IFL Week 17 Recap
July 10, 2024 - Indoor Football League (IFL) News Release
Week 17 has come to an end, as just two weeks remain in the 2024 IFL regular season. Along with the two upsets this week, San Diego clinched their first playoff berth in franchise history following their win over the Knight Hawks.
In the first matchup of Week 17, the Massachusetts Pirates (8-7) took on the San Antonio Gunslingers (7-7) in a battle that came down to the wire. While the Gunslingers avoided elimination on Saturday, their playoff hopes were eventually snuffed following Sunday's results.
On Saturday, Sam Castronova and the San Antonio Gunslingers' offense remained one of the best, scoring touchdowns on seven of their eight drives. Sam Castronova continued his phenomenal season, completing 16/23 passes for 199 yards and four touchdowns, rushing for a touchdown as well. Along with Castronova's impressive performance, TC Stevens added to the scoring parade, adding four deuces to San Antonio's score. With the point difference ending at only three points, those four deuces by Stevens were imperative.
After taking the lead with less than one minute remaining, the Pirates couldn't stop Sam Castronova and the Gunslingers, dropping this Week 17 matchup. Offensively, Massachusetts was nearly unstoppable. Against the most-scored-on defense in the league, the Pirates had their fair share of success. Of their eight drives leading to their last-second field goal attempt, the Pirates scored a touchdown on every drive but one, making this their second 50-plus-point performance in a row. In this matchup, Jimmie Robinson rushed 15 times for 84 yards, finding the end zone five times. Through the air, Alejandro Bennifield was 11/18 for 140 yards and two touchdowns, complimenting a strong rushing attack from Robinson. Defensively, Cyrus Fagan came away with the game's only turnover, hauling in an interception late in the fourth quarter. With this loss, Massachusetts remains in third place in the Eastern Conference as they head into a Week 18 bye, returning to action in Week 19.
Continuing the Eastern Conference action, the Sioux Falls Storm (3-11) fell to the Quad City Steamwheelers (7-7) in a heated overtime matchup. This win gave the Steamwheelers playoffs hopes a boost.
Looking to bounce back from their loss last week to remain comfortably in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. In this back-and-forth battle, the Steamwheelers had a pair of quarterbacks finish this game between Judd Erickson and Mike Irwin. The duo completed 16/23 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown, with their one passing touchdown coming as the game-winning score in overtime. Quad City was more effective with the rushing attack, totaling 94 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Edward Vander (3), Mike Irwin (1), and Judd Erickson (1) all rushed for a touchdown. Defensively, Quad City was responsible for the game's only turnover, as Trey Smith hauled in the solo interception in this matchup.
While there are no playoff hopes for Sioux Falls, their season isn't over. The Storm have two games left on their schedule as they look to end the season off strong. In this matchup, Jiya Wright was the main contributor of offense, showcasing his abilities to both throw and run. Wright finished the night 8/19 for 116 yards and three touchdowns, nearly matching that yardage with 113 yards on the ground. With just three touchdowns on offense, kicker Dean Sarris played a significant part in keeping things close. Sarris was a perfect 3/3 on PATs and 5/6 on field goals, adding a deuce to bring him to 20 points on the night. The Storm tried to end the game with a two-point conversion, ultimately coming up short on the game's final play.
In the matchup between the Jacksonville Sharks (4-10) and the Iowa Barnstormers (4-10), the Sharks had their best game of the season by a large margin. However, due to Quad City's victory over Sioux Falls, neither Iowa or Jacksonville were able to keep their playoff hopes alive.
In his second start for Jacksonville, quarterback Kaleb Barker shined once again. Barker finished the night 11/14 for 164 yards and five touchdowns, having yet to throw an interception through two games. Along with Barker's strong performance from the pocket, Tyler King spearheaded the ground game, taking 11 rushes for 70 yards and three touchdowns. Not only was the offense putting points up on the board efficiently, but kicker Kevin DiDio-Weber joined the scoring spree with his leg. DiDio-Weber was a perfect 9/9 on PATs, adding six more points with his three successful deuce attempts. In addition to their impressive scoring efforts, Jacksonville's defense won the turnover battle two-to-zero with interceptions from Trenton McGhee and Brandon Munoz.
