Photo: Axel Perez gathers his thoughts before the game winning kick
Axel Perez made his biggest kick of the Wranglers season with a game winning deuce with just four seconds remaining to lift Northern Arizona to a 47-46 win over the Bay Area Panthers in San Jose.
Things looked mighty dismal for the Wranglers who trailed 46-23 with just over five minutes to play. The team had played out of sync most of the day and down by such a large margin, a comeback seemed almost impossible. Key word, almost. It had been a very rough week for the team still dealing with the loss of their beloved defensive coordinator David Moran.
Rest assured Coach Moran is looking down on his team with a big smile after what took place in that fourth quarter.
The Bay Area Panthers still hold the top spot in the IFL Western Conference with a (11-3) record, but Panther Coach Rob Keefe was not happy the way his team closed things out. “We had a great first half. At the end of the day we did not execute. We work on the onside kicks everyday and we just didn’t execute. We missed four extra points and two field goals and that is not the way you get things done. Credit goes to Northern Arizona.
The Wranglers offense sputtered through most of the first half as Northern Arizona trailed 21-3 early in the second quarter. Bay Area quarterback Daquan Neal had a big day with six touchdown passes, completing 14 of 19 for 177 yards and one interception.
The Wranglers were in a prime position to score their first touchdown but had to settle for an Axel Perez drop-kick field goal, which gives you four points instead of the traditional style kick of three points.
Pierre Williams caught a wide open pass over the middle to extend the Bay Area lead to 28-7. A failed onside kick gave the ball to the Wranglers at the Panthers three yard line.
The Wranglers finally reached the end zone with under a minute to play in the first half when quarterback Josh Jones scored from one yard out. Perez’s drop-kick closed the deficit to 28-15.
Shane Simpson’s five yard run up the middle put Northern Arizona in a bigger hole with :44 seconds remaining in the half. Neither team did anything with their final possessions as the Panthers led 34-15 at the half.
The third quarter saw the teams exchange a touchdown, leaving the Wranglers down by 40-23. When Stokes caught his third touchdown pass of the day the deficit grew to 46-23. Another missed extra point attempt seemed like no big deal at the time, but proved costly at the end.
Photo: Wrangler quarterback Josh Jones
Jones and company got busy and went down the field to score with a pass to Tosin Oyekanmi to bring the Wranglers within 46-31. NAZ recovered the onside kick and the offense went right back to work. Jones scored on a six yard run at one minute warning, but the drop-kick failed as the Wranglers now trailed 46-37.
A second consecutive onside kick recovery sent the offense back out again. Jones fired the ball to Gene Coleman with four seconds left to make the score 46-43. Everything had to be perfect and Axel Perez came though big time. Perez nailed the drop-kick to pull within one point. Then the ultimate deuce on the kickoff finished the biggest comeback in Wrangler history. The kick was true right down the middle as the Wranglers celebrated the comeback, as the Bay Area team and fans stood in shock.
Bay Area did have one final chance, but Artigue’s long field goal attempt missed giving the Wranglers the “ I can’t believe it” win.
Jones threw 51 passes, completing 27 for 251 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushing for two more. Gene Coleman caught nine passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. Tosin Oyekanmi scored twice on six receptions for 60 yards. Kobay White six catches, 53 yards and John Maldonado pulled in four for 52 yards. Defensively, Kevin Hyde had six tackles and Shama Moreland had an interception. The Wranglers remain alive in the playoff picture and will need to beat Vegas next week to stay on course.
Kick off in Prescott Valley is Saturday at 6:05 pm.
NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 47, BAY AREA PANTHERS 46
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Northern Arizona 3 12 8 24 – 47
Bay Area 14 20 6 6 – 46
Scoring Summary
BA-Tomas 28 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Perez 20 yard Field Goal
BA-Tomas 23 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
BA-Stokes 3 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Perez 21 yard drop-kick Field Goal
BA-Williams 15 yard pass from Neal (Artigue kick)
NAZ-Jones 1 yard run (Perez drop-kick)
BA-Simpson 5 yard run (Kick blocked)
BA-Stokes 20 yard pass from Neal (Kick failed)
NAZ-Oyekanmi 11 yard pass from Jones (Perez drop-kick)
BA-Stokes 13 yard pass from Neal (Kick failed)
NAZ-Oyekanmi 14 yard pass from Jones (Perez drop-kick)
NAZ-Jones 6 yard run (Drop-kick failed)
NAZ-Coleman 5 yard pass from Jones (Perez drop-kick)
NAZ-Perez deuce
ATT:N/A
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference
Team W-L
Bay Area 11-3
San Diego 10-5
Arizona 10-5
Vegas 9-5
WRANGLERS 9-5
San Antonio 7-7
Tucson 2-12
Duke City 2-12
Eastern Conference
Team W-L
Frisco 12-3
Green Bay 11-3
Massachusetts 8-7
Quad City 7-7
Tulsa 5-9
Jacksonville 4-10
Iowa 4-10
Sioux Falls 3-11
SCOREBOARD
Northern Arizona 47, Bay Area 46
Arizona 44, Tucson 37
Frisco 81, Duke City 55
San Antonio 58, Massachusetts 55
San Diego 60, Vegas 59
SCHEDULE-WEEK 18
Vegas at Northern Arizona, Saturday, 6:05pm
Arizona at San Antonio, Saturday, 4:05pm
Duke City at Bay Area, Saturday, 6:05pm
Massachusetts at San Antonio, Saturday, 4:05pm
Green Bay at Jacksonville, Saturday, 4:05pm
Sioux Falls at Iowa, Saturday, 5:05pm
Sioux Falls at Tulsa, Saturday, 5:05pm
