Knight Hawks raise championship banner, beat Sharks for second straight win

Vegas has back-to-back wins for the first time along this road to become the Indoor Football League’s first back-to-back champions in a decade.

As part of the franchise’s home opener which also doubled as Banner Night for the first-time champs, the Knight Hawks pounded the Jacksonville Sharks, 54-43, from Lee’s Family Forum in a Week 5 meeting. Last year, Vegas claimed the lone contest against the now second-year IFL team.

“We’re just meshing more as an offense collectively,” running back Josh Tomas said. “From the offensive line, to the quarterback to the running backs, even the receivers are getting on the same page. It’s going to click more and more as we go.”

Through five weeks of the season, Vegas sports a 2-1 overall record after already having participated in two separate bye weeks. With three consecutive weeks of games lying ahead, the team will now head back to the road for a date with San Antonio Saturday, April 18.

Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. and will be the third road game in the first six weeks of the season for the Knight Hawks.

Tomas powered a dominant rushing attack for Vegas that battered Jacksonville’s defensive front. After entering Week 5 with two rushing touchdowns, he matched that effort before halftime of the home opener.

Tomas’ second rushing touchdown of the night counted as the fourth lead change of the first half. That would go on to be the final lead change of the eventual win by the home team.

“It’s very important getting the crowd out there and engaged,” he said. “So the win will bring them back, losses they kind of vacate a little bit but we got the dub so hopefully that brings in more fans.”

It was Tomas who reached the end zone first in the victory but he’d add his season-high third rushing score in the third quarter. That score would be the final stretch of 20 straight points for Vegas.

Tomas closed the night with three touchdowns and 90 all-purpose yards on 13 total touches including three kick returns.

“It’s just another day in the lab,” he said. “Just going out there getting what I’m expected [to get].”

Receiver John Erby scored a late touchdown on the ground in the course of the five rushing touchdown night for the club.

Quarterback Jayden De Laura also got in on the action with his first rushing score of the year. Through the air, he went 12-for-16 with 137 yards and two touchdowns while not throwing an interception for the third straight game.

“Last year I think I only had two interceptions,” he said. “And those could be controversial interceptions, I think I had zero so that’s the goal this year.”

Both of De Laura’s touchdowns went to receivers Senika McKie and Quentin Randolph. McKie scored his third touchdown in the last two games while Randolph added his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season and finished it off with a celebration that included a television and game system controller.

“You’ve got to set the bar really high,” De Laura said. “If you want to win another championship you have to [be] better [than] last year. We only scored on every drive in the championship game so to get it here in the third game of the season is really hopeful for us offensively.”

Defensive back Irshaad Davis hauled in an interception for the second straight game. Not only did he snag the pass attempt, he’d return it to the house for a pick-six to give the Knight Hawks their first lead of more than a single possession.

Fellow defensive back Clifton Duck led all defenders with five tackles in the win. Linebacker Tren Tatum had a big game with two hits and two pass breakups while surviving a scary hit that would be deemed a blindside block.

“To be a lot of young guys like Irshaad, [defensive backs Fred Flavors and] Terry Roberts – we’ve got a vet in Clifton Duck and another vet in Bryce Hampton coming back,” defensive lineman Lorenzo Hernandez said. “Our secondary to be so young and be so talented, I’m super excited to have that kind of group behind us.”

That stellar defensive play kept the Sharks scoreless for about 20 minutes of the middle quarters.

Vegas also was the beneficiary of a pair of touchdowns coming off the board for Jacksonville. On the visitors’ opening drive of the night, a touchdown was taken away after a successful offsides challenge by Davis. Additionally, the Sharks had a fourth quarter score erased after being caught holding.

“The IFL is always going to be like that,” Hernandez said. “One person messes up and it’s a touchdown. [...] There’s always room for improvement every week and we just have to come in, put in the work and show it on the weekends.”