Iowa quarterback Brandon Alt had an impressive performance, completing 19/36 passes for 234 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, the Barnstormers allowed nine touchdown drives on Saturday, starting the game off with seven in a row. Iowa has two more games on their schedule.
Wrapping up the Saturday action, the Vegas Knight Hawks (9-5) faced off against the San Diego Strike Force (10-5) in a game with major implications within the Western Conference. The last time these teams played, Vegas won by four points. However, this time around, San Diego got their revenge, defeating the Knight Hawks in the final minute.
After a back-and-forth first half, San Diego's second-half efforts eventually won them the game. The Strike Force faced a 38-34 deficit heading into halftime, needing a comeback effort in the second half to come away with the victory. Following halftime, the Strike Force did what they needed to do, scoring four times unanswered, keeping the Knight Hawks out of the end zone for the entire third quarter. Then, following a touchdown with less than a minute left in the game, San Diego took the lead, leaving Vegas one last chance to secure the victory. On the game's final drive, Vegas led a five-play, 44-yard drive down the field to score a touchdown, putting them one point away from tying this game up. The Knight Hawks elected for a two-point conversion to avoid overtime, but San Diego intercepted the attempt, defeating Vegas by one point.
Leading the Strike Force on offense, Nate Davis continued showcasing top-of-the-line abilities from the pocket, completing 23/36 passes for 203 yards and five touchdowns. Along with Davis' air attack, Rudy Johnson took nine carries for 21 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. Defensively, the Strike Force extended their league-leading interception total, as Elijah Bell hauled in both interceptions thrown by Ja'Rome Johnson. The Strike Force heads into a bye next week, returning to action for their final regular season game against the Bay Area Panthers, making for an exciting end to the regular season before the playoffs.
For the first half of this game, Vegas was either leading or tied with San Diego. However, a scoreless third quarter made for a contentious fourth quarter. Both teams combined for 41 points in the final 15 minutes of play, resulting in a loss for Vegas. This week, Ja'Rome Johnson was the sparkplug of this offense, completing 8/18 passes for 131 yards and three touchdown passes, adding 59 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Along with Ja'Rome Johnson's performance, Jericho Flowers returned his second kickoff for a touchdown of the year, returning a kick 40 yards early in the first quarter. Defensively, Maurice Jackson intercepted Nate Davis in the first quarter, coming away with the only turnover for Vegas on the night. Following back-to-back losses, the Knight Hawks' last two games became even more important in their journey of punching their ticket to the 2024 IFL Playoffs.
Kicking off Sunday's slate of games, the Frisco Fighters (12-3) took on the Duke City Gladiators (2-12) in the highest-scoring game of the week. Not only was it the highest-scoring game of the week, but it was the highest-scoring performance by the Frisco Fighters in franchise history.
In their highest-scoring game of all time, TJ Edwards and the Frisco Fighters were nearly unstoppable on Sunday. Edwards had his best performance of the season, completing 15/19 passes for 226 yards and nine touchdown passes, tying Nate Davis' record for most touchdown passes in a game this season. Of those nine touchdown passes, Phazione McClurge hauled in five of them as the only receiver with more than one touchdown reception on the day. On the ground, Edwards added one touchdown, bringing him to 10 total touchdowns against Duke City. Frisco Kicker Bryce Crawford added nine successful PATs and three deuces, scoring 15 points with his leg. On defense, Frisco came away with the only turnover of the game, with Eugene Ford's interception on Duke City's first drive of the game. While the Fighters head into a bye next week, they return to action in Week 19 to close out the regular season at home against the Barnstormers.
