#1 Deontay Burnett caught 8 passes for 88 yards and 1 touchdown for the Houston Roughnecks (Twitter)
Saturday, February 18, 8:30 p.m. ET
TDECU Stadium, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 12,784
Broadcaster: ESPN, FX, ESPN+
Announcers: Lowell Galindo, Sam Acho, Taylor McGregor, Ian Fitzsimmons
Roughnecks head coach Wade Phillips started Brandon Silvers. Will this season finally be the one where he gets to shine?
Orlando head coach Terrell Buckley started Paxton Lynch, a quarterback with plenty of NFL experience. Now we just need to see if it transfers over to the XFL.
Orlando received the kickoff and Lynch started off at his own 23-yard line. Jah-Maine Martin and Deddrick Thomas helped a decent drive with some good running. An 11-yard reception by Eli Rogers was reviewed by Dean Blandino, but only after the fact because Orlando had already ran the next play. A 27-yard pass to Latimer looked to be intercepted until the official called it a touchdown for Latimer. Again, Blandino had to review the catch and he could not reverse the call. Touchdown Orlando! The two point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. The score was now 6-0 for Orlando.
After a bad kickoff short of the 20-yard line by Borregales, Brandon Silvers took over with good field position at his own 45-yard line, but went three and out and the Roughnecks punted back to Orlando.
Paxton Lynch got busy with a 27-yard pass to Cody Latimer, down to the Houston 40. In the next play the Roughnecks defense got to him and Lynch was sacked. At 4th and 3, Lynch tried to get the Roughnecks to jump offside and took a time out, a tactic that hardly ever works. Then, Lynch completed a pass to Stephen Guidry but he was short of the first down.
After the turnover on downs, Brandon Silvers and the Houston Roughnecks started their drive on their own 48-yard line. Silvers connected a 19-yard pass to Travell Harris, a 12-yard pass to Max Borghi, and a 5-yard pass to Matt Elam. Finally, Silvers connected with Jontre Kirklin for a 10-yard touchdown. The conversion attempt failed. The score was tied 6-6.
The Guardians took over, and Paxton Lynch took to the air for a 25-yard pass to Andrew Jamiel. At the end of the first quarter the score is tied Houston 6, Orlando 6.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Lynch threw to Latimer on the 5-yard line but the Houston defense broke up the play. Orlando settled for a 40-yard Borregales field goal attempt, but the ball hit the upright. The score remained tied.
Silvers took over the ball on their own 30-yard line. He completed a 19-yard pass to Travell Harris, and then another 6-yard pass, again to Harris. Unfortunately, Houston was called for a 15-yard penalty. Silvers continued to move the ball with passes to Cedric Byrd and Max Borghi. Then, Silvers threw deep to Burnett who caught the ball one-handed for the touchdown. The one-point conversion attempt failed. The score was now 12-6 for Houston.
Paxton Lynch could not move the ball and turned the ball over on downs. Brandon Silvers engineered a drive that ended with a Max Borghi rush for a 27-yard touchdown. The one-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 18-6 for Houston.
The Guardians got the ball back and went three and out before they punted. Silvers moved the ball close enough for a Hunter Duplessis 33-yard field goal. The score was now 21-6 for Houston.
Again, the Guardians could not move the ball and had to punt on 4th down. Houston got the ball back, and basically ran out the remaining time in the first half. At half time, the score was 21-6 for Houston.
Houston received the kickoff in the second half, and Brandon Silvers went to work engineering another Roughnecks drive. Silvers spread the ball around with passes to Putnam and Burnett. The Guardian defense got tough, with a sack of Silvers, and then a Matt Elam interception of a Silvers pass.
Paxton Lynch took over on the Guardians 37. A short pass to Latimer got the Guardians going, and then Lynch was sacked for a nine-yard loss by Trent Harris. The Guardians had to punt on 4th down.
Silvers took over on his own 30-yard line. After a short rush by Max Borghi, Silvers was sacked for an 8-yard loss. Orlando stopped the Roughnecks and forced a punt.
Paxton Lynch took over the ball on the Orlando 35, and began to drive the ball with a pass to Charleston Rambo, and a pass to Carter who was tackled quickly by Hendy. Orlando had to convert on 4th down and failed. Houston took over the ball on their own 49-yard line.
Silvers first pass was picked off by Marcus Murphy. When Paxton Lynch took over, his first pass was intercepted by Beckett for a touchdown. Unfortunately, a penalty call cancelled the touchdown, but the Roughnecks took over on their own 46 yard line. Their drive was cut short and the Roughnecks were forced to punt.
Orlando replaced starting quarterback Paxton Lynch with backup Quinten Dormady.
At the end of the third quarter the score remained 21-6 for the Roughnecks.
Dormady went three and out with a punt back to the Roughnecks. Silvers engineered a long drive that ended with a Hunter Duplessis 33-yard field goal. The score was now 24-6 Houston over Orlando.
Orlando stuck with Dormady as quarterback, who was having trouble moving the ball, almost getting picked off. Jah-Maine Martin managed to run the ball for a first down, which extended the drive. Martin seemed to be running the ball well now, with another first down under his belt. Finally, Dormady connected a 51-yard pass to Andres Jamiel for a touchdown. The three-point conversion attempt failed. The score was now 24-12 for the Roughnecks.
The Roughnecks returned the kickoff to their own 35-yard line. Brandon Silvers went three and out, forcing the Roughnecks to punt. Eli Rogers fumbled the punt and the Roughnecks Alexander Myres jumped on the ball on the Houston 15.
The Roughnecks did not waste any time with a 5-yard Cole McDonald rush for a touchdown. The one-point conversion attempt failed. The score was now 30-12 for the Roughnecks.
