Photo: Wrangler’s quarterback Garrett Kettle
The Northern Arizona Wranglers surely left something behind on their road trip to San Jose, to take on the Bay Area Panthers. The Panthers took advantage of the opportunities, and blasted the Wranglers by 34 points. Despite having more total yards 237-195, the Wranglers also had more turnovers, three fumbles, two accounting for Bay Area touchdowns.
The game started out normal enough, a defensive stop by Northern Arizona, followed by a missed 38 yard field goal attempt by Brandon Fisher. The Wranglers fell behind after giving up the only touchdown of the first quarter as Justin Rankin rushed in from 19 yards out. The Wranglers did eventually tie it up 6-6 when Kettle used his legs, scampering for the 10 yards score.
A pair of TDs by Bay Area, both involving quarterback Dalton Sneed, put them up by two scores, yet, the Wranglers still had a good chance to score before the end of the first half to close within one score. A long field goal attempt by Brandon Fisher was short, nearly returned for another touchdown, as the clock expired. The Panthers led 20-6 at the half.
Northern Arizona received the second half kickoff, but ended up again with nothing to show for the possession, after a Brandon Fisher field goal attempt was blocked. The rest of the wheels fell off the wagon in the second half.
The Panthers added two more touchdowns on a Rankin one yard run, and a Bon Stevens Jr. scoop and score from five yards out, created by a Jarrod Ware Jr. fumble, giving the home team a 34-6 lead with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter.
The only other Wrangler score came on a 40 yard pass play from Kettle to Ramaud Chiaokhi-Bowman with 9:22 left, cutting the deficit to 34-13. The ensuing onside kick to get another possession to climb back closer, failed miserably.
Nih-jer Jackson took the perfect hop and ran the ball in for the touchdown. Jackson scored the next touchdown also on the kickoff when Andre Williams could not get a grip on the “hot potato” kick, losing it in the end zone where Jackson grabbed the ball for the score.
Credit to former Wrangler defensive coordinator Coach Rob Keefe, whose defense rose to the occasion more than once, with three former Wranglers (Marquise Bridges, Trae Meadows, and Tevin Homer), making a big impact on the game.
Garrett Kettle led the Wranglers in rushing, 76 yards, and was 11-22-0 with 168 yards through the air. Jared Ware Jr. caught six passes for 98 yards. Justin Rankin rushed for 50 yards. Dalton Sneed was 8-13-0 for 82 yards, and rushed for 47 yards.
The Wranglers will have a short week of practice as they travel to play the Vegas Knight Hawks on Friday at 7:05 pm. Northern Arizona beat the Knight Hawks in week two 48-42 in Prescott Valley. The game can be seen on the IFL YouTube channel.
BAY AREA PANTHERS 47, NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS 13
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Arizona 0 6 0 7 – 13
Bay Area 6 14 14 13 – 47
Scoring Summary
BA-Rankin 19 yard run (Kick failed)
NAZ-Kettle 10 yard run (Kick failed)
BA-Sneed 13 yard run (Petre kick)
BA-Jackson 28 yard pass from Sneed (Petre kick)
BA-Rankin 1 yard run (Petre kick)
BA-Stevens Jr. 5 yard fumble return (Petre kick)
NAZ-Chiaokhi-Bowman 40 yard pass from Kettle (Fischer kick)
BA-Jackson 7 yard kickoff return (Petre kick)
BA-Jackson fumble recovery in end zone (Kick failed)
IFL STANDINGS
Western Conference W-L Eastern Conference W-L
Tucson 3-1 Frisco 5-0
WRANGLERS 2-2 Quad City 4-1
Vegas 2-2 Massachusetts 2-2
Bay Area 2-2 Sioux Falls 2-2
San Diego 2-3 Green Bay 2-3
Arizona 2-3 Tulsa 1-3
Duke City 2-3 Iowa 0-4
SCOREBOARD
Bay Area 47, WRANGLERS 13
Frisco 52, Arizona 42
Vegas 50, Duke City 26
San Diego 51, Tucson 44, 2 OT
Tulsa 54, Iowa 48
Quad City 49, Massachusetts 44
Sioux Falls 55, Green Bay 47
WEEK 7 SCHEDULE- Arizona Time
WRANGLERS at Vegas, Friday 7:05 pm
Iowa at Massachusetts, Friday, 4:35 pm
Quad City at Sioux Falls, Saturday 5:05 pm
Arizona at Tulsa, Saturday, 5:05 pm
Bay Area at San Diego, Sunday, 3:05 pm
