Tucson Sugar Skulls look to shake sour start against Arizona Rattlers on Mother's Day

Still, there's always a little extra juice in the Tucson-versus-Phoenix rivalry matchup between the Sugar Skulls (2-4) and Rattlers (4-2) — two teams coming off losses entering the Mother's Day contest Sunday afternoon at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.  

"It's always a physical game whenever we play the Rattlers," said Sugar Skulls head coach Rayshaun Kizer, who spent the previous two seasons as Tucson's defensive coordinator.

"They're a very physical and disciplined team over there, so we have to make sure we're ready physicality-wise, so I'm gonna make sure the guys are well-prepared for a dogfight. The atmosphere in Glendale is exciting. They always get a good crowd there, the in-game experience is awesome, so it's a great experience for the guys to see that arena football atmosphere."

Sunday will mark the first matchup between the Sugar Skulls and Rattlers since Tucson changed ownership in the fall. Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy and his wife, Cathy, were majority owners in Tucson before selling majority ownership to current co-owner and team president Edmund Marquez, who (alongside co-owner Ali Farhang) created a "board of governors" ownership model with roughly a dozen local business owners. 

Tucson is 4-11 all-time against the Rattlers, though the Sugar Skulls won in triple-overtime fashion in Glendale last season. The Rattlers return to Tucson on June 20. 

After losing to the San Antonio Gunslingers, 35-17, in Tucson last weekend — with Arizona Wildcats men's basketball coach Tommy Lloyd in attendance as the honorary captain — the Sugar Skulls fell to 2-4 and have lost back-to-back games. Tucson only has wins over the New Mexico Chupacabras this season. 

Kizer joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson this week to discuss the upcoming matchup with the Rattlers and, more notably, the personnel changes that were made this week. 

Considering you've been in the IFL for multiple years, what have you learned about the Rattlers' reputation over the years?

A: "They're winners. You hear about franchises that come into the league and they want to model the Arizona Rattlers. They've been doing it for 20-plus years and they've been very successful, especially Kevin Guy. He's a winning head coach. When you look at the film, they're a well-oiled machine. They're getting coached well over there and they're in the playoffs every year. They're a very successful organization." 

Why do you think the Sugar Skulls are struggling offensively? What changes were made over the weekend?

A: "We're trying to find answers, obviously. We didn't prepare the guys well enough. That falls on all of us on the coaching staff, especially me as the head coach. I thought we had everything ready with our new quarterback. We had a great week of practice.

"Defense played well, but we could've done more to help the offense out. That wasn't our typical dominating defensive performance, but they played well enough to win the game.

"Offensively, we still have some miscues and we're just out of sync — and we need to fix that moving forward. Some of the moves we made, we relieved offensive coordinator James Fuller of his duties and I'll be taking over the offense as well as the defense. We're looking to get the offense in rhythm, so we're able to score points.

"We only scored 17 points last game. That's not going to win you many games in the arena league. ... It's a lot, but it's not impossible. I know the game like the back of my hand. I'm looking forward to the challenge. At this point, the only person I trust to handle both sides is me. I'll make sure both sides are well-prepared for these games moving forward." 

One of the changes you made last week was at quarterback with the addition of IFL veteran Tasleem Wilson, who completed 15 of 30 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception. How do you assess his debut and look ahead to what's next for Wilson?

A: "Taz is a vet. I talked to him after the game and told him I wasn't too happy with his performance. He turned the ball over and accounted for three turnovers himself. Those are things he can control. I told him that I didn't bring him in to perform like that. We had a talk.

"He understands his role. He knows what is expected out of him, so I expect a bigger performance from him this week. We're making sure we're on the same page, we're making sure our receivers are on the same page. We're dialing in some plays to get Arizona off their Ps and Qs." 

What do you think it'll take for the Sugar Skulls to win on Sunday and ultimately turn around the season?

A: "Everybody just has to believe. I'm expecting things on the offensive side to be more efficient. There's some new terminology and there's a couple of new plays. I hate transitioning during the season, it's not ideal, but it had to be done. We're putting in extra work this week to make sure everybody knows what they're doing before we step on the field.

"The one good thing about watching Arizona, they have some holes in their defense. We should be able to exploit their defense quite a bit. We just gotta make sure we're efficient on offense and make the throws out there."