No bones about it: Sugar Skulls have successful home debut in routing Bismarck

The Sugar Skulls took center stage at Tucson Arena for the first time in this inaugural season, and the Old Pueblo’s professional Indoor Football League team made sure the fans left with a sweet taste in their mouths thanks to a 62-42 win over the Bismarck Bucks (0-2) in the franchise’s first home game.

Tucson (2-0) debuted its gameday atmosphere with gray turf, live bands performing outside, a beer garden, rock and party music pumping over the arena’s speakers every moment except during plays, a mascot named “Bones” and, of course, Sugar Skulls merchandise, which had a line of about 200 fans before kickoff.

The announced attendance for the game was 5,198 fans.

“We’re glad we had a good turnout tonight and I’m glad the fans came out and supported us,” coach Marcus Coleman said. “We wanted to give Kevin (Guy) his first home win as the owner. We had our goals for this week and we got that accomplished.”

Donning all-black uniforms, Tucson trailed only once during the entire game, which was a rouge point given to Bismarck after defensive back and kick returner Nigel Bethel was tackled in the Sugar Skulls’ end zone on the opening kickoff.

Only in the IFL can a football game begin 1-0.

Sugar Skulls quarterback Matt Behrendt started under center for the second straight game and powered Tucson to 216 yards of total offense.

Behrendt got Tucson on the board with a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Sampson. On the following offensive drive, Behrendt found Donovan Rasberry for a 12-yard touchdown and Tucson jumped out to a 14-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We always know going into the game exactly what we need to do and how we’re going to do it. And that’s what we did, we executed,” Behrendt said.

Last week in San Diego, Tucson’s defense held the Strike Force to 38 net yards of offense in the second half. Sunday, the defensive unit gave up only 29 yards in the first quarter, led by linebacker Zach Allen, who finished the first half with eight tackles, which almost tied his game total last week against San Diego, when he had nine.

After Bismarck quarterback Homer Causey found Frederick Abraham for a touchdown to begin the second quarter, Tucson held the Bucks scoreless for the final 12 minutes of the second half, despite giving up 80 yards. Tucson native and Sugar Skulls cornerback Cam Gaddis intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone on a crucial fourth-down play, for his first pick of the season.

Behrendt provided the defense with breathing room and threw two unanswered touchdowns to end the first half.

Behrendt completed 10 of 12 passes for 141 yards and five touchdowns to three different wide receivers in the first half: Sampson, Rasberry and Shaquan Curenton.

Tucson led 35-7 at halftime.

“They’re awesome. They do such a great job complementing each other,” Behrendt said.

“They’re young guys and new to the indoor league a little bit, but they’re starting to understand the spacing and concepts on what they need to do to help each other out. It’s not just one guy during the whole game, it’s all three and working on getting each other open.”

Last week against San Diego, the 2018 IFL passing leader, Jake Medlock, was installed as the starting quarterback in the second half, but Behrendt remained in the game on Sunday.

“Matt has been here the longest and we wanted to see what he could give us throughout the whole game, and he played well. He had some mistakes, but for the most part, he did well,” Coleman said.

Late in the third quarter, Behrendt extended the lead to 42-14 with a 21-yard pass to Curenton, who finished the game with two catches for 52 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Curenton, a former Scottsdale Community College receiver, now has five touchdowns for the season.

Despite Causey scoring three second-half touchdowns for Bismarck, Tucson was able to hold on, with Behrendt throwing three touchdowns and running back Shad Thornton’s two touchdowns.

“Being a quarterback my whole life, you learn to be calm and confident and you need to be that guy that keeps everyone settled down and in control of the offense,” Behrendt said.

Thornton didn’t play in last week’s season opener for unspecified reasons, but started at running back for Tucson. Thornton finished the game with three catches for 31 yards and rushed for 73 yards.

He made sure to thank the offensive linemen, Tucsonans Alex Rios and Antonio Rosales and center Mike Montero, for paving the way.

“Without those guys, I wouldn’t be able to do nothing tonight,” Thornton said. “Our guys are physical and they play until the end of the whistle. That’s a mindset they’ve had since camp, so I’m proud of those guys for the way they work.”

Behrendt finished the game completing 19 of 25 passes for 234 yards and eight touchdowns. The Sugar Skulls had 388 yards of total offense, which topped last week’s total of 304.

While the product on the field has delivered over the last two games, Coleman was impressed with the first home crowd of the season, especially compared to other IFL arenas.

“It was pretty loud compared to some of the others to tell you the truth,” he said. “Once we get into the season and people start to see what we’re doing, it’s going to be even louder. I would rank it right up there with some of the other arenas.”

Tucson will play the Arizona Rattlers (2-0) in Phoenix at 5 p.m. Saturday.