After many years of embarrassing defeats, the San Diego Strike Force won their third game of the season, a 57-44 victory over the Duke City Gladiators, matching their last season’s win total in half the games, and appear to have found their quarterback in the team’s first home win since June 18, 2022.
The Strike Force opened the season averaging 32 points per game in their first five games, but since former NFL quarterback Nate Davis took the starting job, the Strike Force averaged 53 points per game in Davis’ first three starts with San Diego.
Davis made his Strike Force debut on April 30 and leads the league with 208 passing yards per game. San Diego did not win his first two games, but none of that was Davis’s fault whatsoever with the defense giving up 54 and 61 points to begin Davis’ San Diego tenure.
“He’s a big piece of what we do,” head coach Taylor Genuser said.
Genuser praised Davis on his leadership abilities and how his prior experience of two seasons in the NFL and three seasons in the IFL has helped his team.
“Being a head coach, I want to be able to focus more on being the head coach and not strictly being the offensive coordinator so I’m able to delegate some stuff to him when it comes to game planning. And it’s working so far,” Genuser added.
Davis went 14-for-20 with 208 passing yards in Sunday’s victory. The Strike Force recorded eight touchdowns on nine complete drives in their win over Quad City. Since Davis took over, the Strike Force have only ended full drives without a touchdown seven times, with three of those coming on field goal attempts.
Wide receiver Kentrez Bell, who finished the game with four receiving touchdowns, was excited for Davis to join the team with the experience he brings and that he is now settled in with his new team.
San Diego knotted the Gladiators into a tie for last place in the Western Conference standings, trailing the Arizona Rattlers and Vegas Knight Hawks by one game for a playoff spot as they search for their first playoff berth with seven games to go.
The Strike Force will go on the road to face the Frisco Fighters next on Saturday, May 27, at 5:05 p.m. PT before their next home game on Sunday, June 4 against the Tulsa Oilers.