Wranglers Roll the Dice Against Vegas

Photo: 9 Anthony Garrett goes airborne over 3 Joe Foucha

The Northern Arizona Wranglers needed a two point conversion to pull off an upset of the first place Vegas Knight Hawks but failed on the two point attempt in a thrilling 71-70 loss at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

The Wranglers played perhaps their best overall game of the season but just came up short. Wranglers quarterback Anthony Garrett played inspired football and said about the overtime, “When we won the coin toss we knew we would give them the ball first so we would know what we had to do. There was never a doubt that we would go for two and try to win this thing but we just came up short.” Garrett had his best game as a Wrangler completing 16 passes for 171 yards and 6 touchdowns. Not turning over the ball was a big deal in playing with the defending IFL champions. “We always go in not wanting to hurt our chances and tonight we did a good job. We just need to find a way of turning good play into wins.”

Photo:  4 Ka’Ron Ashley with the first touchdown catch of the game

Garrett hit Ka’Rron Ashley for the first touchdown and Manuel Higuera added the extra point and energized the crowd even further with his first of four deuces on the night. The Knight Hawks countered with a 3 yard run by Josh Tomas. Garrett connected with Kobe Smith for a 20 yard scoring strike to put the Wranglers up 16-7. A second Higuera deuce made the score 18-7 as time ran out in the first quarter.

Photo: 14 Kobe Smith on his way for the touchdown as he gets by 13 Fred Flavors

Defense was not the word in the second quarter as both teams combined for 35 points. Vegas pulled within 18-14 on a Deshon Stoudemire catch from Jayden De Laura. The Wranglers answered with a Garrett pass to Smith again to make it 25-14. Vegas kept the pressure on with another TD pass from De Laura to John Erby and it was 25-21. The Wranglers added another TD to go up 32-21 when Garrett used his scrambling ability and found Marlon Cook Jr for a 32 yard score. Vegas scored a final first half touchdown with twelve seconds left in the half when Stoudemire caught a 23 yard touchdown pass. Northern Arizona had a chance to add to their lead but a long field goal attempt missed sending the teams to the locker room with the Wranglers on top 32-28.

Northern Arizona came out and got the crowd back into it by adding a deuce when Manny Higuera split the uprights on the kickoff to extend the lead to 34-28. The Knight Hawks seemed destined to score again but Kierna Page stepped in front of the Vegas receiver at the goal line and picked off the De Laura pass returning it to the 7 yard line. Marlon Cook Jr. caught his second TD pass of the game when Garrett put the ball on the numbers to increase the home team’s lead to 41-28 with 8:42 left in the third quarter.

Vegas seemed unfazed by the double digit deficit and took just 90 seconds to score on a Josh Tomas 1 yard run to pull within 41-35. 

The Knight Hawks scored a rouge when Gabe Rui hit the perfect kickoff into the corner of the end zone. Bouncing around until it was finally picked up by Benji Omayebu. The Vegas kick team never let him get out into the field of play, smothering him in the end zone for the one point to make the score 41-36. 

Photo: 3 Ryan Johnson gets after Vegas quarterback Jayden De Laura

On their next possession Northern Arizona overcame a penalty and scored when Garrett decided to keep the ball and maneuvered his way into the end zone for a 47-36. The kick just missed to the left of the upright to keep it at a 12 point game.

De Laura threw a long ball to Senika McKie for a 35 yard scoring strike to pull within 47-43 as the third quarter came to an end. 

Vegas came out with a defensive fire that forced zero yards of offense for NAZ. Stuck at their own 15 yard line, the Wranglers elected to go for a field goal but it was wide right. The Knight Hawks would take their first lead of the game when former Wrangler Quentin Randolph caught a 16 yard touchdown pass from De Laura. Gabe Rui added the extra point for a 49-47 Vegas lead with just under nine minutes to play.

Randolph, who finished with 4 catches for 51 yards and the TD, said, “You always know you are going to get a good game out of the Wranglers. They played a real good game and pushed us to play the entire game. Randolph also saw some action on the defensive side of the ball. “I am here to do whatever the team needs me to do. If that means playing both ways, so be it.”

Northern Arizona scored again on a 36 yard pass from Garrett to Ashley, Higuera added an extra point and a deuce to go up 57-50, but the Knight Hawks tied it up when Josh Tomas scampered in from 14 yards out. 

Garrett scored on a 6 yard run but Vegas tied the game on a touchdown pass to McKie with a few seconds remaining. The Wranglers had a chance to win the game on the last play but a field goal attempt failed.

Northern Arizona won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. Vegs went up 71-64 on a 1 yard run by De Laura on the Rui kick. On their possession, the Wranglers scored on a pass to Cook Jr., who had to come over the defender who was in prime position to intercept the ball and end the game right there. Cook Jr. made an impressive adjustment for the TD catch. Then came the all important extra point to tie and send into a second overtime, but the Wranglers rolled the dice and went for two and the win. Garrett’s pass into the back of the end zone hit the receivers fingers and fell incomplete.

Vegas improved to (9-1), while the Wranglers fell to (1-9) and will host the San Diego Strike Force on Sunday at 1pm.

VEGAS KNIGHT HAWKS 71, NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 70, OT

Score By Quarters-  1         2         3         4        OT      –     T

Vegas                       7        21       15       21         7       –    71

Northern Arizona     18       14       15       17         6       –    70

Scoring Summary

NAZ-Ashley 5 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

NAZ-Higuera Deuce

V-Tomas 3 yard run (Rui kick)

NAZ-Smith 20 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

NAZ-Higuera Deuce

V-Stoudemire 18 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

NAZ-Smith 3 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

V-Erby 8 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

NAZ-Cook 32 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

V-Stoudemire 23 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

NAZ-Higuera Deuce

NAZ-Cook Jr. 32 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

V-Tomas 1 yard run (Rui kick)

V-Rouge

NAZ-Garrett 15 yard run (Kick failed)

V-McKie 35 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

V-Randolph 16 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

NAZ-Ashley 36 yard pass from Garrett (Higuera kick)

NAZ-Higuera Deuce

V-Tomas14 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

NAZ-Garrett 6 yard run (Cook Jr.pass from Garrett)

V-McKie 25 yard pass from De Laura (Rui kick)

V-De Laura 1 yard run (Rui kick)

NAZ-Cook Jr. 23 yard pass from Garrett (Pass failed)

ATT:N/A

IFL STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE      W-L

Vegas                                         9-1

San Diego                                  7-2

Arizona                                       7-3

San Antonio                               3-7

Tucson                                       4-6

New Mexico                               1-9

WRANGLERS                           1-9

EASTERN CONFERENCE       W-L

Jacksonville                                9-1

Green Bay                                  9-2

Orlando                                       6-4

Tulsa                                           5-5

Fishers Freight                            5-6

Quad City                                    4-6

Iowa                                            1-9

SCOREBOARD

Vegas 71, Wranglers 70, OT

Jacksonville 54, San Antonio 20

Orlando 50, Iowa 7

Quad City 43, Green Bay 37

Tucson 48, New Mexico 22

Tulsa 45, Fishers Freight 44