(Tucson, AZ) Tonight’s rematch of in-state rivals was held at the Bone Yard. These two met three weeks ago on June 12th up in Phoenix.
The Arizona Rattlers built a big lead only to have the Sugar Skulls come back in the second half and take brief lead before falling 44-34.
Once again, Rattlers’ Head Coach Kevin Guy went head to head with his wife and Sugar Skulls Owner Cathy Guy. Kevin Guy is 3-0 against Tucson.
Tucson won the coin toss but deferred to the second half, the same result as on June 12th.
Arizona took the opening kickoff and quickly marched down the field culminating in a Jerrod Harrington touchdown reception from Drew Powell. The extra point was blocked, as the Ratters went up 6-0 at the 11:43 mark of the first quarter.
Tucson went three and out on their initial possession but still scored on a Jimmy Camacho drilled fifty five yard field goal. Ratters up 6-3 with 8:04 left in the quarter.
The ensuing kickoff was fumbled but recovered by the Snakes at their own five yard line.
Once again, Powell and the high powered Arizona offense drove down to the two yard line and on a fourth down, Powell snuck up the middle for the score, This time the extra point was good as the Rattlers extended the lead to 13-3 as the quarter ended.
The Ratters’ defense held Tucson to zero yards total offense in the first quarter.
The Skulls came out rolling culminating in a Ryan Balentine ten yard touchdown catch from Demry Croft which got back in the game at 13-10
Skulls made Arizona pay on their next possession as Delvin Batiste picked off a Powell attempt in the end zone and the game’s first turnover.
Tucson Running back Mike Jones bailed out the offense with a clutch third down reception in the flat and scampered down to the Snakes ten yard line.
After a defensive holding call, the ball was placed at the two yard line. Arizona got some redemption on a sack of Croft back to the eight yard line.
A play later, Balentine on an underneath route went in untouched to give the Skulls their first lead 17-13 with 1:48 left till the half.
With just over a minute left in the quarter, Tucson flushed Powell out of the pocket but he saw a streaking Harrington wide open in the middle of the field and and scored the go ahead touchdown 20-17.
A rare on sides kick took the Skulls by surprise as Arizona kept possession. Powell handed the ball to Nick LaSane from two yards and as Tucson was struck by lighting giving up two touchdowns in the last minute of the first half to trail 27-17.
Tucson’s offense woke up in the second quarter and finished with 106 total yards to the Snakes 134.
Croft didn’t really test the Rattlers’ secondary deep in the first half as almost every pass was underneath.
The Skulls didn’t start the second half well as Croft threw an interception and Arizona was back in business as Troy Pelletier ran the ball in from eight yards out to double up Tucson 34-17 with just 3:40 gone in the third quarter.
Croft hooked up with Balentine again with a mid field strike in the front corner of the end zone that gave Tucson their first points of the second half and they now trailed 34-23.
The Rattlers other than the inception in the first half had scored onevery offensive possession. LaSane scored again for the Snakes on a short pass and Arizona went back up by sixteen 40-24 as their second point after touchdown missed.
Just before the end of the quarter, Croft took the offense down to the Rattlers’ two yard line.
The first play of the final quarter saw Croft fumble after a missed handoff to Mike Jones. Another missed opportunity for Tucson.
Pelletier already with a solid performance snagged a ten yard pass from Powell and scored as the Snakes pulled away 47-24.
Skulls still tried to stay competitive as Jones caught a twenty seven yard pass to put the ball at the three yard line. Three plays later, Croft went right off the end and Tucson also converted a two point conversion to pull back to 47-32 with 5:06 left.
Tucson tried to extend the momentum, but their on sides kick was recovered by the Rattlers.
Tucson’s defense couldn’t find the solution to the Rattlers’ high powered offense as the Snakes topped the fifty point mark 54-32 and 4:07 left in the game.
The last gasp for the Skulls saw Croft run up the middle and lunged into the end zone, but upon video review overturned the play and the score and the ball were placed on the half yard line.
Finally, the offense struck pay dirt as Croft went to his left and scored the games last touchdown. Tucson went for two points again, but were turned away.
If you didn’t see the game and just went off the stat sheet, you’d have thought that Tucson lost by an eyelash. Both teams had 19 first downs. the Skulls led in passing yards 180-173 although the Snakes had the edge in total yards 249-214. The Sugar Skulls had the ball 32 minutes to 28 minutes for Arizona.
Back to reality, the Rattlers scored on all but one offensive possession and that was the ultimate decider of the game.
With the Indoor Game being a track meet, up and down for the vast majority of the games, your defense must come up with stops or turnovers. Both teams coughed up the ball once apiece.
Now with the losing streak at five games, Tucson looks to double up on their only win of the season next week against Duke City at the Bone Yard. The Skulls won the first meeting way back on May 30th 55-35 at the Gladiators home field.
Final Score: Arizona 54 Tucson 38.
Attendance 3,434
To watch post game interview click here
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