I feel like a broken record, but what a week for the IFL. We had several really great games in Week 10 and they the league cracked the Sportscenter Top 10 for the 5th time this season!
Every game was either a blow out or a one or two point margin, which provided some thrilling finishes and heartbreaking endings for some teams -- AND there are no more undefeated teams!
Here's what we learned in Week 10:
Iowa Barnstormers @ Quad City Steamwheelers
Result: 57-55 Quad City
What We Learned: Quad City is getting hot at the right time & Iowa is running out of time
This game was AMAZING. A true thriller that earned the Off The Wall Certified Banger award, making it the second consecutive week that Quad City has been in a slate opening banger.
Starting with Quad City, their offense looked pretty good in this game, but nothing really stood out — for good or bad — as they were able to play error free football for the majority of the game. Mike Irwin had a couple touchdowns through the air and a couple more on the ground, but their defense and special teams stepped up in a big way — with their defense getting some key takeaways and their special teams providing a spark when they needed it.
An absolutely massive shoutout is in order for Quad City kicker Kyle Kaplan, who went 5/6 on FGs on the day — including a 53 yarder in the 4th and a walk off 49 yarder to win the game with no time left! An unreal ending.
On the other side, Iowa looked…. good on offense? Did I really just type that?
Kyle King had arguably his best game to date and put the team on his back when RB Robert Washington got hurt early on and they had to lean on the passing game. He connected on several deep throws that opened up the game for the Barnstormers offense and even got the 2 point conversion to take a one point lead with 9 seconds left in the game!
It’s hard to lose a game like that to a kicker who was just locked in and in the zone all day — but you have to optimistic if you are a Barnstormers fan. But unfortunately, time is running out for Iowa. They need to put together a winning streak NOW in order to have any sort of chance at making a run to the 4th playoff spot to end the season.
Northern Arizona Wranglers @ Massachusetts Pirates
Result: 41-40 Northern Arizona
What We Learned: Joshua Jones is the leader for Rookie of the Year & the Pirates might have their finger hovering over the panic button
Northern Arizona QB is looking like the runaway leader for the IFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award thus far. After a rough first start, Jones has looked really solid as a whole on the year — with an impressive 26-3 TD:INT ratio and another 9 TDs on the ground.
A ton of credit goes to coach Les Moss and his staff for finding ways to get the most out of such a young roster across the board.
Northern Arizona had MULTIPLE over the wall catches in this game, including one that ended up on Sportscenter Top 10!
The Wranglers efficiently spread the ball around to their playmakers and kept the Pirates defense guessing for the majority of the game. A really great gameplan and execution to take home the win on the cross country trip to Lowell.
On the other side, to start with the positives Massachusetts RB Jimmie Robinson had himself quite a day — rushing for 5 TDs on the day and 80 yards on the ground — and the Pirates defense managed to keep them in the game late and get some key stops. But unfortunately, the woes on offense continue to haunt the Pirates.
Yet another week came and went where the Pirates were held to under 50 points and there was very little production on offense outside of Jimmie Robinson. They leaned into running the ball so much that it prevented them from getting into a rhythm in the passing game.
Isaac Zico is out with an injury, but with an offense that has Thomas Owens, Darren Carrington & Teo Redding at wide receiver, you have to find ways to get them the ball — and they just couldn’t. It seems like no matter who the Pirates play, they encounter similar issues over the past couple of weeks.
They have the talent to get it done, so what needs to change?
Frisco Fighters @ Green Bay
Result: 67-38 Green Bay
What We Learned: Green Bay made me eat my words & Frisco got rocked for the first time in years
Last week I said “Frisco set itself apart from the rest of the Eastern Conference in this game and are far and away the front runners” and the Green Bay Blizzard must have read that and said “alright, bet”. This game was an absolute ass-kicking by Green Bay and played out exactly as it would in a dream scenario for any Blizzard fan.
Frisco jumped out to an early lead, but the Green Bay special teams and defense kept them in it in and everything was tied up at 31 heading into halftime. Green Bay dominated the second half and ended the game on a 29-0 run to give Frisco their worst loss in franchise history.
Green Bay’s defense got 4 stops in the 4th quarter and shut down the Frisco passing attack — allowing only 4 completed passes all game. QB Max Meylor & RB EJ Burgess combined for 30 rushing attempts, 121 yards and 7 TDs on the ground as the Blizzard just pummeled the Fighters.
On the other side, the ground game started off GREAT for Frisco as they jumped out to a quick 21-7 lead in the first quarter. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to show for it beyond that. Martez Carter got 65 of his 70 yards on the day on three individual runs in the first half and the offense was just stymied by the Green Bay defense beyond the 1st quarter.
