Box Score SAN JOSE--Ja'Rome Johnson accounted for eight touchdowns as the Vegas Knight Hawks beat the Bay Area Panthers 62-43 to become the only undefeated team in the Indoor Football League. 

Bay Area (5-1) lost for the first time and ended a streak of 10 straight wins going back to a road loss at Frisco on June 24. It was the worst loss for the franchise since a 65-33 defeat at Vegas on July 2, 2022.

"Vegas was the better team," said Bay Area Head Coach Rob Keefe.  "They were more physical and they flew around better.  At the end of the day, we looked sluggish and didn't come to play tonight.  That's unfortunate."

The Panthers pulled within 35-27 on a Felix Harper 19-yard scoring pass to Jazeric Peterson.  But Jericho Flowers returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards for a touchdown to close the half and started a string of 27 consecutive points.  The Knight Hawks put the Panthers in their deepest hole of the season at 62-27 with 14:56 to play in the fourth quarter. 

Daquan Neal took over at quarterback in the fourth quarter and led the Panthers on a pair of scoring drives.  Shane Simpson scored on a 1-yard run and Neal added a 2-yard TD run for the game's final points.   

Harper ended the night 13-21 for 138 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.  Two of his scoring passes were to Peterson and Dieuly Aristilde was on the receiving end of 12-yard toss in the second quarter for his first IFL touchdown.

For Vegas, Johnson was 8-12 for 136 yards and three scores and added 35 yards on the ground with five touchdowns. 

Keefe makes no excuses for loss, despite playing two new defensive lineman and going without three defensive backs who started the season.

"No matter who's out there, I expect to win," said Keefe.  "With the way we prepare, I'll never use suspensions or injuries as an excuse.  At the end of the day, our guys played hard and didn't quit. I love our guys and  they really love football.  This was definitely a wake-up call." 

Next for the the Panthers is a road game at Northern Arizona (4-2) and then travel to play Arizona (3-3).  The next home game will be against San Antonio on May 25 

With the victory, Vegas (6-0) surpassed last year's win total and leads Bay Area by one game in the Western Conference. The Knight Hawks next host San Diego on Friday, May 10.