(Tucson, AZ) Following last week’s thrilling game with San Diego, Coach Kizer got to witness his squad’s ability to come back. The offense is still a work in progress trying to find their identity. On the defensive side of the ball, the secondary is getting stronger and the big guys up front want to make their mark as well.
Today’s game theme was 1980’s Night with the big hair, neon colored clothing and 80’s music that the Sugar Skulls Dance Team performed to. The Sugar Skulls were look8mg for their first victory at home in the Boneyard.
New Mexico and the Sugar Skulls came in at 1-2. The Chupacabras beat a winless Wrangler team from Prescott Valley.
Tucson’s lone win was two weeks ago in Albuquerque against the Chupacabras. The skulls looked to sweep their neighbors to the East.
First Quarter
Tucson got the ball first as New Mexico won the coin toss and differed to the second half.
The Sugar Skulls had the advantage of having a big running back Tavion Thomas that is very difficult to bring down.
The first offensive possession saw Tucson use that run game to their advantage as they marched down the field into the Chupacabras red zone.
New Mexico’s defense stiffened and the Sugar Skulls settled for a Kevin Macias 37 yard field goal to get on the board first, 3-0 at the 9:24 mark.
The Chupacabras took advantage of soft special teams play on the kickoff as they returned it to the Tucson nineteen yard line.
There was a mixup on the play from the eight yard line when the snap hit the motion receiver that caused a fumble which the Skulls recovered.
The Skulls had a golden opportunity to go up by two scores with a touchdown. On third and eleven, Kacey Otto making his first start threw a laser pass to Javion Lofton for a first down. From there, again the offense went stagnant and thirty five yard field goal attempts sailed wide. Opportunity lost.
From their own five yard line, New Mexico went back to the air for a first down, but disaster almost struck again as, Ja’Rome Johnson’s pass was deflected up in the air and just out of the reach of the Skulls defense.
Second Quarter
A fourth down and nine yards faced the Chupacabras on the first play of the quarter. Johnson’s pass was defected and Tucson got the ball with good field position at the New Mexico twenty three yard line.
The Sugar Skulls have had their issues in the red zone so far this season and this drive exemplified that. Again, Macias bailed the offense out with his second field goal this time from twenty three yards out to go up 6-0 with 10:14 left til halftime.
Finally something positive for the New Mexico offense as Johnson hit La’james White at the Sugar Skulls four yard line and a first and goal.
On fourth and goal from the two yard line, Johnson had to hurry his throw which was knocked down, but a roughing the passer penalty gave them another chance. On the free play, Damon Street dove into the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point missed and the game was tied at 6-6 at the 5:04 mark.
Tucson was now in a position to steal points before halftime with the Chupacabras getting the ball first in the second half. Thomas broke off a big play, not only getting a needed first down, but getting into red zone again. This time on third down, Otto found Lofton underneath and the “tush push” by the big guys pushed him across the goal line for the Skulls first touchdown and 13-6 lead with under a minute left before the half.
The fired up Tucson defense showed no mercy as they sacked Johnson and that was the key play to send the Sugar Skulls into the locker room with a 13-6 lead.
Tavion Thomas rumbles for the winning score
Halftime
Tucson did much better in the first half than in previous games.the touchdown at the end of the second quarter was key as they went into the half ahead.
Coach Rayshaun Kizer had shown last week his halftime adjustments worked and they had to do it again.
Third Quarter
The Sugar Skulls kick team with poor tackling allowed New Mexico run the kickoff back to the Tucson one yard line.
Two defensive stops forced a fourth down and goal from the ten yard line. Ben Derby booted a twenty three yard field goal to cut the Skulls lead to 13-9. A big victory for Tucson’s defense.
To get out of the shadow of their own goal line, the Sugars Skulls went tot their bread and butter Thomas to putty them in better field position and he delivered on back to back runs.
Macias when needed came through as his forty yard kick was right down the middle. Tucson got back the three points they gave to the Chupacabras 16-9 with 6:53 left in the quarter.
Tucson’s defensive line continued to make Johnson’s life miserable with their pressure and took them to a fourth down and eleven yards to go. Derby hit his second field goal of the third quarter and the Sugar Skulls lead was 13-9 at the 3:49 mark.
Thomas again was the “go to” guy as he showed some speed up the far sideline for twelve yards, but the drive stalled. Macias came through with a twenty seven yard boot to go back up by a touchdown 19-12.
Fourth Quarter
So it came down to the final stanza in this offensively challenged game to see who would catch a break with a one possession game.
New Mexico played with a sense of urgency on their offensive possession with short quick plays in space. Johnson to Street combination found the end zone to tie the score 19-19 and 12:30 still left. This was the position Tucson had tried to avoid,
The Sugar Skulls took the ensuing kickoff back to the New Mexico eighteenth yard line. After a Thomas run, Otto went to the air, something that Tucson hadn’t seen much success with. A short completion inside the ten yard line set up the next play. With no one open in the passing routes, Otto tucked the ball and ran it in for the score and the Skulls went back up by a touchdown 26-19 and 8:46 still to go.
Again, the Skulls defense forced a fourth down, but Johnson got the first down with hid legs and a first and goal situation. Johnson found Isaiah Crocker in the back of the end zone and threaded the needle to tie the game 26-26 at the one minute warning,
This is what Tucson needed to be put in a high pressure situation trying to close out a hard fought victory. With good clock management and three timeouts in their pocket, they had their own destiny in their hands.
Of course Thomas began the possession with a five yard run, followed by Otto’s keeper up the middle and Tucson was in field goal range. With a procedure penalty, the ball was backed up five yard. Not a time for a mental error. On the next play, Mr. Clutch Tavion Thomas shot through the line like a rocket untouched for the go ahead score 33-26 and sixteen seconds left.
The Chupacabras had two timeouts and twelve seconds to try to tie or win the game. A twenty yard completion got the ball to the Sugar Skulls twenty yard line and seven seconds left with one timeout. New Mexico was whistled for a procedure penalty to back them up to midfield at the twenty five yard line. A Johnson pass in the corner of the end zone was knocked down. One second left, same play to the other corner and same result.
Tucson evens its record at 2-2.
Wrap Up
Now that the Sugar Skulls have evened their record at 2-2, they’ve learned two very important and valuable lessons, one in a close loss and today’s close victory.
Will the injury to Draylen Ellis extend to another game? Kasey Otto filled in today and didn’t do anything to hurt the team, although the offense wasn’t consistent and settled for field goals too many times, Kevin Macias was the hero today as his foot kept the Sugar Skulls on top and making New Mexico.
Tucson gets its first win at home and shows Southern Arizona why the Boneyard is the place to be on weekends.
Another early season rematch will see Tucson head to Southern California for a rematch with the San Diego Strike Force on the 26th, who they narrowly lost to 48-42 on April 11th. The game is slated for another Sunday afternoon affair at 4:30 p.m.
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