Frisco is built to dominate on the ground and they did that on paper in this game — getting 146 rushing yards on the day, which is usually enough when paired with a passing attack that has a pulse, but unfortunately the passing game could not get going for them.
We’ll have to see what the timeline looks like for TJ Edwards return, but Frisco’s schedule isn’t getting any easier with a trip to San Diego up next. We’ll see how/if they can rebound.
Tulsa Oilers @ San Antonio Gunslingers
Result: 54-43 San Antonio
What We Learned: Tulsa has lost their identity on offense & San Antonio is getting hot
San Antonio did the thing again. Sam Castronova did the thing again. 20/25 for 274 passing yards and 7 Passing TDs.
Castronova is on pace for 92 Passing TDs on the year with a 73.5% completion percentage.
92!
This Gunslingers offense continues to impress and continue to be the most impressive unit in the IFL, but the San Antonio special teams let the Oilers back in this game and the defense held on for just long enough. Gunslingers are in a decent spot at 4-4 all things considered, but it is going to take continued improvement from their defense and special teams in order to keep climbing from here.
On the other side, in a bizarre sequence in the week leading up to the Tulsa Oilers game, the Oilers seemingly made a permanent QB change with the addition of last year’s starting QB Andre Sale. The status of QB Daniel Smith isn’t fully known (because, you know, that’s the way it goes), but he is no longer listed on team’s roster, but he also wasn’t listed on the league transaction report either.
Smith started off the year pretty hot and earned IFL Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the season, but the slide over the past few games was apparently enough to warrant a shuffle up at QB1.
Tulsa’s offense had a slowwwww start to the game against San Antonio, and the Gunslingers pounced to a massive 40-15 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Tulsa fought and clawed their way back, eventually getting within 3 points but it ended up being too little too late as San Antonio pulled away. Sale connected with 4 Passing TDs int the 2nd half, but Tulsa will need to start off much better in the weeks ahead to give themselves a shot.
Tulsa also needs to make running the ball a priority. Jarrod Ware only had 4 rushing attempts on the game and that just isn’t enough. When this Tulsa offense was clicking, they had a great run-pass balance and were scoring on the ground pretty consistently — with new QB Andre Sale it immediately flipped to a pass heavy attack. They’ll need to get it figured out quickly as they have a tough stretch of games ahead of them.
Sioux Falls Storm @ Jacksonville Sharks
Result: 52-42 Sioux Falls
What We Learned: Lorenzo Brown turned back the clock & this Jacksonville just stinks
In a battle of 1-6 teams, this game essentially served as an elimination game for the remainder of the season. Sioux Falls lives to fight on and try claw back into the playoff hunt and Jacksonville is basically done.
This game was a pretty entertaining back and forth game until the end of the 2nd quarter, when the Storm began a 28-0 scoring run and pulled away. Lorenzo Brown Jr turned back the clock a bit and threw for 6 TDs on the day, totally flipping what Sioux Falls looked like over the past couple of weeks when they looked like a rush-heavy offense.
Sioux Falls had a pretty good balance with the run-pass ratio (19:26) and the veteran IFL experience of the Storm really showed in this matchup.
On the other side, Jacksonville just stinks, man. It’s sad to see because they were coming into the IFL as the reigning NAL champions and looked like they were going to be competitive from the jump, but that just hasn’t been the case.
When you look at the scoreboard, they only lost by 10, right? But if you look deeper, they were down 53-27 with 1:13 left in the game and scored 2 TDs in the final minute to only make it a 10 point loss. This team got worked and their season is basically done at this point.
They are going to need to go on a 8-0 or 7-1 run to even have a chance at a playoff spot and it just doesn’t look like the team has the ability to do that.
Bay Area Panthers @ Arizona Rattlers
Result: 68-52 Bay Area
What We Learned: The window to get your shots in on Bay Area might have closed & Arizona just couldn’t weather the storm
If you are a Bay Area fan, you have got to be giddy about this season so far. The Panthers have not looked their best through their first 8 games, yet they are still 7-1 at the midway point of their season.
The offense seems to be clicking now — which is terrifying for other teams — and the defense is about to get multiple key players back from suspension next week — which is also terrifying for other teams.
They ran the HELL out of the ball vs Arizona, knowing that the Rattlers have the worst run defense in the league, with a huge 29 rush to 8 pass ratio — and it WORKED. 157 yards & 6 TDs on the ground, with Daquan Neal throwing another 3 through the air. The window for teams to get their shots in on Bay Area and sneak away with a win might have closed as Bay Area has seemingly put the pieces together on their full potential.
