By RJ “The Bullish Brahma” Reid
Introduction
It is Week 13 of the Indoor Football League (IFL), and the 4-5 San Antonio Gunslingers return home and come off their bye week to play the 1-8 Duke City Gladiators. Here’s what you need to know:
When?
Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 6:05pm CT.
Where?
Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas.
Gameday Weather
The game is obviously being played indoors, but for those looking at hanging out before the game, it should not be that bad outside. The forecast calls for 76 degrees, mostly clear skies with a 12% chance of rain and 15 mile per hour winds.
History
San Antonio leads the series 1-0.
Keys to Victory
-The Gunslingers offense versus the Gladiators offense. San Antonio dropped to #2 in IFL in scoring offense after their worst offensive outing of the season last week, while Duke City is #15 in scoring. When it comes to yards per game, the Gunslingers are still #1, and Duke City is dead last. On paper, this looks to be significantly lopsided and heavily favors San Antonio. Sam Castronova will be looking to bounce back after a subpar performance, subpar to his standards, at least. Duke City’s defense is middle of the pack, but with a determined Castronova looking to get back on track, Duke City will need to play flawless on defense if they want to have a chance.
-Not playing down to opponent. On his weekly show “Branded”, Coach Tom Menas mentioned that it looks to him that San Antonio seems to play down to their opponents, and that was very much the case against Duke City their first match. They were favored by over 16 points in that game, and the Gladiators were a missed kick away from forcing overtime. In the rematch, the Gunslingers are again heavy favorites to win. They cannot play down to their opponent. Duke City is an inferior team, and San Antonio needs to dominate them from the opening whistle to the ending whistle, especially in front of their home crowd.
-Defense continuing to improve. Although statistically the Gunslingers still have the worst scoring defense in the IFL, they have moved up in yards allowed. They are now #11 in the league in yards given up per game. While this may not look great, the Gunslingers defense has drastically improved and is playing at a much higher level. In their loss to Bay Area, they played perhaps their best defensive game of the year, and they are only showing signs of getting better. Playing the worst offense in the IFL will only make a defense that is feeling good about themselves feel even better, and that will only make the team more confident.
Predictions
Let’s look at how my predictions from last week fared:
-DJ Myers will have at least 80 yards of receiving.
Correct. DJ Myers had 88 yards of receiving.
-The Gunslingers will record at least one sack.
Incorrect. They did not have a sack.
-Sam Castronova will throw at least 5 touchdowns.
Incorrect. He threw for 3 touchdowns.
-The Gunslingers will convert at least 2 4th down attempts.
Correct. They converted 2 4th down attempts.
Week 11 results: 2-2.
Overall results: 13-33.
And now my predictions for this week, hopefully I’ll be a “straightshooter”:
-Sam Castronova will throw for at least 6 touchdowns.
-The Gunslingers will score on every possession.
-The defense will force at least two turnovers on downs.
-The defense will allow under 210 yards of total offense.
Final Thoughts
On paper, this should be a laugher of a game. San Antonio is by far the more superior team overall. Statistically, they are worse than Duke City on defense, but that group is playing inspired football, and it will take some time for them to improve statistically. However, the game is not determined by stats and figures and charts and graphs. It’s determined on the field, and that is where San Antonio has improved. They have made a complete overhaul on the defensive side of the ball, and those players are starting to gel. This chemistry that they are building is producing fruit and the team is becoming more of a unified team, instead of the offense continually carrying the load. However, they cannot overlook Duke City as they came from behind to win their first game of the season against Tucson as they are also a different team from the one the Gunslingers narrowly defeated. It is “Superhero Night” at the Freeman Coliseum and San Antonio needs to channel their inner superhero to defeat the next villain in Duke City. Gunz Up, San Antonio!