XFL Houston Roughnecks #2 Cedric Byrd and #13 Jontre Kirklin celebrate, February 26, 2023. (XFL Twitter)
Arlington Renegades (1-0) at Houston Roughnecks (1-0)
Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET
TDECU Stadium, Houston
Attendance: 11,765
Broadcaster: ESPN2
Announcers: Matt Barrie (Play-by-Play), Joey Galloway (Analyst), Tiffany Blackmon (Field Reporter), Eric Mac Lain (Field Analyst)
Odds: Houston -5, O/U 40 (DraftKings)
The last time these two teams met in 2020 it was called the “Texas Throwdown.” This was a battle of the unbeaten Texas teams, both in the South Division. By the end of this game, one will rise to the top of the standings.
The Roughnecks were the only team to win by more than four points in a 33-12 season-opening romp over the Orlando Guardians, while the Renegades came from behind to defeat the Vegas Vipers 22-20. These teams were strong on both sides of the ball, so we should be in for an entertaining game.
The Renegades took the kickoff and Arlington quarterback Drew Plitt was picked off on his first throw. Brandon Silvers took over on the Arlington 45 and drove the ball to the Arlington 23 where the Roughnecks settled for a Duplessis 42-yard field goal. The score was 3-0 for the Roughnecks.
Drew Plitt managed to get a first down, but on the next series he was sacked three times in a row and Arlington had to punt. On the punt, the Roughnecks returned the ball to the Arlington 10-yard line. A five yard penalty was tacked on to put the ball on the 5. On the next play Silvers passed to Nick Holley for the touchdown. A 2-point conversion pass to Kirklin was good making the score 11-0 for Houston.
Drew Plitt took over on his own 30. Passes to Moore and Cannella were good for first downs. On third and 12 Plitt was incomplete to Vaughns on the sideline. Arlington was forced to punt.
Quarterback Cole McDonald went in for Houston, supposedly to vary the offense. Brandon Silvers came back in at quarterback and immediately took two long shots down the field, both incomplete. Roughnecks had to punt.
Arlington’s Drew Plitt was successful with a pass to Arconado to the 22, and a face-masking penalty moved the ball to their own 37. Ford rushed 8-yards to the Arlington 45 to end the quarter.
The score at the end of the first quarter was 11-0 for Houston.
On 4th down the Renegades were forced to punt, but Houston’s Powell fumbled the punt return and Arlington recovered the ball on Houston’s 23. On third and four, Plitt passed to LuJuan Winningham for a 4-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed and the Houston lead was cut to 11-6.
The Taylor Russolino kickoff was taken by Lee and returned to the Houston 18. Max Borghi caught an 8-yard pass, but the next plays were a run for a loss and an incomplete pass. The Roughnecks went three and out and had to punt.
Drew Plitt took over on the Arlington 25. The Renegades went three and out and had to punt. Houston’s Likely had a big return to the Houston 40, but Arlington’s Winningham forced a fumble which was recovered by Ortiz.
Drew Plitt passed to Sal Cannella for a 26-yard gain to the Houston 14. Keith Ford rushed for 1 yard and then Plitt passed to Nate Becker in the end zone for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass was complete to Tyler Vaughns making the score 14-11 for Arlington.
Lee had a good punt return for Houston getting the ball to their 33-yard line. Brandon Silvers drove the ball up to the Houston 45 before the two-minute warning.
Silvers took a hard tackle but still completed a pass to Kirklin for the first down. A pass to Burnett was caught, but the ball came loose and was recovered by Josh Hawkins of the Renegades. Dean Blandino reviewed the play and confirmed it was a fumble and a recovery by Arlington.
Drew Plitt now seemed to be getting good protection against Houston’s deadly pass rush and was able to complete passes. A roughing the passer call put the ball on the Houston 37. With six seconds left on the clock Arlington’s Taylor Russolino attempted a 55-yard field goal, but he was short.
At the half the score was 14-11 for Arlington.
Russolino’s kickoff went out of bounds and the Roughnecks took over on the Arlington 45-yard line. Brandon Silvers could not move the ball and Houston was forced to punt. Powell took the ball as a fair catch at the Arlington 10.
Drew Plitt went three and out and had to punt. Houston’s Lee returned the ball 21 yards to the Arlington 45. Brandon Silvers came out passing making a first down on the Renegades 33. Quarterback Cole McDonald came in for two downs and rushed for 3 and 18 yards. Then, Brandon Silvers came back and threw a touchdown pass to Cedric Byrd. The 1-point conversion failed and the score was now 17-14 for the Roughnecks.
Houston’s Duplessis kick off landed short of the 20-yard line, so the Renegades took over on the Houston 45.
Drew Plitt was sacked and he fumbled. The ball was recovered by Jack Daka on the Houston 48.
In the ensuing drive Brandon Silvers was sacked. There was a flag thrown for a horse collar tackle, but it was waved off. The Roughnecks had to punt, with Arlington taking the ball on their own 22.
Drew Plitt could not move the ball and Arlington was forced to punt. In turn, Brandon Silvers could not move the ball and Roughnecks punted the ball back to the Renegades.
At the end of the third quarter the score was 17-14 for Houston.
With Drew Plitt on third and one, De’Veon Smith ran for the first down. A Drew Plitt pass to Arconado was tipped and intercepted by Houston’s S. Davis. Brandon Silvers took over on his own 30.
A Brandon Silvers pass to Ben Putnam gave Houston a 24-yard gain and a first down. Cole McDonald was brought in for a third and short and he handed to Max Borghi for another first down. McDonald passed deep to Kirklin and was incomplete. However, Houston made a challenge for illegal contact. Dean Blandino ruled there was no foul.
