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After the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Sugar Skulls beat their in-state rival ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Rattlers, they took down the Northern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wranglers, which has the worst record (1-11) in the IFL, 59-38 last week in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

“It was a win we expected to get,â€� said Back, who is in his second season with the Sugar Skulls. “Northern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is a one-win team, but they’ve got some weapons on their team. We expected to win, but not quite by the margin we wanted. We won’t complain. It was something we needed to get after a big win at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. We bounced back, got a game we were supposed to win and got the job done.â€�

After two straight wins, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ (5-6) will face the Vegas Knight Hawks (7-5), which currently rank fourth in the IFL Western Conference Standings, on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.

With five games remaining in the regular season, the Sugar Skulls are 1.5 games behind Vegas and the Rattlers for the final playoff spot. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ also faces Vegas on July 26 in Henderson, Nevada, for the regular-season finale.

“If we want to get to that postseason, we have to look at it one game at a time and prepare this week,� Back said. “It’s a Sunday game, so our guys get an extra day to rest. Coming into this game, Vegas is a hot team right now. It’s going to take a great effort from our guys to get a W at home and move forward.�

The teams ahead of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in the Western Conference are the Bay Area Panthers (9-2), San Diego Strike Force (8-4), Rattlers (7-5) and Knight Hawks (7-5). The top four teams in the IFL Eastern Conference standings are the Quad City Steamwheelers (9-3), Green Bay Blizzard (8-4), Jacksonville Sharks (8-4) and the Tulsa Oilers (7-5). The top four teams from each conference qualify for the eight-team IFL playoffs.

Vegas is led by former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats quarterback Jayden de Laura, who is in his first season in the IFL. After earning Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors at Washington State in 2021, the Honolulu native transferred to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and quarterbacked the Wildcats for two seasons under former UA head coach Jedd Fisch.

De Laura started all 12 games for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in 2022 and passed for 3,685 yards, the third-most in team history, and 25 touchdowns; he also threw a Pac-12-worst 13 interceptions. One of de Laura’s top performances was in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s upset win over 12th-ranked UCLA in the Rose Bowl, where he completed 22 of 28 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. He also passed for 484 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions against Colorado in 2022.

De Laura’s backyard-style, gunslinger skillset was also prone to committing turnovers. He threw four interceptions against his former Washington State, the same game that also had de Laura getting into a skirmish with former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ wide receiver Dorian Singer. De Laura also threw a combined seven interceptions in two games against Mississippi State.

De Laura started the first four games of the 2023 season, but was replaced by current starter Noah Fifita, after de Laura suffered an ankle injury entering the fourth quarter of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s come-from-behind win at Stanford.

Fifita went 7-2 as ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s starter and led ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to a win over Oklahoma at the Alamo Bowl; the two losses were a one-possession defeat against Washington and a triple-overtime setback at USC. Fifita’s 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns and six touchdowns on a 72.4% completion rate earned him Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors five times — a conference record. De Laura transferred to Texas State in the offseason.

In May 2023, de Laura and former high school teammate Kamo’i Latu, who’s now a redshirt senior defensive back at UConn, were involved in a civil lawsuit stemming from a second-degree sexual assault case in 2018, when de Laura and Latu were students at Saint Louis School in Honolulu. The civil lawsuit was officially settled in January 2024. Just over a week after the case was settled, de Laura withdrew his name from Texas State and turned professional instead of exercising his last year of eligibility.

De Laura signed with the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL and is now playing for Las Vegas’ IFL team. Vegas also has former UA signee Adam Plant Jr., a 6-6, 270-pound defensive lineman, who ended up playing collegiately at TCU and UNLV.

In eight games this season, de Laura has passed for 629 yards, 16 touchdowns and no interceptions with a 63% completion rate. In the Knight Hawks’ 82-46 win over the Iowa Barnstormers, de Laura completed 11 of 15 passes for 163 yards and five touchdowns, along with a rushing touchdown.

Leading into Sunday’s showdown, Back joined “Spears & Aliâ€� on ESPN ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to talk about the current state of the Sugar Skulls and preview the matchup against Vegas. Here’s part of that interview:

Do you take pride in having a 4-1 record and winning the regular-season series against the Rattlers and Wranglers — the two other ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ franchises?

A: “Absolutely. You want to win every game you play, but especially the in-state rivals. It’s like ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥-ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State. For me, it’s Michigan-Ohio State. You want to win the game. To beat ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, who has been on the mountain top for the longest time and they’re going to get everyone’s Super Bowl game, it’s a sense of pride. ... This week’s game is the biggest game on our schedule against our Vegas rival.â€�

You had six rushing touchdowns against Northern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. What led to the rushing spark last week?

A: “You gotta give credit to the offensive line. They’ve been pretty consistent all season, and they’ve been a darn good offensive line all season. We’ve had some hiccups here and there. ... Having (Jamyest Williams and Davonte Sapp-Lynch), you have smooth and speed back there as a one-two combo.

“When you look at (quarterback Jorge Reyna), he’s about as mobile as Ben Roethlisberger was; he doesn’t make cuts, he makes turns. But he’s got rushing touchdowns for us and has made the right reads on some pulls. Winning teams in the IFL have led the league in rushing. Championship-winning teams have always been rushing first. We’re happy where we’re at right now.�

What’s the scouting report on Vegas?

A: “They’ve got good players at every position. They have a defensive line led by veterans across the board. ... Their defensive backs are long, they’re fast. Offensively, they have de-la-something — I can’t think of his name — who played at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ for a brief stint and they have the reigning MVP (Ja’Rome Johnson) as their backup quarterback.

“They’ve got a lot of pieces of the puzzle from last year. They felt like they should’ve made the championship game last year and they didn’t. They’re starting to get it together. They’re clicking and they scored 82 points this past week against Iowa. They’re coached well. ... We’ve gotta take that belief away from them early and make it a grudge match.