DC Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu in a XFL week 10 game against the San Antonio Brahmas, Alamodome, San Antonio, April 22, 2023. (Twitter)
When: Saturday, Apr. 22 at 3 pm ET
Where: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 12,129
ABC/ESPN+
Broadcasting Team: Tom Hart, Greg McElroy, Cole Cubelic, Katie George
The DC Defenders had already locked in their spot in the North Division Championship, including home-field advantage in next week’s playoff game. They just needed to get past the San Antonio Brahmas in this week 10 matchup without causing any of their key players serious injury. Meanwhile, this was a must win game for the San Antonio Brahmas, who needed this win to have a chance to tie the Arlington Renegades in the standings.
The DC Defenders took the kickoff and Pooka Williams returned the ball to the DC 32. DC quarterback Jordan Ta’amu handed to Abram Smith for a 2-yard rush and then ran the ball himself for 6 more. He passed to Ethan Wolf for a short gain and then passed 52-yards to Lucky Jackson to put the ball on the San Antonio 5-yard line. Ta’amu connected to Alex Ellis for a 5-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Hammond was good to make the score 8-0 for DC.
The San Antonio Brahmas Fred Brown returned the kickoff to his own 28-yard line. Brahmas quarterback Jack Coan engineered a first down by passing to Jacques Patrick, and then on the next down handing to Patrick on the run. An 11-yard pass to Patrick moved the chains to the DC 35. A pass to Travis Jonsen was good for 8-yards as Coan continued to drive the ball. Unfortunately, the drive would come to an end and the Brahmas would settle for a 26-yard Romo field goal to make the score 8-3 for DC.
DC’s Pooka Williams returned the kickoff 79 yards to the San Antonio 7-yard line. Even with instant red zone field position, Ta’amu could not put the ball into the end zone and the Defenders settled for a 21-yard Matt McCrane field goal.
At the end of the first quarter the DC Defenders led 11-3.
San Antonio received the McCrane kickoff and Jonsen returned the ball to his own 27. Jack Coan completed a 6-yard pass to Patrick, and then delivered another pass to Akers for 14-yards and a first down. The drive stalled and the Brahmas were forced to punt.
Ta’amu took the ball on his own 14 and passed 7-yards to Ellis, and then passed 70 yards to Chris Blair on the San Antonio 2-yard line. A short pass to Ellis was good for another Defenders major. The 2-point conversion pass to Jacques Patrick was good making the score 19-3 for DC.
Coan started on his 19-yard line and passed to Fred Brown for 4-yards, and then to Hilliman for 3-yards. On 4th down, a Hilliman rush moved the sticks. Coan passed 16-yards to Nick Holley to put the ball on the San Antonio 46. The drive stalled at midfield and the Brahmas punted.
D’Eriq King was brought in at quarterback. King handed to Abram Smith for a 3-yard gain, and then passed to Hammond for 17-yards up to the DC 30. Smith ran for 9-yards more and then took the ball for 4 yards to move the markers. King passed 7-yards to Ethan Wolf at midfield and then handed to Smith for a 5-yard rush and another first down. King’s drive would run out of gas and the Defenders’ Whelan punted.
Coan started on his own 37-yard line, but he went three and out and the Brahmas punted back to the Defenders.
Ta’amu started his drive by rushing 6-yards out to the DC 24. A 25-yard pass to Hammond got the drive moving, and a 28-yard pass to Lucky Jackson put the ball on the San Antonio 23. Then, a Jordan Ta’amu pass intended for Moore-Mckinney was picked off by Jordan Williams and returned to the DC 44.
Coan got going with a 37-yard pass to Akers that put the ball on the DC 2 and gave the Brahmas a chance to score. With 0:09 remaining Patrick ran the ball to the goal line and fumbled. The play was reviewed and it was determined Patrick was down at the half yard line. With 0:05 left Patrick rushed for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Vasher was good.
At half time the score was DC 19, San Antonio 11.
