Arlington Renegades players #27 Devin Darrington, #80 Sal Cannella, and #65 Marcus Minor celebrate, in a Week 10 game against the D.C. Defenders at Audi Field, in Washington D.C. (@TheUFL)
The Arlington Renegades were visitors in Washington, as both teams played their final games of the 2024 UFL season. The last time these two teams met was in Week 3 , when Arlington squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, allowing D.C. to come back and win the game on a walk-off field goal.
Both of these teams have been eliminated from post-season play, and everyone is playing for pride.
The Paxton Brooks kickoff went 75 yards, and was returned by Arlington’s Juwan Manigo to his own 33-yard line. Arlington Renegades quarterback Luis Perez handed to De’Veon Smith for a 1-yard gain, and then passed to Isaiah Winstead for a 5-yard gain. On third and 4, a 13-yard pass to Tyler Vaughns moved the markers. Perez flipped the ball to Deontay Burnett who ran left and gained 12 yards, and then a deep pass to Vaughns was not caught. Perez handed to De’Veon Smith for a 26-yard run to the D.C. 11-yard line.
A handoff to Smith gained 5 yards, and then a pass to LuJuan Winningham was not caught. A delay of game penalty pushed the Renegades back 5 yards, and then, on third down, a short pass to Sal Cannella gained only 2 yards. Arlington settled for a 27-yard Jonathan Garibay field goal to make the score 3-0.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Chris Rowland all the way to the Arlington 33. D.C. Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu passed deep to Alex Ellis, but the ball sailed over his head, and then handed to Cam’Ron Harris for a short gain, but the ball was fumbled before being recovered by D.C.’s Jarrid Williams. On third and 9, Ta’amu scrambled for a 6-yard gain, and the Defenders settled for a 44-yard Mathew McCrane field goal, to tie the score 3-3.
The Brooks kickoff went out of bounds, resulting in the ball being placed at midfield. Perez passed deep to Cannella, but the ball was overthrown, and then he handed to Devin Darrington for a 6-yard rush. On third and 4, Perez was pressure and threw the ball away, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty. The Renegades were forced to punt.
The Marquette King punt was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 22. Ta’amu handed to Darius Hagans for a 2-yard gain, and then passed incomplete to Brandon Smith. On third down, Ta’amu was pressured and threw the ball away, and the Defenders opted to punt.
The Brooks punt was returned by Manigo to the Arlington 44. A pass intended for Vaughns was well-defended and not caught, and then another pass to Vaughns gained 6 yards. On third down, a defensive offside penalty gave the Renegades a first down. Then, Perez had a pass picked off by D.C.’s Gareon Conley, who was tackled on the D.C. 43.
Ta’amu passed to Ty Scott for a 7-yard gain, and then handed to Harris for a 6-yard run and a first down. Ta’amu kept the ball and scrambled for 2 yards, and then was pressured and could not complete a pass to Scott, as the first quarter ended.
Ta’amu passed to Coutee for a 7-yard gain, and then on fourth and 1, a handoff to Harris lost one-yard and the ball was turned over on downs.
From his own 36-yard line, Perez rushed for 3 yards, and then a 4-yard pass to Cannella also drew a roughing the passer penalty. A one-yard rush was followed by a short pass to Smith that gained 11-yards to the D.C. 30.
Perez handed to Smith for an 8-yard rush, and then a pass to Winstead was broken up by Arlington’s defenders. On third and 2, Perez handed to Darrington for no gain, and the Renegades settled for a 40-yard Garibay field goal to make the score 6-3 for Arlington.
The Garibay kickoff was returned for a touchdown by D.C.’s Chris Rowland. On the two-point conversion attempt a delay of game penalty pushed the ball back 5 yards, and then a 10-yard pass to Ellis was caught, but on review the catch was overturned to make the conversion unsuccessful. The score was now 9-6 for D.C.
Manigo returned the Brooks kickoff to the Arlington 27. Perez handed to Darrington for a 13-yard gain, and then passed to Cannella for a gain of 6 yards. A handoff to Darrington made no gain, and then a pass intended for Burnett fell incomplete, and the Renegades were forced to punt.
The King punt went into the end zone for a touchback, and the ball was placed on D.C.’s 25-yard line. A false start penalty pushed the Defenders back 5 yards, and then Ta’amu passed 11 yards to Brandon Smith. A handoff to Hagans gained zero yards, and then on third and 4, a pass to Scott gained 8 yards to move the chains.
Ta’amu delivered a 14-yard pass to Rowland, and then a pass to Keke Coutee fell incomplete. A pass to Hagans gained 4 yards, and then a short pass to Vyncint Smith saw him turn up field and run down the sideline for a 43-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 15-6 for D.C.
The Brooks punt was caught by Manigo, who initially muffed the ball, then returned it to the Arlington 37. Perez passed to Smith for a 5-yard gain, and then another pass to Smith fell incomplete. On third down, a 7-yard pass to Burnett moved the markers. Perez completed a 22-yard pass to Cannella, and then handed to Smith for an 8-yard run to the D.C. 20-yard line as the two-minute warning was announced.
On third and 1, a handoff to Smith gained a yard for a first down. Perez passed to Winstead for an 8-yard gain, and then handed to Smith for a 5-yard run and another first down. Smith rushed for a 5-yard gain, and then an end-zone pass to Tyler Vaughns was caught for a 5-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was successful on a short pass and run by Devin Darrington, to make the score 15-14 for D.C.
With 0:17 remaining, the Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 38-yard line. Ta’amu passed 17-yards to Coutee to the Arlington 45, and then with 0:03 on the clock, Ta’amu attempted a deep pass that fell out of bounds to end the half.
