Photo: Wranglers’ quarterback Joshua Jones threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another in the loss at San Diego
The Northern Arizona Wranglers four game win streak came to an end with a 54-45 setback to the Strike Force in San Diego. The two teams are now tied for third place at (4-2) in the IFL Western Division standings.
The Strike Force struck first with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Nate Davis to Isaiah Cox and an early 6-0 lead. The Wranglers responded with a rushing touchdown from six yards out by wide receiver Arsiah McCorker. Axel Perex added the extra point for a one point lead. That was all the scoring in the first quarter as the wranglers led 7-6.
Former Wranglers and now Strike Force kicker Conor Mangan hit a 25 yard field goal, and then added a deuce on the kickoff to give the Strike Force a 11-7 lead early in the second quarter. The Wranglers responded with a 41 yard strike from quarterback Joshua Jones to wide receiver Gene Coleman, who made an incredible contested grab for the touchdown, as the Wranglers jumped back in front of the Strike Force 14-11.
On the ensuing possession, the Strike Force scored a touchdown when Davis hit Jordan Kress who also made an amazing catch. San Diego missed the extra point attempt. Wranglers kicker Axel Perez tied the game at 17 on the following possession with a field goal. The Wranglers defense then surrendered a touchdown in one play, when Davis threw his third TD pass, to Cox for the second time, and now trailed 23-17.
The Wranglers offense responded to take the lead again quickly on the next drive, this time with a Jones rushing score. The Wranglers were leading by one, 24-23. Northern Arizona had a deflating end to the game’s opening half. The Strike Force started their final drive with just 32 seconds left in the first half. San Diego ran a quarterback sneak from the Wranglers one-yard line and got the touchdown as half ended. The Wranglers went into the locker room at halftime trailing the Strike Force by a score of 31-24.
The Wranglers gave up a touchdown to begin the second half when Chance Bell scored on the ground from four yards out to fall behind two scores. On the following drive, Jones found wide receiver John Maldonado wide open for the touchdown. The Wranglers kept chasing the San Diego, and traded touchdowns with Strike Force once again on the next two drives. The Wranglers next score was a Jones pass to McCorker, who grabbed his second touchdown of the game. The Wranglers trailed at the end of third quarter 45-38.
The fourth quarter began with a Strike Force turnover that the Wranglers really needed. Defensive end Tramond Lofton forced a fumble, and it was recovered by defensive back Malik Sonnier The Wranglers gave the ball right back as Strike Force nabbed an interception off Jones, giving the ball right back to San Diego. The Strike Forced capitalized off this mistake and extended their lead back to two possessions with a touchdown.
Wide receiver Kobay White came up with an amazing snag in the end zone, right over a Strike Force defender for the touchdown to pull the Wranglers to within 51-45. The Strike Force extended the lead with a successful Mangan field goal, and the Wranglers trailed by nine points with just under two minutes to play. Northern Arizona had an opportunity to get close but a pair of bad plays ended the hopes of picking up a road win. First was purely poor execution and the second play was a missed field goal on their final possession, and the Strike Force just ran out the clock to end the game.
San Diego quarterback Nate Davis threw for five touchdowns. Joshua Jones threw four TD passes for the Wranglers.
The Wranglers will get back at it this Saturday at home with a 6:05pm start against the defending IFL Champion Bay Area Panthers.
SAN DIEGO STRIKE FORCE 54, NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 45
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Northern Arizona 7 17 14 7 – 45
San Diego 6 25 14 9 – 54
Scoring Summary
SD-Cox 16 yard pass from Davis (Kick failed)
NAZ-McCorker 6 yard run (Perez kick)
SD-Mangan 25 yard FG
SD-Mangan Deuce
NAZ-Coleman 41 yard pass from Jones (Perez kick)
SD-Kress 13 yard pass from Davis (Kick failed)
NAZ-Perez 23 yard FG
SD-Cox 40 yard pass from Davis (Kick failed)
NAZ-Jones 4 yard run (Perez kick)
SD-Davis 1 yard run (Mangan drop-kick)
SD-Bell 4 yard run (Mangan drop-kick)
NAZ-Maldonado 5 yard pass from Jones (Perez kick)
SD-Kress 27 yard pass from Davis (Kick failed)
NAZ-McCorker 17 yard pass from Jones (Perez kick)
SD-Cox 10 yard pass from Davis (Kick failed)
NAZ-White 7 yard pass from Jones (Perez kick)
SD-Mangan 24 yard FG
ATT:N/A
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference W-L
Vegas 6-0
Bay Area 5-1
WRANGLERS 4-2
San Diego 4-2
Arizona 3-3
San Antonio 2-4
Tucson 1-4
Duke City 0-5
Eastern Conference W-L
Frisco 5-1
Massachusetts 5-1
Green Bay 4-2
Tulsa 3-3
Quad City 2-4
Iowa 1-5
Sioux Falls 1-5
Jacksonville 1-5
SCOREBOARD
San Diego 54, Northern Arizona 45
Vegas 62, Bay Area 43
Frisco 62, San Antonio 57
Jacksonville 47, Tulsa 44
Iowa 55, Quad City 53
Sioux Falls 46, Green Bay 38
