Photo: 10 Ryan Wisniewski watches the pass come to him on the first of his two TD catches
The Frisco Fighters quarterback TJ Watson rushed for five touchdowns as the Fighters downed the Northern Arizona Wranglers 37-29, at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
The Wranglers struggled offensively due to a very good Fighters defense. Wranglers quarterback Garrett Kettle had a tough time throwing, and even worse time trying to get yardage on the ground. Kettle was 6-22-0, 76 yards, and was held to a negative ten yards on six carries. The Fighters defensive dominance held the Wranglers to a season low of just 90 yards of total offense. Worse of all was the rushing attack. NAZ ended up with a negative four yards on ten carries for the entire game. Frisco finished with 230 yards, the bulk of that coming from running back Martez Carter, 129 yards on 19 carries.
Kettle had some early success with touchdown passes of ten yards to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman and 36 yards to Ryan Wisniewski, but trailed 13-12. Edwards rushed for his third touchdown of the half to give Frisco a 20-12 lead. Conor Mangan drilled 30 yard field goal to end the half with Northern Arizona trailing 20-15.
Photo: 54 Tramond Lofton ready to bring down 22 Martez Carter
The Wranglers took the second half kickoff and gave the ball back after a quick four and out. The Fighters scored on their drive to lead 27-15 midway through the third quarter. Frisco would get the ball back again after another four and out, scoring early in the final quarter on an Edwards nine yard run around the edge.
Trailing 34-15, the Wranglers had a lot of work to do. Nick Watson replaced Kettle who had spent much of the night on the ground thanks to the Frisco defense. Watson also found it tough, but managed to connect on a pair of TD passes late.
A failed onside kick ended the Wranglers hopes of a comeback.
Frisco was penalized 16 times for 144 yards, many on long pass interference calls. What the Fighters could do defensively in the red zone made the difference.
Hopefully the Wranglers can get things corrected this week, and be ready for their next opponent. Next up, the Wranglers will host the Tucson Sugar Skulls on Saturday at 6:05 pm.
FRISCO FIGHTERS 37, NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 29
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Frisco 6 14 7 10 – 37
Northern Arizona 6 9 0 14 – 29
Scoring Summary
F-Edwards 3 yard run (Kick failed)
NAZ-Chiaokhiao-Bowman 10 yard pass from Kettle (Kick failed)
F-Edwards 1 yard run (Crawford kick)
NAZ-Wisniewski 36 yard pass from Kettle (Kick failed)
F-Edwards 10 yard run (Crawford kick)
NAZ-Mangan 30 yard Field Goal
F-Edwards 3 yard run (Crawford kick)
F-Edwards 9 yard run (Crawford kick)
NAZ-Wisniewski 13 yard pass from Watson (Kick failed)
F-Crawford 22 yard Field Goal
NAZ-Chiaokhiao-Bowman 8 yard pass from Watson (Wisniewski pass from Watson)
ATT:N/A
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference W-L Eastern Conference W-L
Bay Area 8-4 Frisco 10-2
Arizona 8-4 Massachusetts 8-3
Tucson 6-5 Quad City 7-5
WRANGLERS 6-6 Green Bay 6-5
San Diego 5-7 Sioux Falls 6-5
Duke City 4-7 Iowa 3-9
Vegas 4-8 Tulsa 1-11
SCOREBOARD
Frisco 37, WRANGLERS 29
Bay Area 56, Vegas 41
San Diego 59, Tucson 54
Arizona 57, Duke City 34
Sioux Falls 35, Tulsa 34
Iowa 80, Quad City 41
WEEK 15 SCHEDULE- Arizona Time
Tucson at WRANGLERS, Saturday, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Sioux Falls, Friday, 5:05 pm
Iowa at Quad City, Saturday, 5:05 pm
Tulsa at Massachusetts, Saturday, 5:05 pm
Vegas at Duke City, Saturday, 5:05 pm
San Diego at Arizona, Saturday, 6:05 pm
Bay Area at Frisco, Saturday, 7:05 pm