The score at halftime was 15-14 for the D.C. Defenders.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 37. Ta’amu could not complete a pass to Brandon Smith and then could not complete a pass to Vyncint Smith. On third down, a pass to Coutee drew a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty. The call was challenged by Arlington head coach Bob Stoops, and his challenge failed.
On first and 10, Ta’amu passed to Scott for an 8-yard gain, and then passed to Rowland for 6 more yards and a first down on the Arlington 34. A pass to Ellis gained 11 yards, and then a pass to Ellis in the end zone drew another 15-yard pass interference call.
With first and 10 on the Arlington 8, Ta’amu was pressured, and a pass to Kayden Smith in the end zone could not be caught. Ta’amu passed to Rowland who rolled into the end zone for a 7-yard gain. The ruling was made that he was down on the one-yard line. A handoff to Cam’Ron Harris was good for a one-yard touchdown. The one-point conversion failed, making the score 21-14 for D.C.
The Brooks kickoff was returned by Manigo to the Arlington 45. Perez threw a pass to Cannella, but he lost a yard, and then another catch by Cannella gained 2 yards. On third down, another pass to Cannella drew a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty.
A handoff to De’Veon Smith gained 4 yards, and then a 7-yard catch by Winstead moved the markers. A 15-yard defensive unnecessary roughness penalty gave the Renegades additional yards to the D.C. 18. A handoff to Smith gained 6 yards, and then another carry by Smith was dropped for a 1-yard loss. On third and 5, a pass to Burnett was not caught. Garibay kicked a 31-yard field goal, but D.C. head coach Reggie Barlow challenged the play for delay of game and was successful. Garibay re-kicked the field goal from 36 yards to make the score 21-17 for D.C.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 34. Ta’amu passed to Briley Moore-McKinney, who passed downfield to Hagans for a 12-yard gain. A pass to Scott fell incomplete, and then a pass to Harris gained 8 yards. On third and 2, Ta’amu could not complete a pass to Moore-McKinney, and the Defenders were forced to punt.
The Brooks punt was returned by Manigo to the Arlington 26. Perez handed to Darrington for a 3-yard run, and then passed to Winstead for a 12-yard gain and a first down. Another handoff to Darrington lost one-yard, and then Perez was pressured and threw the ball to the turf, which drew an intentional grounding penalty.
A 5-yard defensive holding penalty gave the Renegades a first down, and then a handoff to Darrington gained 2 yards. A 13-yard catch by Winstead was deemed to be out of bounds as the third quarter ended.
On third and 8, D.C. was charged with a 5-yard neutral zone infraction penalty, and then on third and 3, a pass was delivered to Tyler Vaughns on the sideline for a 24-yard gain to the D.C. 35. Perez passed deep to a wide-open Vaughns for a 35-yard touchdown. Backup quarterback Holton Ahlers came in for the two-point conversion and successfully ran into the end zone for the points, to make the score 25-21 for Arlington.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 41. Ta’amu completed a 7-yard pass to Coutee, and then tossed to Ellis for an additional 18 yards. A 34-yard pass to Brandon Smith was good for a touchdown, but an offensive holding call negated the play. A 7-yard pass to Scott was followed by a pass to Moore-McKinney that lost 2 yards. On third and 16, a deep pass to Brandon Smith scored a 40-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was good on a catch by Alex Ellis, to make the score 29-25 for D.C.
The Brooks kickoff was downed by Manigo on the Arlington one-yard line while his knees were in the end zone, awarding the D.C. Defenders a safety to make the score 31-25 for D.C.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 38. Ta’amu handed to Harris for a 16-yard gain, and then went back to Harris for a 2-yard gain. A pass intended for Scott was incomplete, and then a pass to Kayden Smith was bobbled as he went out of bounds. On fourth and 8, the Defenders were forced to punt.
The Brooks punt went into the end zone for a touchback, putting the ball on the Arlington 25-yard line. Perez had his first pass intercepted by Montae Nicholson, who returned the ball to the Arlington 28.
A handoff to Hagans lost 4 yards, and then Ta’amu was sacked for a 4-yard loss. On third and 18, Ta’amu was sacked for a 1-yard loss, and the Defenders attempted a 54-yard McCrane field goal which missed wide to the right.
From the Arlington 44, Perez passed to Burnett for a 2-yard gain, and then could not complete a pass to Vaughns. On third and 8, a pass to Smith gained 1 yard, but a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty moved the markers to the D.C. 37.
Perez handed to Smith for a 7-yard run, and then went back to Smith for a 2-yard gain. On third and one, a handoff to Darrington gained one-yard for the first down. Perez passed 16-yards to Cannella to the D.C. 9, and then handed to Smith for a 2-yard rush. Perez passed 7-yards to Deontay Burnett for a touchdown. The one-point conversion was good on a two-yard Smith rush, making the score 32-31 for Arlington.
The Garibay kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 40. Ta’amu could not complete a pass to Ty Scott as the two-minute warning was announced.
Ta’amu completed a 5-yard pass to Scott, and then on third and 4, a pass to Harris fell incomplete. On fourth and 4, Ta’amu was sacked for a 1-yard loss and the Defenders turned over the ball on downs.
From the D.C. 46, a handoff to Smith gained 10 yards for a first down. With 0:50 remaining, another handoff to Smith gained no yards, and then another Smith run gained 3 yards. On third and 7, Smith rushed for 2 more yards, and the Renegades were able to run out the clock.
The final score was Arlington Renegades 32, D.C. Defenders 31.
