From the worst to first in just one year.
That describes the Northern Arizona Wrangler football team and its winning the national Indoor Football League (IFL) championship Aug. 13 at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
By a narrow score of 47-45, the team defeated the Quad City Steamrollers from Moline, Illinois.
Led by new Head Coach Less Moss, the new coaching staff finished the season with a winning 15-4 season. That’s a change from last year’s 1-13 season. It was only the second year of professional competition for the Wranglers.
The Wranglers come from Prescott Valley, the smallest market of the 16-team IFL. The IFL is scattered across 13 states: from Arizona to Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois. Arizona has the most teams with three — the Wranglers, the Rattlers in Phoenix, and the Sugar Skulls in Tucson.
Prescott Valley Town Manager Gilbert Davidson praised the Wranglers and its staff.
“The team surpassed all expectations this year by winning a national championship. They put our great community and the region on the map,” he said, adding that the entire region was proud of the players, coaches and supporters who created such a winning season.
This is the 14th consecutive year of competition in the IFL. Each team plays a 16-game schedule — eight home games, eight away. Wrangler management will be announcing the 2022-2023 schedule soon. The team is headquartered at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