San Antonio took the kickoff and started the 2nd half on their own 29. Coan handed to Patrick for a 6-yard rush and then passed to Yelder for 10-yards and a first down. A 12-yard pass to Patrick moved the markers again, and passes to Hilliman and Akers would be good for another first down at the DC 28-yard line. On 3rd and 3, Coan threw incomplete to the end zone, but a face-masking penalty would give San Antonio a first down on the DC 11. The drive stalled and San Antonio settled for a 28-yard Parker Romo field goal to make the score 19-14 for DC.
DC’s Jordan Ta’amu started a drive on his own 24-yard line. Passes to Ellis and Hammond moved the chains but the drive stalled on the San Antonio 35. DC’s Matt McCrane kicked a 49-yard field goal to make the score 22-14 for DC.
Jack Coan started a Brahmas drive on his own 25. A pass to Akers was good for 17-yards to the 45-yard line. Another pass to Alize Mack moved the ball 11-yards, and then Coan went back to Mack for 12 more yards through the air. At 1st and 10 on the DC 32, a DC penalty gave the Brahmas a 15-yard gain. On 3rd and 7, an 11-yard pass to Nick Holley was just short of the goal line. Hilliman rushed for 1-yard and a Brahmas touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed.
At the end of the 3rd quarter the score was 22-20 for DC.
Ta’amu started on his own 33. He rushed the ball himself 11-yards to move the chains, and then handed to Abram Smith for another first down. A pass to Lucky Jackson was fumbled and recovered by the Brahmas on the San Antonio 37-yard line.
Coan passed to Vasher for 13-yards and then to Yelder for 7 more. Another pass to Yelder was good for 8-yards down to the DC 35. A 5-yard pass to Toivonen was followed by a 17-yard completion to Vasher on the DC 13. A 6-yard completion to Holley was followed by an incomplete pass into the end zone that San Antonio challenged for defensive pass interference. The challenge was successful making it 1st and goal on the 1 yard line. DC’s defense was doing the job in stopping the Brahmas, but an offside call gave San Antonio a fresh set of downs, and allowed Jacques Patrick to score a touchdown on a 1-yard rush. The 2-point conversion pass to Hilliman was good, making it 28-22 for San Antonio.
Ta’amu passed 20-yards to Brandon Smith and then rushed 13-yards himself to the San Antonio 31. A 27-yard pass to Jazz Ferguson put the ball on the San Antonio 4-yard line. From there, Jordan Ta’amu rushed 4-yards for the DC touchdown. The 1-point conversion attempt was good on a Ta’amu 1-yard rush, making the score 29-28 for DC.
San Antonio’s Fred Brown returned the kickoff 41 yards to near midfield. Before the two-minute warning, Coan passed 8-yards complete to Vasher on the DC 44.
Jacques Patrick rushed 5-yards to move the markers to the DC 39. At 3rd and 5 on the 35, with 0:44 remaining, Coan’s pass to Vasher on the goal line fell incomplete. A Parker Romo 53-yard field goal attempt was just wide.
With 0:32 on the clock DC went into victory formation.
