The San Diego Strike Force are still without a win in 2022. The team suffered it's third straight defeat, this time at the hands of the much-improved Northern Arizona Wranglers. The Wranglers played as a complete unit for four quarters, excelling in all three phases and putting together a very clean body of work. They would lead for the entirety of this matchup and would comfortably cruise to a 45-28 win. 

San Diego struggled on special teams. The Wranglers would cash in on their consistently solid starting field position, starting near or past midfield on four of their drives and scoring on six out of seven red zone opportunities. Wranglers' running back Stanley Williams finished the night with 78 yards on 3 returns, as well as two touchdowns and over 100 total yards.

The dynamic Kaleb Barker had over 100 total yards on the day to go along with three touchdowns. The NAZ quarterback had 84 yards passing and 52 yards rushing. Five of the Wranglers' six touchdowns came on the ground, four of which Barker and Williams were responsible for.

San Diego would average only 6.3 yards per kickoff return, making it tough for their offense to get anything going. With quarterback Cris Solano banged up after taking a lot of hits against the Rattlers on Monday, Steve Cluley would start in his place. Cluley and the offense would put up only nine points in the first half, but were able to string together some productive drives in the second half, scoring 19 points and cutting the deficit to 10. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the Strike Force, as the Wranglers never took their foot off the gas and scored 20 points of their own in the second half to put the game away. 

 Cluley showed promise in his first start of the season, passing for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He would add another score on a 9-yard run to give him three on the night. Davonte-Sapp Lynch would pick up his third touchdown of the season to go along with 35 yards rushing. He is currently tied for first place in the IFL in rushing touchdowns with multiple players and is third in the league in total rushing yards. Rashad Ross led all receivers with eight catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Marquise Rodgers did his part, snagging six catches for 42 yards. Ross ranks third in the league in catches per game with 5 and a half, while Rodgers is third in the league lead in total catches with 13. Rodgers is also top-ten in total receiving yards with 110.

The team was happy to welcome veteran defensive back E.J. Johnson to the active roster after he missed the first two weeks due to injury. They also added defensive lineman Manny Wright, the former Super Bowl champ who made his presence felt up front with two tackles and 2 swatted pass attempts.

The Strike Force will stay in Arizona for the second stop of their four-game road trip. They'll head to Tucson to take on the Sugar Skulls on Saturday, April 9th at 6:05 PM Pacific Time. Tucson is currently 1-1 after losing on the road to the Frisco Fighters 56-34 this past Friday.