For Duke City, this comes in as their best offensive performance of the season, scoring over 50 points just three times this year. Between quarterbacks Hasan Rogers and Javin Kilgo, the Gladiators were 14/23 for 202 yards and four touchdowns. Rogers led Duke City on the ground, rushing six times for 52 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, the Gladiators allowed 11 touchdown drives, coming away with a stop once with three seconds left in the first half.
In the closest contest of the day, the Northern Arizona Wranglers (9-5) took down the Bay Area Panthers (11-3) following a strong second-half performance from the Wranglers. Bay Area held a 34-15 lead in the first half, but a strong fourth-quarter effort from Northern Arizona resulted in the Wranglers strengthening their playoff aspirations.
Down 17 points heading into the final frame, Northern Arizona scored 24 fourth-quarter points. In this matchup, the Wranglers called Joshua Jones' number a lot, as Jones was responsible for all five touchdowns scored on the night. Jones completed 27/51 passes for 251 yards and three touchdown passes, adding two rushing touchdowns to his total. On defense, Shamar Moreland hauled in his third interception in as many games, forcing the only turnover of the night for NAZ. Adding to the Wranglers' scoring, kicker Axel Perez played a significant part, going 5/6 on PATs and 2/4 on field goals, adding a deuce at the end to win it for Northern Arizona. Next week, the Wranglers look to build off this victory, taking on the Vegas Knight Hawks in Prescott Valley, AZ.
Beginning this game with a massive lead, the Bay Area Panthers couldn't finish in the final quarter of play. Allowing back-to-back onside kicks to be recovered by Northern Arizona in the fourth quarter, leading to a 24-point quarter resulted in the Panthers dropping their third game of the season, still looking to clinch home-field advantage for the 2024 IFL Playoffs. In their loss to the Wranglers, Daquan Neal was nearly perfect. Neal completed 14/19 passes for 177 yards and six touchdowns. Shane Simpson scored the team's only rushing touchdown, being held in check to just 12 yards on the night. For Bay Area's defense, Tyrone Cromwell III came away with the team's sole turnover, intercepting a Joshua Jones pass in the first quarter.
Wrapping up Week 17, the Tucson Sugar Skulls (2-12) took on the Arizona Rattlers (10-5) in a Western Conference battle that came down to the final quarter of action. With just over three minutes remaining in the first half, Tucson led 22-7, looking to upset the home team. However, the Rattlers came out of halftime with new energy, more than doubling their first-half points to take down the Sugar Skulls on Sunday evening.
Following this win, the Rattlers sit in third place in the Western Conference, looking to either stay put or rise among the standings. In this matchup, Dalton Sneed completed nearly 70% of his passes, going 15/22 for 170 yards and four touchdowns. However, the main star of the show for Arizona was Jamal Miles. Miles had two receiving touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and a field goal returned for a field goal. On defense, Jaylen Perkins was responsible for the Rattlers' one turnover, recovering a fumble late in the fourth quarter.
Coming into this week already eliminated from playoff contention, the Sugar Skulls were almost successful in playing spoiler. Following a strong start from the Sugar Skulls, their lead fell apart in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, falling short for the 12th time this season. Quincy Patterson got the start at quarterback for Tucson, finishing the night 5/18 for 75 yards and a touchdown, adding 59 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Leading the rushing attack, Davonte Sapp-Lynch took 11 carries for 67 yards and a score. Derrion Rakestraw came away with the Sugar Skulls' sole turnover, intercepting Dalton Sneed late in the second quarter.
Next week features a lighter slate of six games packed into an action-filled Saturday. The action kicks off on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT as the Green Bay Blizzard takes on the Jacksonville Sharks at the Shark Tank. Be sure to catch all the Week 18 action streamed live on the IFL YouTube Channel.
• Discuss this story on the Indoor Football League message board...
Indoor Football League Stories from July 10, 2024
- Oilers must win on Saturday to stay in the race for fourth in the East - Tulsa Oilers
- IFL Week 17 Recap - IFL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
