TUCSON - The Tucson Sugar Skulls are set to make their 3rd playoff appearance in their 4th season of operation. They finished the 2023 regular season with a 9-6 record which put them in the 3rd seed in the Western Conference.
The Sugar Skulls will travel to San Jose to take on the Panthers at the SAP Center with kickoff at 3:05 pm (AZ time).
Series History
The Skulls and Panthers have clashed twice this season, with one contest taking place in Tucson and the other in San Jose. They split the series with each team winning on the road in extremely close games. Tucson won by four (34-30) in San Jose and the Panthers took a 42-40 victory in Tucson.
Tucson leads the all-time series 3-1, with the teams meeting for the first time last season in the Panthers' inaugural season. The Panthers finished the season 10-5 which was good for the second overall seed in the West.
Last Game
Last week the Sugar Skulls hosted the Green Bay Blizzard for a regular-season finale. The Skulls came out on top in this matchup to a final score of 48-39. This matchup featured a great performance from RB
Mike Jones who ran for 47 yards and three touchdowns and defensively from
Trae'varis Ferrell who led the defense with 8 tackles. It was the second consecutive victory for Tucson to finish the season strong heading into the postseason.
Playoff Time
This is the Sugar Skulls' third playoff appearance in four seasons as a franchise. In their first season (2019), they finished sixth in the IFL and lost in the first round to Sioux Falls. In the 2021 season, they finished third in the Western Conference and fell to second-seeded Northern Arizona in the first round. They are looking to secure their first playoff win in franchise history.
No Rush
This season the Tucson Sugar Skulls featured one of the top rushing defenses in the league. They finished the season ranked second in rushing yards allowed (894), and rushing yards per game(59.6) and ranked fifth in rushing touchdowns allowed with only 38. This rushing defense is going to be vital in this matchup featuring one of the league's top running backs, Justin Rankin.
