By Michael Heilman
Week 4 of the XFL season featured the Los Angeles Wildcats visiting MetLife Stadium against the New York Guardians and the Seattle Dragons take on the St. Louis BattleHawks from The Dome at America’s Center.
New York Guardians 17, Los Angeles Wildcats 14
The Guardians got on the board first with a Matthew McCrane’s 51-yard field goal with 5:51 left in the first quarter. With seven seconds left in the first quarter, Los Angeles quarterback Josh Johnson connected with a four-yard touchdown pass to Tre McBride to put Los Angeles in the lead 6-3. The Wildcats failed to convert a two-point conversion and trailed by three as the first quarter ended.
Guardians kicker Matthew McCrane would tie the game 6-6 on a 23-yard field goal with 8:12 left in the second quarter. The Guardians regained the lead as Luis Perez threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Mekale McKay for a 12-6 lead. New York then converted a two-point play on a rushing touchdown from backup quarterback Marquise Williams for a 14-6 lead.
The Wildcats attempted to cut the Guardians lead to five points with a field goal, but the Guardians special teams blocked the kick by Jarrell Owens to keep the lead 14-6 with 8:35 left to play in the third quarter. After a pass interference call on 4th and two against the Guardians, Wildcats quarterback Josh Johnson dropped a dime to wide receiver Saeed Blacknall for a 42-yard touchdown to cut New York’s lead 14-12. Johnson would get the two-point play with a pass to Jordan Smallwood to tie the game up at 14 all.
Guardians kicker Matthew McCrane would get New York’s lead back with a 47-yard field goal to put the Guardians ahead 17-14 with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats attempted to tie the game, but Nick Novak missed a 44-yard field goal to keep the game 17-14 Guardians with 8:06 left to play in the fourth quarter.
The remainder of the game saw both teams move the ball only to stall towards the end of their drives. The New York Guardians held on to a 17-14 win over the Los Angeles Wildcats to move to 2-2 on the season while the Wildcats drop to 1-3.
New York Guardians quarterback Luis Perez finished the afternoon 18 of 26 with a 150-yards passing and one touchdown. Running back Darius Victor led the team in rushing with 18 carries for 82-yards. Tight End Jake Powell led the Guardians in receiving with three receptions on four targets for 34-yards. Wide Receiver Mekale McKay caught two passes for twelve yards and a touchdown. The Guardians defense and special teams were key in this game as they sacked Josh Johnson three times, picked Johnson off once, and a blocked field-goal attempt.
On the other side, Wildcats quarterback Josh Johnson finished the afternoon 25 of 40 for 330-yards passing, two touchdowns, and one interception. Wildcats running-back DuJuan Harris led the team in rushing on five carries for twenty-five yards. Wide receivers Tre McBride and Saeed Blacknall combined for nine receptions for 169-yards, and two touchdowns. The Wildcats defense had four sacks.
The Guardians will now head to Dallas to take on the Renegades next Saturday at 5 pm on FOX from Globe Life Park while the Wildcats return home next Sunday against the Tampa Bay Vipers at 9 pm on ESPN.
Seattle Dragons 16, St. Louis BattleHawks 23
The BattleHawks got rolling on their second possession of the game as quarterback Jordan Ta’Amu led St. Louis on the drive to finish with a 27-yard touchdown pass to De’Mornay Pierson-El to put the BattleHawks up 6-0. St. Louis converted the two-point to go up 8-0 with 6:37 left in the first quarter. With thirteen seconds left in the first quarter, the BattleHawks added three more points on a 48-yard field goal by Taylor Russolino for an 11-0 lead.
Seattle would get on the board as Ernesto Lacayo kicked a 41-yard field goal to cut the BattleHawks lead 11-3 with 13:31 left in the second quarter. BattleHawks running-back Keith Ford rushed for a 13-yard touchdown to increase the BattleHawks lead 17-3. The two-point conversion was no good, and the game remained 17-3 BattleHawks with two minutes left in the second quarter. St. Louis got the ball back to run out the clock and take a 17-3 lead at halftime.
Seattle replaced Brandon Silvers and went with B.J Daniels to start the third quarter. The Dragons began a comeback in the third quarter, starting with a Kenneth Farrow one-yard touchdown run to cut the BattleHawks lead 17-9. B.J Daniels got the one-point conversion to trail by a touchdown 17-10. The BattleHawks got three-points in the third quarter on a 38-yard field goal from Taylor Russolino with a minute and five seconds left in the third quarter. Seattle will take the ball heading to the fourth quarter.
Dragons quarterback B.J Daniels threw a ten-yard touchdown pass to tight end, Evan Rodriguez. Dragons attempted a three-point play, but it was no good, and the Dragons now trailed by four 20-16. With 8:14 left in the fourth quarter, BattleHawks kicker Taylor Russolino made his third field goal, this time a 25-yarder to put the BattleHawks up by a touchdown 23-16. Both teams were moving the ball, but neither could finish their drives. The BattleHawks defeated the Seattle Dragons 23-16 to improve to 3-1 and for now in first place in the East. The Dragons dropped to 1-3 tied for third place with the Los Angeles Wildcats.
St. Louis BattleHawks quarterback Jordan Ta’Amu finished the afternoon 20 of 27 for 264-yards, one touchdown, and led the BattleHawks in rushing for 63 yards. Running back Keith Ford had three carries for twenty-three yards and one touchdown. Wide Receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El led the team in receiving yards on five catches for 71-yards and one touchdown. The BattleHawks defense picked off B.J Daniels once and recorded no sacks.
Seattle Dragons quarterback Brandon Silvers started the game and finished 4 of 10 for 40-yards. His replacement, B.J Daniels finished the afternoon 5 of 10 for 100-yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Daniels also led the team in rushing with seven carries for 84-yards. Running back Kenneth Farrow was second behind Daniels with five carries for 26-yards and one touchdown. Dragons wide receiver Alonzo Moore led the Dragons in receptions with one catch for 57-yards. Tight end Evan Rodriguez only caught one pass for ten yards and a touchdown. The Dragons defense recorded one sack on four hits in the game.
The Dragons will now head to Houston to take on the Roughnecks next Saturday at 2 pm on ABC while the BattleHawks will head to the nation’s capital at Audi Field to take on the DC Defenders next Sunday at 3 pm on FS1.
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