(Tucson, AZ) The 2026 IFL National Championship Game was in the Old Pueblo for the second consecutive year with the Green Bay Blizzard, champs of the Eastern Conference and the Arizona Rattlers representing the Western Conference.
Green Bay lost in the title game last year to the Las Vegas Knight Hawks 64-61. Today they looked to come out on top.
The Rattlers with a very young team experience wise at one point were 7-5 after a loss to the Sugar Skulls 35-28. They then went on a six game win streak and thats when this team began to gel. A win tonight would give them a seven game winning streak and the National Championship.
Both teams overhauled their rosters in the off season. The best story line was last year’s IFL Most Valuable Player was Green Bay quarterback Max Meylor. The Snakes made a deal and picked up Meylor and that seemed to be the biggest piece of the puzzle. Meylor was three inches short of the end zone in last year’s Championship Game barely losing to Las Vegas.
Ariuzona’s Max Meylor/Photo -Piercen Sturdavant
First Quarter
Arizona began the game after losing the coin to Green Bay. Blizzard Andrew Melvin’s kickoff went for a deuce and let 2-0 before a second clicked off the clock.
On their first offensive possession, Green Bay held the Snakes to a four and out and gave their offense the back at the Arizona 10 yard line.
Green Bay scored again with a 10 yard tipped pass from Liam Thompson to Isaac Ross for the touchdown. Rattler coach Kevin Guy challenged the catch but the play stood. Blizzard up 9-0 at the 11:20 left in the opening quarter.
On their next possession, Meylor had to scramble on a fourth down to keep the drive alive for Arizona.
Meylor continued to take the team on his back as he scampered for 14 yards to the Green Bay 6 yard line. Two plays later, Ron Brown Jr, waltzed in for the score and got Arzona on the board with 3:29 left and tailed 9-7.
The Blizzard utilized two quick pitch runs to get themselves in scoring position at the Arizona 15 yard line to end the quarter.
Photo – Piercen Sturdavant
Second Quarter
Thompson’s pass was just short of the end zone, but got the Blizzard a first down inside the 1 yard line. After a great defensive play by Arizona, Trevon Alexander won the tug of war catch for the second Green Bay touchdown as they extended their lead 16-7.
The Rattlers figured they’d use the quick pitch runs by Brown Jr. to reach the red zone. Brown Jr.followed that up with a catch on a weak side screen for another first down at the Green Bay 11 yard line.
Green Bay’s defense came up strong with a no gain play to bring up a fourth and goal from the 2 yard line. Meylor on fourth down, rolled out right and looked to run it in, but at the last second flipped it to Arland Bruce in the end zone that brought the Snakes even at 16-16 with a little under half the quarter left.
The Rattlers got their own deuce by Matthew Cook to tie the game 16-16.
Green Bay moved the ball with small gains due to the stiff Rattler defense. After a holding penalty, Thompson saw no one open down field and ran for 16 yards, set the Blizzard up with a very short field. Demilon Brown, their backup quarterback scored on a 5 yard run to put Green Bay back on top 23-16 at the one minute warning.
The Snakes needed to steal some points before the half Cory Reed Jr. got them started with a pitch and catch up the sidelines to get the offense into the Green Bay red zone. With :12 left, the Blizzrd grabbed Reed Jr. in the end zone for a pass interference call. Ball was placed at the two yard line first and goal. With :09 left, Kymani Ckark muscled his way into score and the Rattlers tied it back up 23-23.
With the kickoff going out of bounds, Green Bay attempted a 45 yard field goal that sailed wide but also left :01 second on the clock. Arizona had an opportunity to kick their own 45 yard field goal, but that also was wide to end the half and what a half it was.
Photo – Piercen Sturdavant
Halftime
The first half was an even as it gets with both teams playing well, especially on defense. There were no long pass plays for either team as they both were able to move the ball semi-effectively without the long pass.
Photo – Piercen Sturdavant
Third Quarter
Arizona had the second half began just as the game did with a kickoff deuce and the second of the c0ntest for Arizona, now up 25-23 with their lead of the game.
The Blizzard took four plays to put the ball in the end zone with a nice second effort run by Alexander for his second TD of the game. Green Bay retook the lead 30-25.
The Blizzerd returned the favor as Mevis got his second deuce of the game and the Blizzrd had a touchdown lead 32-25.