On the other side, it isn’t all bad for Arizona. Their offense played really well against Bay Area, they just got bull rushed at the end of the first half & beginning of the 3rd quarter:
Arizona was leading 24-21 with 3:25 left in the 2nd quarter.
Bay Area scores - 28-24
Bay Area onside kick, recovers, scores - 34-24 at halftime
Bay Area gets the ball to start 3rd quarter, scores - 41-24
Arizona turnover on downs, Bay Area takes over, scores - 47-24
In less than 10 minutes of game time, it went from a 3 point Arizona lead to a 23 point deficit. Indoor football, baby!!
Arizona QB Dalton Sneed looked good, but the Rattlers just got outplayed on special teams and whiffed in a couple key moments that could have kept them in the game. With Sneed at QB, Arizona will still be in the mix for the playoff hunt but they have to get better on special teams and defense in order to help him out.
Vegas Knight Hawks @ Tucson Sugar Skulls
Result: 51-50 Tucson
What We Learned: Tucson got the win that they badly needed & penalties might be the achilles heel of this Vegas team
Tucson dethroned the last unbeaten team in the IFL in THRILLING fashion, going for a 2 point conversion in overtime with the face of the franchise RB Mike Jones. This game showed what Tucson can be if they play their game on offense, as they committed to the running game in a big way — averaging 4 yard per carry and spreading out the 22 attempts across 5 different players on offense.
This wasn’t the best game Mylik Mitchell has played, which can be interpreted as both good and bad:
Good - he didn’t play his best and they STILL knocked off the number one team in the league
Bad - we’re at the halfway point of the Sugar Skulls season and still haven’t been able to match the output from their first couple of weeks
Tucson needed this win badly and they got it, so we’ll have to see if they can go on a streak here and get back into the playoff hunt.
On the other side, Vegas usually pounces on their opponent early and leans on them with an offensive assault all throughout the game — but that didn’t happen in this one. They had a balanced attack but they were able to get very many big plays out of their offense like we are accustomed to seeing.
The Knight Hawks defense did their part in giving them several opportunities to pounce, but something was just off. Late in the game, Ja’Rome Johnson was replaced by backup QB Jorge Reyna in what appeared to be an injury after Johnson landed awkwardly on his shoulder, but of course the league and teams don’t share ANY information so who knows.
But the real killer for Vegas was their penalties — especially in the 4th quarter. In a moment where they had an opportunity to drive the field and go for the win, they had several penalties derail their momentum and made them settle for a long field goal attempt instead of driving down the field late in the game.
They also had an opportunity to get a potential game winning Safety late in the game, but it was nullified by a defensive pass interference call. Penalties killed Vegas in the 4th and could be something that costs them more wins down the road.
P.S. As ugly as this one was at times, due to the ending alone it gets a Off The Wall Certified Banger badge. I’m feeling generous!
Duke City Gladiators @ San Diego Strike Force
Result: 47-21 San Diego
What We Learned: This was San Diego’s most impressive win to date & Duke City needs to blow it up
Typically in the IFL if you get one defensive stop per half, it’s going to bode well for your team — especially if you have a QB like Nate Davis at the helm. But when you get 4 INTs, 2 missed FG, a Turnover on Downs, & a fumble recovery, it’s going to result in a DOMINANT victory like this one.
All things considered, this should have been a larger margin of victory for San Diego than 26 points. Their running game wasn’t producing as much as they would have liked yardage wise, but they managed to achieve some decent balance to get 3 TDs on the ground and through 3 TDs through the air.
Defensively this was their most dominant game of the year so far and bodes well for the Strike Force the rest of this season. The improvement from 2023 to this season for San Diego’s defense is one of the least talked about stories in the IFL this year and it is staggering to look at how much better they are.
On the other side, something has to change in Duke City. Play calling wise, this game was mess. On the opening drive of the game, QB Joe Mancuso rips a long 21 yard run for a TD and you don’t run the ball again with him until there is 50 seconds left in the 4th quarter?
Mancuso regressed back to the normal after an electric debut against San Antonio, with 3 total TDs on the day but 5 combined turnovers. A couple of the interceptions were not totally his fault and should have been caught by the receivers, but there was no balance in the offense.
29 Passing attempts to 11 Rushing attempts is not a good ratio. San Diego has a good rushing defense, but Duke City needed a further commitment to the ground game to have a better chance in this one.
Ever since Duke City traded Nate Davis last season, their offense has been in absolute shambles. I’m not sure if the answer is simply an adjusted philosophy or what, but they already had a coaching staff shuffle earlier this year and they are still winless.
It might be time for a full reset after the season.
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