Photo: Theo Majette, Justin Whisenhunt, and Armonti Carey bring down Davonte Lynch-Sapp in week two
The Northern Arizona Wranglers overcame their own mistakes to beat the Vegas Knight Hawks 36-27 in Henderson, Nevada.
Vegas scored on their second play from scrimmage with a touchdown pass from Daquan Neal to a wide open Caleb Holley. It was Neal’s first game since he was injured late in the first meeting of the season between the two teams in Prescott Valley.
The Wranglers responded with a nine play 37 yards drive capped off with a Jarrod Ware Jr. one yard touchdown run. Brandon Fischer added the extra point to tie the game at seven.
Wranglers defense held, forcing a Stevie Antigue 25 yard field goal, who missed it wide right.
The Wranglers took over, moving the ball to the Knight Hawks half yard line, but back to back penalties put the ball back to the 11 yard line. Brandon Fischer came in to kick a field goal to give Northern Arizona a 10-7 lead with 9:55 left on the first half.
A second consecutive defensive stop by the Wranglers defense gave the visitors another chance to extend the lead. QB Garrett Kettle hit Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, who weaved his way through the defense 24 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was missed, leaving the Wranglers with a 16-7 lead.
The onside kick by Northern Arizona failed, giving Vegas the ball at the 10 yard line. On a third and goal, Neal found Caleb Holley again wide open in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown pass. The kick was good that followed, making the score, Wranglers 16, Vegas 14, with one minute left in the half.
Northern Arizona moved the ball down the field to the Vegas six yard line with :22 left, but another penalty moved the ball back to the 11. A good defensive play by the Knight Hawks on 4th down killed the drive.
Vegas took over with :17 left and no timeouts. Neal hit Quentin Randolph on the play. Add a roughing the passer penalty to it, giving Knight Hawks a chance to kick a go ahead field goal, but Artigue missed it wide right again sending the teams to the locker room with the Wranglers up 16-14.
A huge spark to start the second half by Andre Williams, taking the ball to the nearly to the house on a 44 yard kickoff return, but a taunting call placed the ball back to the Vegas 17. Another fourth down play was converted on a pass from Kettle to Jerrime Neal. Northern Arizona scored when Kettle hit Neal on a quick two yard strike. Fischer added one more for a 23-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Knight Hawks took advantage of missed coverage again on a 4th down play in the defensive secondary with another easy touchdown from Neal to Jordan McCray to pull within 23-21.
Kettle threw a pass underneath to Ware Jr. to extend the lead to 29-21, but another missed PAT kept it a one score game.
The game got close again when Randolph went hard into the boards making an amazing catch in the back of the end zone, pulling in a 32 yard pass from Neal. The Knight Hawks decided to go for two and the tie with under nine minutes to play. Neal’s zipped a pass that went through the end zone, keeping the Wranglers on top 29-27.
A second attempt to tie the game on the kickoff by Artigue for a deuce was just short. The Wranglers got the ball, but had another penalty that they had to overcome. A Vegas holding penalty placed the ball at the Knight Hawk five. Ryan Wisniewski took the handoff going around the edge for a four yard touchdown. Fischer added the crucial extra point for a 36-27 lead with 4:12 remaining.
Vegas tried to make a comeback but Justin Whisenhunt and Theo Majette both played a great game, combined for a sack on Neal. The defense kept the pressure on Vegas forcing a fourth down with one minute left. The Northern Arizona defense came up with one final stop to seal the deal.
The Wranglers were led by quarterback Garrett Kettle, completing 13 of 21 for 96 yards and three touchdowns. Jarrod Ware Jr. rushed 11 times for 64 yards and a touchdown. Raaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman and Jarrod Ware Jr. each had five catches and a touchdown. Defensively, Justin Whisenhunt six tackles and one sack. Travion Banks had five tackles.
Daquan Neal led Vegas on 12 for 22 passing 179 yards and four touchdowns. The Knight Hawks rushing game was held to just 11 yards. Quentin Randolph caught 4 passes for 61 yards and a TD. Caleb Holley 3 catches, 55 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan McCray with 2 receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown.
The Wranglers (3-2) will travel to face the first place Tucson Sugar Skulls on Saturday at 6:05 pm. The game can be seen on the IFL YouTube channel.
NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 36, VEGAS KNIGHT HAWKS 27
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Northern Arizona 7 9 7 13 – 36
Vegas 7 7 7 6 – 27
Scoring Summary
V-Holley 25 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Ware Jr. 1 yard run (Fischer kick)
NAZ-Fischer 28 yard Field Goal
NAZ-Chiakhio-Bowman pass from Kettle (Kick failed)
V-Holley 14 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Neal 2 yard pass from Kettle (Fischer kick)
V- McCray 16 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Ware Jr. 7 yard pass from Kettle (Kick failed)
V-Randolph 32 yard pass from Neal (Pass failed)
NAZ-Wisniewski 4 yard run (Fischer kick)
Att: 5,318
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference W-L Eastern Conference W-L
Tucson 3-1 Frisco 5-0
WRANGLERS 3-2 Quad City 4-2
Bay Area 3-2 Massachusetts 3-2
Arizona 3-3 Sioux Falls 3-2
Duke City 2-3 Green Bay 2-3
Vegas 2-3 Tulsa 1-4
San Diego 2-4 Iowa 0-5
SCOREBOARD
WRANGLERS 36, Vegas 27
Arizona 53, Tulsa 46
Bay Area 54, San Diego 51
Massachusetts 56, Iowa 36
Sioux Falls 59, Quad City 47
WEEK 8 SCHEDULE- Arizona Time
WRANGLERS at Tucson, Saturday, 6:05pm
Massachusetts at Green Bay, Friday, 4:05pm
Quad City at Iowa, Saturday 5:05pm
Tulsa at Sioux Falls, Saturday, 5:05pm
Vegas at Bay Area at San Diego, Saturday, 6:05pm
Duke City at Frisco, Sunday, 1:05pm