Arizona’s first crack on offense saw Meylor take it up the right sideline and then get smacked into the boards but got his first down on the play. Reed Jr, got the Rattlers another first down and into Blizzrd territory on a big third down play. Jayden Horace with highlight film on handed catch that he had to reach back to control and we were tied again 32-32 with 6:53 left in the quarter.
The Snakes’ defense turned up the heat and forced a fourth and ten. With immense pressure on MVP Thompson, Arzona coverage was too good and they forced a turnover on downs.
A fake inside handoff saw Meylor take it right up the gut down to the Green Bay 10 yard line. A play later, Clark mishandled the pitch, but it also threw off the Blizzrd defense’s pursuit timing and allowed him to score and finally, the Snakes had their second lead 39-32 with :28 seconds left in the third quarter.
Another deuce attempt by Cook was just wide to end the quarter.
IFL Dance Team from the Tucson Sugar Skulls/Photo- Piercen Sturdavant
Fourth Quarter
As this game had gone fireworks on the first play of each quarter, saw Thompson finally break out as he took the snap and was off to the races for 30 yards to the house and again a tie score 39-39.
In the final quarter, the intensity was over the top as both teams started to get a title chippy with the championship on the line.
Reed Jr. broke off a run up the middle for 15 yards to set the offense in good field position. Again Meylor with his receivers blanketed, used his legs and scored to put the Snakes back up 46-39 with just over 11 minutes to go.
Deuce attempts were the standard as Cook just missed his third of the game.
Green Bay came right back in two plays from scrimmage as Brown bolted into score. Then disaster struck, the extra point attempt snap was mishandled and rolled back past midfield as several players chased the ball but defensive lineman Josh Ellison ultimately fell on the ball in the end zone and two point score with the Rattlers, now up by a field goal 48-45 with 7:32 left in the game. Special teams came up big to keep Arziona in the driver’s seat.
Arziona came right back after the special team play and had the ball at the Blizzrd 6 yard line. Now in crunch time, Arizona looked to get more than a one possession lead as Bruce IV caught a touchdown pass to take the lead to ten points 55-45 and 4:36 left on the clock.
Finally, a kickoff hit the speaker standard on the roof of the arena.
Thompson scrambled out of a big Arizona rush and weaved his way for 17 yards inside the the 15 yard line. The next play, Alexander hauled in the pass for the score. Having to go for two points, Thompson’s pass was knocked away. With 2:26 left, the Rattlers led 56-51.
Meylor off the keeper ran for 9 yards to the. Blizzard 3 yard line. Meylor’s short run got the crucial first down as more time came off the clock. With a second and goal from the 2 yard line. Three in a row by Meylor hot the jackpot as Arziona looked to put it away with an eleven point lead 62-51 at the 1 minute timeout.
GreenBay now on life support, needed a miracle, but three consecutive incomplete passes made it fourth down and ten. Hudson bailed out the Blizzard for the time being with a first down catch. On the next play, Thompson tried to do it all himself but was belted at the 2 yard line and coughed up the ball with Don Willis falling on the ball and secured the National Championship for the Arziona Rattlers 62-51.
Photo – Piercen Sturdavant
Wrap Up
This was a game for the ages as both teams came in hyped up and were certainly the best two teams in the league. Back and forth they went with neither team get far ahead. The Blizzard’s largest lead was 9-0 to start the game.
There were several ties and the ebb and flow of the game didn’t change until late in the second half when Arizona held the Blizzrd to a four and out series, getting the ball back on the game’s first turnover. That switched the momentum and allowed the Rattlers to score and became the chased and not the chaser.
The game’s outcome came on a mishandled snap on the extra point that was recovered in Rattlers’ end zone for a two point conversion. With the missed extra point opportunity and the Arizona score, it was a three point turnaround. After that, the Snakes cruised to the win in the National Championship.
It was fitting that Rattler quarterback Max Meylor won the Game’s MVP Award. Meylor played here in last year’s Title Game and coming up just short to the Knighf Hawks.
Tonight’s attendance was almost 5,000, by far the largest crowd in the Boneyard this season.
The Sugar Skull Organization did an exceptional job of hosting not only today’s game, but the entire week leading up to today. Owner Edmund Marquez has really turned around this franchise with forthright wisdom and a little luck.
The Sugar Skulls players got a taste of the Playoffs this year but they should pay attention to today’s game to soak in what it will take to be the last two teams playing.
The National Championship Game returns to the Old Pueblo for its final year in 2027.
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