Feb 29, 2020
XFL Roundup: Perez gets first win in first start and BattleHawks win second in a row
Luis Perez got the last laugh after beating his former LA Wildcat teammates after he threw for 150 yards and a touchdown in the New York Guardians' 17-14 win.
TSN.ca Staff
,New York Guardians (17) vs. Los Angeles Wildcats (14)
Luis Perez got the last laugh after beating his former LA Wildcat teammates after he threw for 150 yards and a touchdown in the New York Guardians' 17-14 win.
Perez was traded to the Guardians from the Wildcats after the team opted to move forward with quarterbacks Josh Johnson and Jalan McClendon. Following the Guardians' 29-9 loss to the St. Louis BattleHawks last week, head coach Kevin Gilbride turned to Perez this week as Matt McGloin and Marquise Williams took to the bench.
After opening the scoring with a New York field goal off the foot of Matthew McCrane, Johnson connected with Tre McBride for six points to put the Wildcats up three.
After a failed conversion by the Wildcats and another Guardians field goal, Perez recorded his first XFL touchdown after finding Mekale McKay in the end zone accompanied by a successful two-point conversion to increase their lead to 14-6 at the half.
The Wildcats attempted a comeback after Johnson threw for his second touchdown on the day tying the game up at 14.
New York would kick their third field goal of the day to put themselves up 17-14.
The Guardians defence as able to hold off the Wildcats in the final minutes of the game to secure the win and improve to two-and-two on the season.
Johnson was seen visibly upset with his offensive unit during the game as miscommunication and dropped balls in key times of the game cost LA their second win in a row.
New York will look to increase their winning streak to three games when they take on the potent Dallas Renegade on March 14.
LA will get the chance to rebound when they take on the Tampa Bay Vipers.
St. Louis BattleHawks (23) vs. Seattle Dragons (16)
For the second week in a row, the BattleHawks win at home as Jordan Ta’amu’s 264 yards and a touchdown lift the BattleHawks past the Seattle Dragons .
Coming off a dominating 29-9 win over New York, St. Louis improves to 3-1 on the season as they had control of the game from the opening drive.
They jumped out to an early 11-3 lead after Ta’amu connected with De’Mornay Pierson-El for a St. Louis touchdown. They did not settle for a six-point lead as they followed up with a successful two-point conversion and a field goal making it 11-0.
It wasn’t until the second quarter that Seattle was able to get some points on the board as Ernesto Lacyo nailed a 41-yard field goal to bring them within eight.
St. Louis responded with another touchdown as Ta’amu flipped it to Keith Ford on a speed-option toss to increase their lead to 17-3.
The Dragons went with a different quarterback in B.J. Daniels for the second half, sitting starter Brandon Silvers who had completed four passes for 27 yards.
Daniels made an immediate impact as the Dragons capped off a five-play, 65-yard drive with a Kenneth Farrow touchdown and a successful one-point conversion, making it 17-10 St. Louis.
Seattle would come close to completing the comeback as they answered a St. Louis field goal with touchdown pass from Daniels to Evan Rodriguez to make it 16-23, but ran out of time
Seattle now drops to 1-3 on the season after losing two games in as many weeks. They get the chance to turn the ship around next week against the Houston Roughnecks. St. Louis on the other hand, have a date with the Cardale Jones and the DC defenders.
Houston Roughnecks (27) vs. Dallas Renegades (20)
The Houston Roughnecks collected five turnovers on route to their fourth win in a row, defeating the Dallas Renegades.
The undefeated Houston Roughnecks have been extremely formidable in the teams’ inaugural season as they remain the only undefeated team in the XFL. They stayed hot against a Dallas Renegades team that was coming off an impressive win against the Tampa Bay Vipers.
From the first quarter, Houston continued to show why they are one of the most dominate teams in the XFL as they jumped out to an early lead. After two unanswered field goals, a touchdown passes from P.J. Walker to Nick Holley and a successful three-point attempt, Houston had a 15-0 grip on the game.
It took Dallas a quarter and a half to answer as Landry Jones,-who threw three first-quarter interceptions-found Donald Parham midway through the second quarter, putting the Renegades on the board.
A successful two-point attempt and last-minute field goal later, the Renegades worked the 15 point deficit down to four as they clawed back to trail 15-11.
Landry and the Renegades offence refused to quit as they responded to another Houston touchdown with a nine play- 79-yard drive capping it off with a touchdown of their own. They would add a three-point conversion to make it a one-point game.
Houston was able to recover some of their momentum from the first half as linebacker Edmond Robinson was able to scoop up a ball dropped by Landry Jones after he was hauled down and run it back 12-yards for a Houston touchdown making it 27-20.
The fourth quarter was when it all came crashing down on Dallas.
Late in the quarter, Dallas quarterback Landry Jones was helped off the field after his leg was caught awkwardly at the bottom of a pile up.
He would be forced to leave the game as he was helped off the field.
Coming into the game would be backup Phillip Nelson who led the Renegades down the field only to have a pass intended for Flynn Nagel intercepted to seal the Roughnecks’ 27-20 win.
Post game, Renegades head coach Bob Stoops confirmed that Jones would undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.
Dallas will look to get back on track next week against the New York Guardians while the Roughnecks roll into Seattle to take on the Dragons.