Photo: Ramaud Chiaokhiao- Bowman splits defenders 45 Jalen Graves and 25 Javon Jackson
It was a no foolin’ around April Fools, as the Northern Arizona Wranglers needed a late touchdown to pull out a 48-42 victory over the Vegas Knight Hawks, at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
Pinnacle Bank field saw Glen Gibbons Jr. rush for three touchdowns and Ramaud Chiaokhiao- Bowman catching three touchdown passes from Garrett Kettle to even their season mark at (1-1). Vegas rusher Davonte Sapp-Lynch also scored three touchdowns, and quarterback Daquan Neal threw for three TDs as well.
Unlike last week, the Wranglers started out strong, taking the opening kickoff and scoring first on a Glen Gibbons Jr. 8 yard run. A sliced PAT attempt kept the lead at 6-0. The Knight Hawks responded when Davonte Sapp-Lynch split the defense for a 15 yard run. Stevie Artigue nailed the PAT for a 7-6 Vegas lead. The visitor lead was very short lived as Andre Williams electrified the Findlay Toyota Center crowd with a 48 yard kickoff return. The two point conversion from Kettle to Chiaokhi-Bowman put the Wranglers up 14-7 with 8:35 left in the opening quarter.
Photo: 8 Glen Gibbons Jr. gets past 44 Jaquez Jackson on his way to one of his three touchdowns
The Wranglers would score two more TDs in the second quarter on a Gibbons Jr. run and a Chiaokhiao-Bowman reception for a 29-7 lead midway through the second quarter. The defense had a couple of big stops, as the offense was rolling, led by Tramond Lofton, who said, ”We did a pretty good job on them for most of the game. We kept up the pressure, even though they were able to come back on us. Shouldn’t have happened, but we just have to keep working at getting better every game.” Vegas would get another TD run by Sapp-Lynch to close out the half, with Northern Arizona up 29-14.
Another Sapp-Lynch run brought the Knight Hawks back to within 29-21. Kettle and company would push the lead to 35-21 with another pass to Chiaokhiao-Bowman.
Former Wrangler Quentin Randolph returned to Prescott Valley and was relatively quiet through nearly three quarters. The starting receiver for Vegas caught his first of two touchdown passes with less than a minute to play in the third quarter, pulling the Knight Hawks to within 35-28. Randolph said, “They did a god job, but I was finally to get some big catches. I love the atmosphere here. The fans are great, and I still have a lot of friends here. It was fun to be back and play here again.”
Photo: 54 Tramond Lofton goes after ball when Vegas QB Daquan Neal bobbled the snap. Neal would however recover his own fumble
Chiaokhiao-Bowman’s 24 yard reception form Kettle pushed the lead back to two scores, 42-28, and said, “We came out to play tonight and jumped all over them, but they are a good team and we just needed to keep making plays, and that is what we did.”
Randolph once again made his presence felt with a 10 yard touchdown reception from Neal midway through the fourth, pulling Vegas to within 42-34.
Photo: 74 Zech Thomas keeps 10 Gabe McCoy away from his quarterback
The Wranglers were on the verge of putting the game away with the ball at the Vegas two, but a Kettle pass was intercepted by Devond Harriel in the back of the end zone gave the Knight Hawks new life with 1:25 left in the game.
Neal hit Caleb Holley for a 17 yard touchdown pass and with :26 left the game was tied at 42.
Kettle and company worked the ball down the field and scored when Gibbons Jr broke through from one yard out for the lead with four seconds left. A final desperation pass by Neal was intercepted by Kishawn Walker closing out the game for the win.
Head Coach Les Moss said, “We got off to a fast start and that was something we did not do last week. We have a lot of young guys that have not seen this game before, and they will adjust and adapt each week.”
The Wranglers will have a bye week before hosting San Diego on Sunday, April 16, at 3:05pm.
NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 48, VEGAS KNIGHT HAWKS 42
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Vegas 7 7 13 15 – 42
Northern Arizona 14 15 6 13 – 48
Scoring Summary
NAZ-Gibbons Jr. 8 yard run (Kick failed)
V-Sapp-Lynch 15 yard run (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Williams 48 yard kick off return (Kettle pass to Chiako-Bowman)
NAZ-Gibbons Jr. 1 yard run (Fischer kick)
NAZ-Chiaokhiao- Bowman 20 yard pass from Kettle (Fischer kick)
V-Sapp-Lynch 5 yard run (Artigue kick)
V-Sapp-Lynch 3 yard run (Artigue kick)
NAZ- Chiaokhiao- Bowman 8 yard pass from Kettle (Kick failed)
V-Randolph 30 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Chiaokhiao- Bowman 24 yard pass from Kettle (Fischer kick)
V-Randolph 10 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
V-Holley 17 yard pass from Neal (Neal pass to Holley)
IFL STANDINGS
Western W-L Eastern W-L
WRANGLERS 1-1 Frisco 3-0
Bay Area 1-1 Massachusetts 2-0
Arizona 1-1 Quad City 2-1
Duke City 1-1 Green Bay 1-2
Vegas 1-1 Sioux Falls 0-1
Tucson 0-0 Tulsa 0-1
San Diego 0-1 Iowa 0-2
SCOREBOARD
WRANGLERS 48, Vegas 42
Quad City 36, Sioux Falls 34
Frisco 60, Duke City 55
Green Bay 44, Iowa 25
Massachusetts 59, Bay Area 52
Tucson at San Diego, Monday
Northern Arizona Wranglers 2023 Schedule
Saturday, March 24 Duke City Gladiators L35-43
Saturday, April 1 Vegas Knight Hawks W48-42
Sunday, April 16 San Diego Strike Force 3:05pm
Sunday, April 23 at Bay Area 5:05pm
Friday, April 28 at Vegas 7:05pm
Saturday, May 6 at Tucson 6:05pm
Saturday, May 13 Bay Area Panthers 6:05pm
Saturday, May 20 at Arizona 6:05pm
Saturday, May 27 at Duke City 5:05pm
Saturday, June 3 Arizona Rattlers 6:05pm
Saturday, June 10 at San Diego 7:05pm
Saturday, June 17 Frisco Fighters 6:05pm
Saturday, June 24 Tucson Sugar Skulls 6:05pm
Saturday, July 8 Massachusetts Pirates 6:05pm
Saturday, July 15 at Arizona 6:05pm
Playoffs TBA
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Cody Williams contributed to this article
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