51-41 victory over the Sioux Falls Storm. 

This is a press release from the Bay Area Panthers

HENDERSON, Nev.–Dalton Sneed ran for three touchdowns and threw two scoring passes to JT Stokes as the Bay Area Panthers won the Dollar Loan Center IFL National Championship with a 51-41 victory over the Sioux Falls Storm. 

“We’ve got a resilient group,” said Sneed, who was named the game’s most valuable player.  “We’ve four coaches who led us the whole way through.  We believed in one another, came to work every day and you see all the work was put on full display today.”

The Storm cut a 14-point deficit to 37-34 on Lorenzo Brown’s 2-yard run on the first possession of the   third quarter.  

Bay Area responded in the fourth with Sneed’s second scoring pass to Stokes and put the game out of reach when Marquise Bridges returned Brown’s second interception for a touchdown and a 51-34 lead.

The victory completed the turnaround for the Panthers who were 1-15 in 2022 before the franchise overhaul.

“It’s a testament to all the hard work that these guys have put into it,” said Defensive Coordinator Rob Keefe.  “From the first phone call to the first signed contract to the first walkthrough, first installation, first film session and first practice—we changed the culture.”

The game marked the end of the career of Storm Head Coach Kurtis Riggs who retired after winning 11 league titles and seven IFL Championships.  

“It’s a great feeling because everybody’s exhausted,” said Keefe.  “If you put in that kind of work and are totally exhausted, you usually wind up as champions.  That’s what we did tonight.”