Tucson Sugar Skulls punch ticket to IFL playoffs after routing Northern Arizona

Tucson punched its ticket to the IFL playoffs — with the help of the San Antonio Gunslingers losing — after thumping the Northern Arizona Wranglers, 70-42, at Tucson Arena for the final regular-season home game for the Sugar Skulls, which was also “SpongeBob SquarePants Night.”

The Sugar Skulls, donning custom SpongeBob-themed jerseys, snapped their two-game losing streak and avenged their 51-49 loss to Northern Arizona before the final bye week of the season last month. San Antonio, which owned the tiebreaker with the Sugar Skulls, fell to the Arizona Rattlers on Sunday.

“The guys knew we clinched the playoff berth before the game,” Sugar Skulls head coach Rayshaun Kizer said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” Monday morning, “but they didn’t let that affect their play on the field, which I love. We came out and played all three phases of the game. We played well on offense, defense and special teams. Very happy with the performance.”

Tucson had 321 yards of total offense to Northern Arizona’s 157 and dominated the Wranglers in time of possession, 45:16-14:44. The Sugar Skulls — which only had two more offensive plays than Northern Arizona — had seven rushing touchdowns, including three from running back Brandon Mackey, who also rushed for 111 yards on 14 carries.

Tucson quarterback Ja’Rome Johnson, who’s been a key component to the Sugar Skulls’ turnaround this season following a rocky 2-6 start, completed 7 of 9 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, along with two rushing touchdowns.

Northern Arizona went 2 for 8 on third- and fourth-down conversions, and Tucson defensive backs Ahmad Lyons and Zachariah Twardosky intercepted Wranglers quarterback DeMarcus Bryant. Sugar Skulls defensive back Aaron Jackson, who’s been a standout returner for the Sugar Skulls this season, had a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Tucson’s 70 points on Sunday marked the first time the Sugar Skulls scored at least 70 points since they had a franchise-record 74 points against the Arizona Rattlers in 2022.

The fourth-seeded Sugar Skulls enter the IFL playoffs for the first time since 2023, when the team was coached by Hurtis Chinn, who’s now an offensive assistant for the second-seeded Vegas Knight Hawks.

The San Diego Strike Force are the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, with Vegas as the No. 2 seed, the Arizona Rattlers as the No. 3 seed and the Sugar Skulls as the No. 4 seed. The eastern conference teams are No. 1 Green Bay Blizzard, No. 2 Jacksonville Sharks and No. 3 Tulsa Oilers. The Orlando Pirates and Fishers Freight, coached by former Sugar Skulls head coach Dixie Wooten, are fighting for the final playoff spot this week.

Tucson (7-8) will have a preview of its first-round battle on Friday at 6 p.m., when it faces the Strike Force (12-3) at Frontwave Arena in San Diego.

Considering the result of the game won’t have any ramifications on the season, “we’re going to rest some of the guys that are banged up,” Kizer said.

“We’ll definitely get our backup quarterback (D’Wan Mathis) a little bit more this game and give him some reps,” said the Sugar Skulls head coach. “It’s always hard going up against the same team in back-to-back games, especially in the playoffs. You don’t want to give them too much (on film). We can heal up and rest up going into the playoffs. Ideally, that’s what we’d want to do, and then it allows other guys to get reps on the field and we get to see if they can help us in the playoffs.”

Tucson last faced San Diego in April amid the Sugar Skulls’ 2-6 start. The Sugar Skulls fell to the Strike Force, 48-42, in Tucson and then lost by 23 points in San Diego two weeks later. Since Tucson’s last meeting with San Diego, the Sugar Skulls “revamped our whole offense” with additions such as Johnson and multiple wide receivers. Draylen Ellis, who was traded for Johnson, and Kacey Otto were Tucson’s quarterbacks before the addition of Johnson. The Sugar Skulls are 5-2 — with wins over Orlando, Vegas and Arizona — since adding Johnson midseason.

San Diego still has longtime IFL veteran quarterback Nate Davis, who leads the league in passing yards (2,742) and passing touchdowns (55) — and is one of the favorites to earn IFL Offensive MVP honors. The Strike Force are one of four teams in the IFL averaging 50-plus points per game.

“We have a totally different offense than the last time they played us,” Kizer said. “San Diego hasn’t made too many personnel changes on their side. They’re playing some good football, so I think it’ll be a fun matchup. I like how we matched up with them earlier in the season. Both games were super competitive and they just found a way to win in the end. I like this matchup going into the playoffs.”

The adversity the Sugar Skulls have overcome to sneak into the playoffs, when it initially appeared to be a disastrous season in Kizer’s first year at the helm, gives the Sugar Skulls confidence the team can return to Tucson Arena for a chance to win a title in front of its home crowd next month.

“We’ve been through so much adversity this season,” Kizer said. “From turning over the rock, to coaching changes, to big wins, tough losses. There’s been so much adversity. We’re the most battle-tested team in the West. We’ve been through so much that these other teams haven’t been through.

“I like us going into the playoffs. Fighting with the refs week in and week out; that’s another one we gotta deal with. We’re very battle-tested and we can only beat ourselves in the playoffs at this point. … We just need to finish. That’s the biggest thing, just finish. Let’s get to .500. That’ll be good for Tucson, especially after the start we had at 2-6. If we can go 6-2 in the second half, that’ll be great.”

Extra points

– Kizer, on the home crowds this season at Tucson Arena: “It’s been great having everyone involved between the (board of governors), (co-owner and president Edmund Marquez), the front-office staff. It’s been fantastic to see the growth this season with our fanbase. It feels like we have a home-field advantage. If you look at our last four home games, we’re 4-0. We’ve been protecting home and the guys love playing at the TCC. The goal is to get back here for the championship game. If we do get back here, it’s going to be very, very scary for that championship game.”

– San Diego has the best record (10-2) against Western Conference IFL teams this season; the Sugar Skulls are 6-7. The Strike Force are 6-1 at home this season.