By RJ “The Bullish Brahma” Reid
Introduction
It is Week 10 of the Indoor Football League (IFL), and the 3-4 San Antonio Gunslingers host the 3-4 Tulsa Oilers for Military Appreciation Night (thank you for all those who serve and have served). Here’s what you need to know:
When?
Saturday, May 18, 2024 @ 6:05pm CT.
Where?
Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas.
Gameday Weather
Obviously, the game is indoors, but for those looking at hanging out before the game, the forecast calls for 71 degrees, mostly clear skies, an 8% chance of rain with 10 mile per hour winds.
History
This is the first game between the two teams.
Keys to Victory
A disturbing trend that needs to be rectified is the special teams. The Gunslingers continue to have their extra-point kicks blocked by opponents. It happened again against Duke City, but luckily for San Antonio, it did not cost them the game. The Gunslingers need to pay special attention to their special teams. This also goes for kick returns. With Kali Rashaad, one would think they would have better field position on kick returns, but that hasn’t been the case. Special teams need to improve on all facets.
While the defense has been improving since the first couple weeks of the season, one aspect that continues to kill the team, is quarterback run plays, whether it is designed quarterback run plays, or when the quarterback scrambles. Those plays continue to gouge the defense repeatedly. The Gunslingers need to do a better job containing the quarterback and preventing the quarterback from scrambling for large gains.
Another trend that continues to hurt San Antonio are the penalties. Like last week, I wrote that illegal defense penalties continue to pile up, and that was not fixed in the Duke City game. San Antonio needs to fix this issue and quickly, because the schedule is not getting any easier and against higher quality opponents, they will take advantage of those mistakes and San Antonio will not be able to overcome them.
Predictions
Let’s look at how my predictions from last week fared:
Sam Castronova will throw at least 7 touchdowns.
Incorrect. He threw for 6 touchdowns.
The defense will turn over Duke City on downs at least three times.
Incorrect. They stopped Duke City on fourth down one time.
DJ Myers will have at least 3 touchdowns.
Incorrect. He had one touchdown.
TC Stevens will kick at least one deuce.
Correct. He kicked one deuce.
Week 9 results: 1-3.
Overall results: 10-28.
And now my predictions for this week, hopefully I’ll be a “straightshooter”:
Kali Rashaad will have at least 2 touchdowns.
The Gunslingers will gain at least 300 yards of total offense.
TC Stevens will not miss an extra point attempt.
The Gunslingers will not commit more than 4 penalties.
Final Thoughts
This game is extremely important for San Antonio, as they have a chance to get to .500 before facing off against the Bay Area Panthers. There is a possibility that they could catch up with the San Diego Strike Force, Northern Arizona and the Arizona Rattlers with a win and losses by any of those teams. San Diego is the least likely to lose as they play the winless Duke City Gladiators. The Arizona Rattlers play the Panthers and Northern Arizona Wranglers play the Massachusetts Pirates, both of which are difficult opponents. The Gunslingers continue to have the top ranked offense in the IFL and Tulsa’s defense is middle of the pack. The real key to victory is San Antonio’s ability to make stops on defense. If they can stop Tulsa at least once a half, they will prevail. If not, it will most likely depend on who has the ball last. With it being Military Appreciation Night at the Freeman Coliseum, the Gunslingers hope to honor those who served with a victory. Gunz up, Gunslinger nation and ring those cowbells!
