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IFL Indoor Football League

Week 19 Preview

July 19, 2024 - Indoor Football League (IFL) News Release


It's hard to believe, but the final week of the regular season is here. The encore weekend features an eight-game slate throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Last week, Bay Area secured first place in the Western Conference. The final three spots still have room for shuffling, still leaving much to be decided this week. In the Eastern Conference, the Frisco Fighters and Green Bay Blizzard battle it out for first place, while the Massachusetts Pirates and Quad City Steamwheelers battle for third place. Eight teams finalize their 2024 campaign, eight others will battle for position and a chance to win the 2024 IFL National Championship on Aug. 17 in Henderson, NV.

In Friday's game to kick off the week, the Massachusetts Pirates (8-7) take on the Tulsa Oilers (5-10) in an Eastern Conference matchup with playoff implications. With a win by Massachusetts, the Pirates put themselves in a position to secure the No. 3 seed in the East.

Returning from their bye last week, the Pirates look to secure third place in the conference with a win against the Oilers. The Pirates come into this game following a loss to the San Antonio Gunslingers on a last-second touchdown. Defensively, Massachusetts allows the third-least points (39.5) and second-least yards (197.6) per game. Facing an Oilers team they defeated in Week 11, the Pirates look to claim third place in the Eastern Conference.

Kicking off Saturday's action, the Arizona Rattlers (10-5) face off against the San Antonio Gunslingers (8-7) in a matchup featuring playoff implications for the Rattlers. Regardless of any other possibilities for seeding, the Rattlers clinch a playoff berth with a win on Saturday.

Going into this week, the Rattlers control their destiny. If they win, they're in. There's a way for them to clinch fourth place with a loss, but they're at the mercy of Northern Arizona in that case. As the fifth highest-scoring team in the league, the Rattlers face a Gunslingers defense that allows the most points in the league. With back-to-back wins entering this week, Arizona hopes to make it three straight with a ticket to the playoffs. The Gunslingers look to end the season on high-note and possibly play spoiler for the Rattlers.

In an Eastern Conference battle, the Quad City Steamwheelers (8-7) take on the Jacksonville Sharks (4-11) to close the season. Quad City clinched a playoff berth last week, with their best-case scenario being a third-place finish to the season.

With a third straight win this week, the Steamwheelers could potentially clinch third place in the East heading into the playoffs. In the Sharks last three games, they have seen an increase in production under new quarterback Kaleb Barker. Since his arrival, the Sharks have outscored opponents 147-116. With the offense under new leadership, the Sharks have gone 2-1, losing their one game last week against the Blizzard by just three points. While the surge has come too late to secure a playoff position, the Sharks are ending the season on a high note. That strong ending could become even stronger by upsetting the Steamwheelers to close the season.

The Green Bay Blizzard (12-3) face off against the Sioux Falls Storm (3-12) in a game with seeding implications for the Blizzard. Because they hold the tiebreaker against Frisco for first place, a win clinches it for Green Bay.

There's a path to first place without a win from Green Bay, but that's out of their control, requiring a loss from Frisco. To keep their playoff destiny in their own hands, the Blizzard will keep victory as their goal for the week as they face off against a Storm team they've played twice this season. With two games under their belt, each team has won, putting the record at 1-1 with the final game of the series on Saturday. Looking to clinch first place following a win, the Blizzard hope to end the season with a third straight win.

Coming into the week on a five-game losing streak, the Storm are one of the lower-scoring offenses in the league, scoring just 42.1 points per game. However, in their last couple of games, Sioux Falls has averaged 49 points per game. A playoff berth doesn't follow a victory, but the Storm hope to end their season with a win, defeating Green Bay for a second time this season.

Continuing the Saturday evening action, the Iowa Barnstormers (5-10) take on the Frisco Fighters (12-3), who are looking to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Frisco requires a win and a Green Bay loss to secure first place, but the Fighters have no chance at first place with a loss.

Frisco's offense has been red-hot recently, scoring an average of 64.7 points per game in their last three games, including a historic 81-point performance against the Gladiators their last time on the field. Defensively, the Fighters allow just 44.1 points per game, coming in as one of the stronger defenses in the league. Iowa is coming into this week off their highest-scoring performance of the season. Against Frisco's defense, the Barnstormers will face a stronger challenge as they look to upset Frisco on the road.

Continuing Saturday night's action, the Bay Area Panthers (12-3) face off against the San Diego Strike Force (10-5) in a Western Conference battle. The best San Diego do is end the regular season in second place in the West, following a win. However, if they lose, they could end up as low as fourth place.

The Strike Force scores an average of 49.3 points per game, averaging 58.5 points in their last two matchups. Alongside a high-powered offense, the Strike Force has the best secondary in the league, totaling a league-best 25 interceptions returned for 296 yards and three touchdowns. Against a Panthers team they've struggled to overcome, the added motivation of earning a home playoff game could propel them past Bay Area to close out the season.

In this incredibly tight season series featuring these two teams, Bay Area has outscored the Strike Force 128-125. The largest margin of victory between these two teams was in the first game when the Panthers won by three points. This week, a loss doesn't mean as much to Bay Area, given that they've already clinched first place in the conference. Health heading into the playoffs is crucial, so being cautious about player health heading into this matchup could be on the mind of the Panthers with one game remaining before the playoffs begin.

Also hoping to claim second place in the Western Conference, the Vegas Knight Hawks host the Tucson Sugar Skulls to close out the regular season. The last time these teams played, Tucson upset Vegas in overtime, leading to Vegas' first loss of the season. Since then, Vegas has earned a chance to clinch a second-place finish following a win this week.

After beating Northern Arizona to break their back-to-back losses, the Vegas Knight Hawks look to end this season with two straight wins. With a win and a San Diego loss, the Knight Hawks clinch second place, but if both of those teams win, Vegas heads into the playoffs in third place. After their last two performances, the Knight Hawks have scored an average of 57 points per game, following a performance from Ja'Rome Johnson last week that earned him Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season.

Eliminated form the playoffs, the Sugar Skulls are evaluating talent and hoping to spoil the seeding hopes of the Knight Hawks.

Wrapping up the week, the Northern Arizona Wranglers (9-6) face off against the Duke City Gladiators (2-13), putting a bow on the spirited 2024 IFL regular season on Sunday evening. Following the results of this game, all teams will be set in their places heading into the postseason. In this matchup, a win only helps Northern Arizona as they look to join the playoff action. Combining a win and an Arizona loss would clinch the fourth seed in the West for the Wranglers.

Week 19 features an eight-game slate to wrap the season up, kicking off on Friday night and ending on Sunday. The action begins at 6:05 p.m. CT on Friday as the Massachusetts Pirates make their way to the BOK Center to take on the Tulsa Oilers. All the Week 19 action can be streamed live on the IFL YouTube Channel.

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Indoor Football League Stories from July 19, 2024


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