Game Preview: Tulsa Oilers at San Antonio Gunslingers
May 17, 2024 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release
Tulsa, Okla. - Tulsa Oilers Football, a proud member of the IFL and powered by Community Care, take on the San Antonio Gunslingers for the first time ever.
LAST TIME OUT The Oilers faced a big challenge on the road against Green Bay. Tulsa opened the scoring on the first drive of the game after Tre Harvey fell on top of a fumble from Daniel Smith , in the endzone for the first touchdown of the game making it 7-0 Oilers with 11:08 left in the first. Green Bay matched the effort with a 27-yard touchdown reception by Harry Ballard to make it 7-7 to end the first-quarter scoring. After blocking a field goal, the Blizzard took the lead on a 1-yard rush by QB Maxwell Meylor to make it 14-7 Green Bay with 14:58 remaining in the second. The Blizzard added to their lead on a 4-yard rushing score by Jalyn Cagle to go up 21-7. No scoring occurred until Michael Hall hit a 25-yard field goal for Tulsa with just 0:34 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 21-10 Green Bay. The Blizzard added one more score to end the half on a 16-yard catch and run for Ballard to bring the first half score to a close at 28-10 Green Bay. The second half started with a touchdown via a 2-yard rush by Meylor with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 35-10 Blizzard. The following drive just took one play for Tulsa as Smith connected with Travalle Calvin on a 24-yard touchdown pass to bring the deficit to 35-16 with 6:40 left in the third. The Oilers would push for more momentum after Smith ran for three yards for a touchdown to cut the game's score down to 35-22 in favor of Green Bay with 14;19 left in the fourth. One final score on the day by the Blizzard finalized the game at a score of 42-22, making the Oilers drop to 3-4 on the season.
FOCUS AHEAD This new week will see the largest change the team has seen all year, a change at the QB position. New but familiar is that change. Andre Sale returns to the Oilers roster after finishing last season with Tulsa, before starting this new year in the AFL with the Louisiana VooDoo, before the folding of the franchise involving the chaotic crumble of the revamped AFL. From what we have already seen, Tulsa will gain an improvement in arm strength and accuracy by adding Sale. The returning Oiler still holds franchise records from his 2023 performances such as most passing yards in a single game (293), tied for most passing touchdowns in a single game (5) and tied for most all-time passing touchdowns (23), all while holding the Oilers record for most all-purpose touchdowns in team history (29). Teammates of Sale such as RB Jarrod Ware Jr. have been highly encouraged by the former LSU QB's work at practice.
HOW TO "DRAW FIRST IN SAN ANTONIO" A unique ballpark is one of the fun aspects of the game of baseball, each team has an interesting twist to the dimensions of the game that can create an advantage or disadvantage based on the situation. Such is similar with the San Antonio Gunslingers at Freeman Coliseum in the IFL. One endzone does not have an end wall, meaning the back of the endzone is open rather than enclosed. This can lead to a boost in confidence to throw to the back of the endzone on deeper routes without the fear of the wall which may open up parts of the playbook for a new QB like Andre Sale . Keeping up with the pace of the Gunslingers offense is hard enough so Tulsa is in a pressure situation of needing to not turn the ball over via interception or fumble. A good ole' fashion shootout against the Gunslingers is not a formula for success traditionally, so the task of getting stops from the defense is of the utmost importance this Saturday in Texas.
Tulsa will visit the San Antonio Gunslingers on the road at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on May 18 at 6:05 p.m. CT.
Tulsa Oilers Football Season and Group Tickets are on sale now! Call the front office at 918-632-7825 or visit www.tulsaoilersfootball.com for more information.
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