Orlando took over on their own 27 with 2:58 remaining. Dormady couldn’t do much and was sacked on second down. On third down he threw deep to Guidry who dropped the ball. At the 2-minute warning the Guardians were sitting at 4th and 14.
On 4th down Dormady was picked off by Sean Davis who returned the ball to the Orlando 8-yard line.
With the game virtually over, Cole McDonald came in at quarterback for Houston. On 4th down, the Roughnecks chose to kick a Hunter Duplessis 22-yard field goal. The score was now 33-12 for Houston.
Orlando’s Dormady got the ball back and drove the ball well, nearly marching the length of the field. The drive was cut short when Houston’s Trent Harris sacked Dormady on 3rd down. On 4th down Dormady was intercepted by Harris. This ended the game.
Final score Houston Roughnecks 33 Orlando Guardians 12.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
ORL 6 0 0 6 12
HOU 6 15 0 12 33
------ ORLANDO GUARDIANS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Paxton Lynch 15/21 136 6.5 1 1 27 4 - 27
Quinten Dormady 12/18 142 7.9 1 2 51 3 - 15
TEAM TOTAL 27/39 278 7.1 2 3 51 7 - 42
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jah-Maine Martin 9 41 4.6 0 12
Kelvin Taylor 5 28 5.6 0 12
Deddrick Thomas 1 9 9.0 0 9
Paxton Lynch 1 0 0.0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 16 78 4.9 0 12
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Dontez Byrd 2 11 5.5 0 6 2
Charleston Rambo 4 22 5.5 0 7 6
Ryan Becker 2 9 4.5 0 5 2
Logan Carter 2 3 1.5 0 2 3
Andrew Jamiel 3 80 26.7 1 51 4
Stephen Guidry 2 2 1.0 0 2 4
Cody Latimer 5 68 13.6 1 27 6
Eli Rogers 4 40 10.0 0 15 7
Deddrick Thomas 2 42 21.0 0 27 4
Jah-Maine Martin 1 1 1.0 0 1 1
TEAM TOTAL 27 278 10.3 2 51 39
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Eli Rogers 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Tegray Scales 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Baylen Buchanan 2 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.5 0 0 0
Erroll Thompson 1 1 1.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Matt Elam 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Terrance Smith 2 1 2.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Marcus Murphy 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Mike Lee 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jacoby Jones 3 0 3.0 2.0 - 11.0 2.0 0 0 0
Terrance Plummer 2 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Najeem Hosein 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Stansly Maponga 1 1 1.5 1.0 - 5.0 1.5 0 0 0
Nick Coe 6 0 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Shaquille Wiggins 6 0 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Kelvin Taylor 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Trumaine Washington 0 1 0.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 37 8 41.0 3.0 - 16.0 5.0 2 0 0
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Matt Elam 1 0 0
Marcus Murphy 1 22 0
TEAM TOTAL 2 22 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Eli Rogers 2 8 4.0 8 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Eli Rogers 5 55 11.0 15 0
Roman Tatum 3 40 13.3 14 0
TEAM TOTAL 8 95 11.9 15 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Johnny Townsend 5 202 40.4 0 0 48
------ HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Brandon Silvers 26/42 272 6.5 2 2 46 3 - 16
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Max Borghi 8 42 5.3 1 27
Dejoun Lee 6 25 4.2 0 8
Cole McDonald 4 14 3.5 1 5
Brandon Silvers 2 0 0.0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 20 81 4.0 2 27
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Travell Harris 5 48 9.6 0 19 11
Max Borghi 4 32 8.0 0 14 4
Jontre Kirklin 5 71 14.2 1 34 8
Dejoun Lee 1 4 4.0 0 4 1
Deontay Burnett 8 90 11.3 1 46 12
Ben Putman 1 7 7.0 0 7 1
Nick Holley 0 0 0.0 0 0 2
Cedric Byrd 2 20 10.0 0 12 2
Garrett Owens 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 26 272 10.5 2 46 42
Fumbles
FUM LOST REC
0 0 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Sean Davis 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Nate Wieland 2 1 2.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Emmanuel Ellerbee 7 1 7.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
John Daka 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tavante Beckett 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
William Likely 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Trent Harris 4 0 4.0 4.0 - 28.0 4.0 0 0 0
Ajene Harris 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
A.J. Hendy 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Raleigh Texada 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nick Holley 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jordan Mosley 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Chauncey Rivers 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tim Ward 4 0 4.0 2.0 - 10.0 3.0 0 0 0
Alexander Myres 1 0 1.0 1.0 - 4.0 1.0 0 0 1
Jack Heflin 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 46 2 47.0 7.0 - 42.0 8.0 3 0 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Tavante Beckett 1 15 0
Sean Davis 1 27 0
Ajene Harris 1 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 3 42 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
William Likely 4 39 9.8 15 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Dejoun Lee 2 48 24.0 24 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Race Porter 4 121 30.3 0 2 41
------ Team Stats ------
STAT ORL HOU
TOTAL PLAYS 62 65
TOTAL YARDS 314 337
YARDS PER PLAY 5.1 5.2
FIRST DOWNS 14 16
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 9 12
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 5 3
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 0 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 33.3% 33.3%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 100.0%
PASS COMPLETIONS 27 26
PASS ATTEMPTS 39 42
PASSES INTERCEPTED 3 2
YARDS PER PASS 8.7 9.8
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2 2
SACK YARDS LOST 42 16
RUSH ATTEMPTS 16 20
YARDS PER RUSH 4.9 4.0
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 2
PENALTIES 3 3
TURNOVERS 4 2
FUMBLES 1 0
INTERCEPTIONS 3 2
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
