IFL 2024 Week One Preview
March 15, 2024 - Indoor Football League (IFL) News Release
Sixteenth season. Sixteen teams. The long offseason finally ends on Saturday. The IFL is back.
Week One. Every team wants to make a statement. To enter the 2024 season with authority. The first week of 2024 features two highly anticipated matchups, as the Arizona Rattlers travel to the Northern Arizona Wranglers and the Massachusetts Pirates visit the Green Bay Blizzard.
The first game of the 2024 IFL season is an in-state rivalry between two familiar foes. In this Week One matchup, the Arizona Rattlers visit the Northern Arizona Wranglers on Saturday night at 8:05 PM CT. The last two seasons saw the higher seeded and favored Rattlers get upset by the Wranglers in the playoffs. There is no love lost in this rivalry from either side. Both teams will want to not only win but win convincingly.
Dalton Sneed, the 2023 IFL National Championship MVP, signed with the Rattlers for what will be his third IFL season. Sneed is an accurate passer, elusive in the pocket and a powerful runner. He'll step in to lead the Rattlers who already featured the IFL's highest scoring offense in 2023.
However, with reigning IFL Defensive Player of the Year Tramond Lofton returning to the Wranglers, it won't be an easy path for Sneed and the Rattlers.
In the second game of Opening Weekend, the Massachusetts Pirates travel West to face off against the Green Bay Blizzard on Sunday at 3:05 PM CT. In two matchups last season, the Pirates were victorious in both meetings. Their first encounter, the Pirates won 55-41, while the second meeting resulted in a much closer score of 50-49.
Fresh off winning the 2023 IFL Franchise of the Year award, the Green Bay Blizzard is looking to start the year off on a high note, turning the tide against their recent matchup history with the Pirates. Returning to the Blizzard, Max Meylor starts his second season as quarterback.
Of the 14 teams in 2023, the Pirates ranked seventh in points allowed per game with 47.6 points, while the Blizzard's offense ranked sixth in points per game with 46.7 points.
Last season, the Pirates scored an average of 50 points per game behind quarterback Alejandro Bennifield, while the Blizzard's defense ranked middle-of-the-pack, surrendering 47.2 points per game. On paper, this Opening Weekend matchup should make for a great game between two teams looking to make a 2024 statement.
Two great matchups filled with exciting storylines. A great way to start the 2024 IFL season. Don't miss a minute of the action. Catch both games on the IFL YouTube channel or on Caffeine TV.
Indoor Football League Stories from March 15, 2024
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