By RJ “The Bullish Brahma” Reid
How They Lost
The San Antonio Gunslingers fell Saturday night to the Northern Arizona Wranglers, 57-50 in their Indoor Football League (IFL) home opener before a raucous crowd at Freeman Coliseum.
San Antonio scored on their opening possession for the second straight game, but an interception, a fumble, a couple of turnovers on downs and a leaky run defense allowed the Wranglers to pull ahead late in the game, going up three scores. The Gunslingers’ furious comeback fell just short when San Antonio scored their last touchdown with no time left on the clock and unable to get the ball back.
Key Takeaways
Sam Castronova has the offense firing on all cylinders, at least scoring wise. In the passing game, Castronova has been on fire, save for one interception that was due to an ill-advised throw. The team has had no problems scoring in this young season, it is just the defense has had problems preventing the other team from scoring.
Speaking of defense, last game against San Diego, it was pass defense that was the problem, giving up 9 passing touchdowns to the Strike Force. Against the Wranglers, it was the run game that was gashed. The Gunslingers gave up 99 yards of rushing and had no real answer to Wrangler’s running back David Elder. Northern Arizona seemingly ran the same play to the same spot over and over again, but San Antonio was helpless to stop it, even when they knew that the play was coming. Nothing is more disheartening than knowing that a running play is coming, but still unable to stop it.
Gunslinger of the Game
Sam Castronova. He has been the only bright spot, putting the team on his shoulders and carrying them. The offense has had no problems scoring, thanks to Sam Castronova, but it is the defense that has been letting the team down.
Sneak Peek at Next Week
The Gunslingers (0–2) will head back West when they travel to Sin City to play the Vegas Knight Hawks (2-0), April 12, 2024 at 9:05PM CT.