The final score was DC Defenders 29, San Antonio 28.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
DC 11 8 3 7 29
SA 3 8 9 8 28
------ DC DEEFENDERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jordan Ta'amu 15/22 271 12.3 2 1 70 0 - 0
Deriq King 3/4 33 8.3 0 0 17 1 - 2
TEAM TOTAL 18/26 304 0.0 2 1 70 1 - 2
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jordan Ta'amu 8 45 5.6 1 13
Abram Smith 10 44 4.4 0 11
Deriq King 1 1 1.0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 19 90 0.0 1 13
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Lucky Jackson 3 84 28.0 0 52 3
Chris Blair 1 70 70.0 0 70 5
Josh Hammond 4 59 14.8 0 25 4
Brandon Smith 2 29 14.5 0 20 2
Jazz Ferguson 1 27 27.0 0 27 1
Alex Ellis 4 25 6.3 2 12 4
Ethan Wolf 2 10 5.0 0 7 3
Abram Smith 1 0 0.0 0 0 2
Briley Moore-Mckinney 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Pooka Williams 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 18 304 0.0 2 70 26
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Lucky Jackson 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Santos Ramirez 2 8 10.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Francis Bernard 5 4 9.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
Reggie Northrup 2 5 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Isaiah Johnson 4 2 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Andre Mintze 2 4 6.0 0.5 - 1.5 0.0 0 0 0
Joseph Wallace 2 4 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Travon Fuller 4 2 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Anthony Hines 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Cameron Lewis 1 3 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Davin Bellamy 0 4 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
D.J. Swearinger 1 3 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Anthoula Kelly 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Fadol Brown 0 3 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Gabe Wright 0 3 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Caraun Reid 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Ferrod Gardner 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Malik Fisher 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jacub Panasiuk 0 1 1.0 0.5 - 1.5 0.0 0 0 0
Jarrell Owens 1 0 1.0 1.0 - 8.0 1.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 32 52 84.0 2.0 - 11.0 7.0 0 0 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Pooka Williams 2 13 6.5 10 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Pooka Williams 6 182 30.3 79 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Matthew McCrane 2 2 100.0% 49
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Daniel Whelan 1 42 42.0 0 0 42
------ SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jack Coan 34/48 312 6.5 0 0 37 2 - 11
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jacques Patrick 16 41 2.6 2 13
Jon Hilliman 6 13 2.2 1 3
Jack Coan 1 3 3.0 0 3
TEAM TOTAL 23 57 0.0 3 13
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Landen Akers 8 90 11.3 0 37 10
T.J. Vasher 5 57 11.4 0 17 9
Nick Holley 4 40 10.0 0 16 4
Jacques Patrick 6 37 6.2 0 12 8
Alize Mack 3 29 9.7 0 12 3
Deon Yelder 3 25 8.3 0 10 3
Jon Hilliman 2 17 8.5 0 9 2
Travis Jonsen 1 8 8.0 0 8 1
Travis Toivonen 1 5 5.0 0 5 1
Fred Brown 1 4 4.0 0 4 2
TEAM TOTAL 34 312 0.0 0 37 43
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Luq Barcoo 1 0 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Riko Jeffers 1 8 9.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Jordan Williams 3 4 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Sean Williams 4 3 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tenny Adewusi 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Drew Beesley 1 3 4.0 1.0 - 2.0 1.0 0 0 0
Ranthony Texada 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kameron Kelly 0 3 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Shakir Soto 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Delontae Scott 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Scott 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Luq Barcoo 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 1 1
Matthew Gotel 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Terrill Hanks 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jamahl Johnson 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kemah Siverand 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 15 34 49.0 1.0 - 2.0 3.0 1 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Jordan Williams 1 34 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Landen Akers 1 5 5.0 5 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Fred Brown 5 116 23.2 41 0
Travis Jonsen 1 23 23.0 23 0
TEAM TOTAL 6 139 0.0 41 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Parker Romo 2 3 66.7% 28
Punting
PLAYER O YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Brad Wing 3 147 49.0 0 3 63
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS DC SAN
TOTAL PLAYS 46 73
TOTAL YARDS 392 358
YARDS PER PLAY 8.5 4.9
FIRST DOWNS 20 27
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 13 14
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 7 10
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 0 3
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 40.0% 53.3%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 100.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 302 301
PASS COMPLETIONS 18 34
PASS ATTEMPTS 26 48
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 1 0
YARDS PER PASS 11.6 6.3
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2 0
SACKS ALLOWED 1 2
SACK YARDS LOST 2 11
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 90 57
RUSH ATTEMPTS 19 23
YARDS PER RUSH 4.7 2.5
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 1 3
PENALTIES 7 4
TURNOVERS 2 0
FUMBLES 1 0
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 21:22 38:38
