has had against Arizona, I’m a part of it. I’m trying to break that cycle.”

What are you hoping happens with the Rattlers-Sugar Skulls rivalry in the future?

A: “We’re trying to make it a big rivalry. We gotta do our part by winning some games. When we win on Saturday, that’s when the rivalry will really start. You can’t call it a rivalry until both teams win games, and I think that’s what we have to do on Saturday. We have to come out and hit these guys in the mouth, play physical, stop the run and attack what they give us on offense.

“When we win on Saturday, that’s when the rivalry starts.”