Tucson, AZ- In front of 1,884 screaming fans, the Skulls came up short versus the Panthers in their bid to give the home faithful something to smile about as Bay Area proved to be too much to overcome.

A Bridge Too Far

After it appeared that the Skulls were in line for some good fortune following a Mylik Mitchell rushing touchdown during Tucson's opening drive, an offensive holding penalty took the hard-earned points right off the scoreboard. Instead, the Skulls were forced to kick a field goal which ultimately set the tone on a rather gloomy Sunday afternoon at Tucson Arena. Only seconds after the Sugar Skulls kicked the ball through the goal-posts to strike first, it was the Panthers that made the greatest statement with a 43-yard touchdown pass from QB Daquan Neal to shifty wideout Jazeric Peterson on Bay Area's first play of scrimmage. Woefully, Bay Area spent no time looking back following the momentum-changing play. 

Throughout the contest, the Skulls failed to protect QB Mylik Mitchell for a majority of the contest. By the time the final whistle blew, a ferocious Panthers defense pounced for four sacks total. In addition, Bay Area won the turnover battle, held Tucson to a minuscule 96-yard passing, and made plays at the most opportunistic of times to get the job done. 

Disaster Strikes

While the Skulls only found themselves down 14-10 at the intermission, a catastrophic third quarter eventually did Tucson in. During the 15 minutes following halftime, Tucson was outscored by Bay Area 21-7 and only compiled a 50% (2-4) conversion rate while in the red zone. Despite a valiant effort from the Skulls, the Panthers were able to maintain their big-play ability throughout the game, resulting in an impressive 6.1-yard-per-play average. The Skulls did their best to keep up but ultimately struggled to match the Bay Area team's passing game. Before the Skulls could even have time to blink, the game had slipped away heading into the fourth quarter. 

Silver Linings

Although it wasn't Mylik Mitchell's best performance of the season, he still demonstrated why Tucson is so lucky to have him under center. With an incredible sense of escapability when inside the pocket and equipped with the skill set to keep his eyes down the field, Mitchell will remain one of the top dual-threat signal callers moving forward. 

Tucson showed plenty of heart despite suffering their second-season loss. With 9:49 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and facing a 38-17 deficit, the Skulls outscored the Panthers 14-6 the rest of the way in an attempt to stage a massive comeback. Even though the come-from-behind effort was spoiled, it was still an encouraging sign. Following the game, coach Billy Back expressed his pride in his team's performance despite the 44-31 loss to the Bay Area Panthers, who remain one of the top contenders in the league.

Up Next 

The Sugar Skulls will face a short week as they travel to San Antonio on Thursday, April 18th to take on the Gunslingers with kickoff slated for 4:30 PM.