Photo: Wallace Cowins and Shanon Reid converge on Gerald Hickbottom who fumbled the ball. Reid came up with the recovery
Joshua Jones threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another to help lead the Northern Arizona Wranglers to a 39-23 win over the winless Duke City Gladiators.
The Gladiators, now (0-4) trailed the entire game in front of 3000 fans at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
Joshua Jones opened things up with a 4 yard run for the score. Axel Perez added the extra point and the Wranglers lead 7-0.
The defense added to the scoreboard when Ellison Jordan came up with a 17 yard interception on a deflected pass for a 13-0 lead.
Gerald Hickbottom replaced Jon Jund at quarterback towards the end of the first quarter and was welcomed by Travion Banks, who picked off the backup quarterbacks pass in the end zone.
Two plays later in the second quarter, Aaron Jackson picked off a Jones pass that was intended to McCorker. The very next play the Wranglers got the ball back when Shanon Reid came up with a loose ball when Hickbottom fumbled the ball away.
Jones connected with Arsiah McCorker on a 15 yard pass play for a 19-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Duke City was finally able to score towards the end of the first half. Hickbottom faked a handoff and nonchalantly cruised left into the end zone.
The Wranglers had a golden opportunity to extend their lead in the final seconds of the first half with the ball inside the Gladiators five yard line, but were unable to score any points as the clock ran out.
The second half saw Duke City close the gap to three points with a second Hickbottom touchdown, a Lacayo extra point, and a deuce through the uprights on the kickoff, and all of a sudden it was 19-16.
Arsiah McCorker scored the first of his two TDs on a 41 yard strike from Jones to get some breathing room back with a 27-16 lead. Duke City responded with another Hickbottom run to make it 27-23.
Photo: John Maldonado pushing for more yards after the catch
The Wranglers got another big play when Jones hit John Maldonado on a 25 yard touchdown pass for a 33-23 lead. The fans rose to the occasion as the noise created began to hamper the offense of Duke City. Penalty after penalty of false starts kept the visitors out of the end zone the rest of the game. It was the perfect combination of defensive intensity and fan participation that made a huge impact.
The Wranglers added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter when Jones hit Kobay White for a 15 yard TD. Jones finished 12-18-2 for 152 yards and four touchdowns. Jones also led the team on the gorund with 20 yards and a TD. David Elder caught seven passes for 41 yards. McCorker pulled in a pair for two touchdowns. Maldonado two for 40 and a TD, and White had one reception for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Shanon Reid had 10 tackles. Wallace Cowins had six. Tramond Lofton and Reid each had a sack.
Northern Arizona improves to (3-1) and will travel to Tucson to play the Sugarskulls on Saturday, 6:05 pm
NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 39, DUKE CITY GLADIATORS 23
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Duke City 0 7 16 0 – 23
Northern Arizona 13 6 14 6 – 39
Scoring Summary
NAZ-Jones 4 yard run (Perez kick)
NAZ-Jordan 17 yard interception return (Run failed)
NAZ-McCorker 15 yard pass from Jones (Kick failed)
DC-Hickbottom 5 yard run (Lacayo kick)
DC-Hickbottom 3 yard run (Lacayo kick)
DC-Lacayo deuce
NAZ-McCorker 41 yard pass from Jones (Perez drop-kick)
DC-Hickbottom 1 yardf run (Lacayo kick)
NAZ- Maldonado 25 yard pass from Jones (Drop kick-failed)
NAZ-White 15 yard pass from Jones (Drop kick-failed)
ATT:3000
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference W-L
Bay Area 4-0
Vegas 4-0
WRANGLERS 3-1
San Diego 3-1
Arizona 2-3
Tucson 1-3
San Antonio 1-3
Duke City 0-4
Eastern Conference W-L
Frisco 4-0
Massachusetts 4-1
Green Bay 3-1
Quad City 2-2
Tulsa 2-2
Iowa 0-4
Sioux Falls 0-4
Jacksonville 0-4
SCOREBOARD
Northern Arizona 39, Duke City 23
Arizona 49, Iowa 47
Bay Area 53, San Diego 50
San Antonio 60, Tucson 36
Green Bay 48, Sioux Falls 35
Frisco 60, Tulsa 32
Quad City 54, Massachusetts 43
Vegas 61, Jacksonville 35
