Tag: tucson

BARNSTORMERS: 61 SUGAR SKULLS: 58

From the opening kickoff everything pointed towards the Sugar Skulls pulling off an upset which would have serious playoff implications. A win would put Tucson back into the top six and an Iowa loss most likely meant no first round bye for the defending champions in this year’s playoffs. The homestanding ‘Skulls held an 11 point lead thanks to a fantastic first half offensively led by quarterback Jake Medlock and running back Mike Jones. When the second half came around the bounce the Barnstormers have gotten all season never seemed to come, every bounce went the Sugar Skulls way. Tucson led by a 10 point margin with 4:11 remaining in the ball game. That’s when things, like they have at every point since the Skulls 3-1 start, went wrong. Ryan Balentine hauled in a Daquan Neal TD pass making the score 51-47. Tucson then went nowhere offensively and right on que had a Josh Gable field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown giving Iowa their first lead of the game. Tucson fought back as Shaq Curenton hauled in a 28 yard toss from Jake Medlock with 54 seconds left. Those 54 seconds were too much for the defending champions. Iowa drove down the field and Daquan Neal scrambled to his left, diving into the endzone for the deciding score. On the play a blatant holding call which spring Neal to paydirt was missed.

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The Sugar Skulls would have one more crack, as Josh Gable lined up for a game tying field goal. The strong legged kicker picked the wrong time to come up short as his attempt didn’t have enough strength behind it, giving the Barnstormers the comeback win.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Iowa: Daquan Neal (QB): 19-26 265 Yards, 5 TD, 0 INT.

Tucson: Mike Jones (RB): 21 Carries, 109 Yards, 3 TD.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t know how the Sugar Skulls managed to blow this one. I kept waiting for them to make a mistake or for Iowa to show why they are the defending champions. That moment looked like it would never come. I thought the game was over when Mike Jones took a carry 28 yards to the house with 5:10 left to give Tucson a ten point lead. The Sugar Skulls have a legitimate gripe on the no call for the hold on the Daquan Neal go ahead touchdown. That call is the worst no-call this season and maybe in the last few seasons. Tucson could possibly miss out on playoff football because of this, and that’s unacceptable. However, they don’t get put on that position if they could figure out how to close out a game. That 3-1 start feels like a distant memory now. As for Iowa, there are some serious problems the Barnstormers need to figure out before the playoffs hit. Iowa deserved to lose this game but they got lucky. They should’ve lost to the Danger earlier this season. This could very well be a three loss team. Don’t be surprised if they lose again this season and wind up playing a first round playoff game.