On third down Brandon Silvers passed deep and the ball was intercepted. However, an illegal contact penalty on the defense negated the interception. On second and nine Silvers completed to Putnam over the middle moving the ball to the Arlington 10. A Max Borghi 10-yard run gave Houston another touchdown. The 1-point conversion attempt was no good, making the score 23-14 for Houston.
With 4:54 remaining the Arlington Renegades took over on their own 28. The Roughnecks defense got real tough and dropped Killins for an 11-yard loss and then sacked Drew Plitt for a 13-yard loss. Arlington had to punt.
Brandon Silvers completed a first down pass to Putnam prior to the two-minute warning.
Cole McDonald came in for Houston. He managed to move the chains and it looked like the Roughnecks would be able to run out the clock, which they did.
Final score was Houston Roughnecks 23, Arlington Renegades 14.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
ARL 0 14 0 0 14
HOU 11 0 6 6 23
------ ARLINGTON RENEGADES ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Drew Plitt 15/30 120 4.0 2 2 26 5 - 38
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
De'Veon Smith 7 16 2.3 0 4
Drew Plitt 2 14 7.0 0 12
Keith Ford 6 11 1.8 0 6
Adrian Killins 4 2 0.5 0 8
TEAM TOTAL 19 43 2.3 0 12
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Sal Cannella 4 38 9.5 0 26 4
De'Veon Smith 4 32 8.0 0 13 5
Brandon Arconado 2 17 8.5 0 11 4
Nate Becker 1 13 13.0 1 13 1
Sean Modster 2 12 6.0 0 7 4
Jordan Smallwood 1 4 4.0 0 4 1
LuJuan Winningham 1 4 4.0 1 4 4
Shaun Beyer 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Keith Ford 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Tyler Vaughns 0 0 0.0 0 0 4
TEAM TOTAL 15 120 8.0 2 26 29
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Drew Plitt 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Jamal Carter 5 2 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Donald Payne 5 2 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Hill 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Colin Schooler 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Aaron Adeoye 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Willie Taylor 3 0 3.0 1.0 - 8.0 1.0 0 0 0
Doug Costin 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Joe Powell 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Edmond Robinson 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
T.J. Barnes 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Clarke 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Cre'Von LeBlanc 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Darren Evans 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
De'Veon Smith 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 33 4 37.0 1.0 - 8.0 2.0 0 0 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
NO YDS AVG LONG TD
0 0 0.0 0 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Adrian Killins 4 69 17.3 19 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Marquette King 7 324 46.3 0 0 54
------ HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Brandon Silvers 14/28 173 6.2 2 0 40 1 - 8
Cole McDonald 0/1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 14/29 173 6.0 2 0 40 1 - 8
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Cole McDonald 7 39 5.6 0 18
Max Borghi 12 27 2.3 1 7
Brycen Alleyne 2 10 5.0 0 7
Dejoun Lee 3 6 2.0 0 3
Garrett Owens 1 2 2.0 0 2
Brandon Silvers 3 -7 -2.3 0 -1
TEAM TOTAL 28 77 2.8 1 18
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Ben Putman 4 65 16.3 0 24 5
Jontre Kirklin 2 56 28.0 0 40 6
Max Borghi 2 20 10.0 0 12 6
Cedric Byrd 3 19 6.3 1 15 3
Nick Holley 1 5 5.0 1 5 3
Brycen Alleyne 1 4 4.0 0 4 1
Deontay Burnett 1 4 4.0 0 4 4
Justin Smith 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 14 173 12.4 2 40 29
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
William Likely 2 2 0
Deontay Burnett 1 1 0
TEAM TOTAL 3 3 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Tavante Beckett 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tim Ward 3 2 5.0 1.0 - 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
William Likely 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Trent Harris 2 3 5.0 0.5 - 2.0 2.0 0 0 0
Emmanuel Ellerbee 2 2 4.0 1.0 - 11.0 2.0 0 0 0
John Daka 2 1 3.0 1.0 - 9.0 2.0 0 1 0
A.J. Hendy 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Raleigh Texada 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
C. J. Brewer 1 2 3.0 0.5 - 2.0 1.0 0 0 0
Chauncey Rivers 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jack Heflin 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Sean Davis 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Glen Logan 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nate Wieland 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Charles Wiley 1 0 1.0 1.0 - 13.0 1.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 28 16 44.0 5.0 - 38.0 11.0 1 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Sean Davis 1 15 0
Ajene Harris 1 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 2 15 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Dejoun Lee 3 37 12.3 21 0
William Likely 3 76 25.3 42 0
TEAM TOTAL 6 113 18.8 42 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Dejoun Lee 2 48 24.0 31 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Race Porter 5 176 35.2 0 2 44
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS ARL HOU
TOTAL PLAYS 54 58
TOTAL YARDS 125 242
YARDS PER PLAY 2.3 4.2
FIRST DOWNS 10 13
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 5 7
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 3 5
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 2 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 40.0% 53.8%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 0.0%
PASS COMPLETIONS 15 14
PASS ATTEMPTS 30 29
PASSES INTERCEPTED 2 0
YARDS PER PASS 5.5 11.8
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2 2
SACK YARDS LOST 38 8
RUSH ATTEMPTS 19 28
YARDS PER RUSH 2.3 2.8
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
PENALTIES 6 5
TURNOVERS 3 3
FUMBLES 1 3
INTERCEPTIONS 2 0
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 30:06 29:54
