The San Antonio Brahmas needed a win to keep pace with the Arlington Renegades for the second spot in the XFL South Division playoff race. Despite losing three of its last four games, the Brahmas defense had been solid, holding opponents to an average of 14 points per game over that span. However, the offense was weak, especially with running back Kalen Ballage injured. Can the Brahmas muster enough offense to overcome the Vipers?
Meanwhile, Vegas has its own issues, with it’s only win coming over the hapless Orlando Guardians. Now that the Vipers have traded away QB Luis Perez to the Renegades, they seem to be counting on Jalan McClendon to be their QB1. Hopefully, wide receiver Jeff Badet can continue to establish himself as one of the best receivers in the XFL.
San Antonio quarterback Kurt Benkert started the game with the first series for the Brahmas. He connected to Akers for a 15-yard gain and a 1st down. On 3rd down the Brahmas were called for a false start, which made for 3rd and 14 on the San Antonio 38. Benkert was able to connect to Aker for an 18-yard gain up the middle, and then aired it out with a pass to T. J. Vasher in the end zone which drew a pass interference call, putting the ball on the 1-yard line. With a short pass to Brown, the Brahmas were on the board with a touchdown. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 6-0 for San Antonio.
Vegas Vipers quarterback Jalan McClendon took the ball on his own 26-yard line. He began the drive by rushing the ball himself 10- yards to move the sticks. McClendon generated another first down with a pass to Dillon, and then a 21-yard pass was caught by Jeff Badet, although it was nearly picked off by the Brahmas ball hawks. McClendon was sacked at the San Antonio 33 and fumbled the ball, but it was recovered by Vegas’s Eatmon. On the next play McClendon passed to Sean Price who ran it the rest of the way for a major. The 2-point conversion pass to Cam Sutton was good to make the score 8-6 for Vegas.
Benkert started his drive on the San Antonio 10-yard line. A late hit that injured Benkert earned Vegas a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty. Backup quarterback Jawon Pass came in and handed off to Jacques Patrick for two short gains. He could not convert on 3rd down and the Brahmas were forced to punt.
It was reported Kurt Benkert had a chest injury and was questionable to be able to return to the game.
Vegas started with good field position on their own 38. McClendon handed to Rod Smith twice to move the chains to midfield. The Brahmas began to defend the ground game better, so McClendon passed to Badet for another first down at the San Antonio 38-yard line.
At the end of the 1st quarter the score was Vegas 8, San Antonio 6.
McClendon passed to Mathew Sexton for a 17-yard gain, and then Lovett ran for 4 yards and 8 yards, to give the Vipers 1st and goal on the San Antonio 6-yard line. The Brahmas challenged the last play saying the Vipers were guilty of a false start. The challenge was successful and the Vipers were given 2nd and 11 on the San Antonio 19. Another false start penalty moved Vegas further back to the 24-yard line. McClendon partially redeemed the Vipers by passing 9-yards to Mathew Sexton, but could not convert on 3rd down. The Vipers would settle for a 39-yard Giffen field goal which made the score 11-6 for Vegas.
The Brahmas Fred Brown took the kickoff on his own 4 yard line and returned it 96 yards for the touchdown. Benkert came in for the 2-point conversion attempt which failed, making the score 12-11 for San Antonio.
McClendon took the ball on the Vegas 32 and passed 24-yards to Allison to move the markers to the San Antonio 44-yard line. On 3rd and 10, McClendon connected to Sexton for a 25-yard catch to the San Antonio 19. A short pass to Rod Smith turned into a touchdown when he ran it into the end zone, leaping over a defender in the progress. The 2-point conversion failed, but a flag was thrown for roughing the passer. The 2-point conversion retry was good, making the score 19-12 for Vegas.
Benkert was playing through the pain of a chest injury and took control of the ball on the San Antonio 12. He went three and out and the Brahmas punted.
McClendon got the ball on the Vegas 37-yard line. An unnecessary roughness penalty made it 3rd and 26. A 12-yard pass to Price was not enough, and the Vipers were forced to punt.
The Brahmas took over on their own 37-yard line. Just before the two-minute warning, Kurt Benkert passed to Alize Mack for an 18-yard gain to the Vegas 43.
An end zone pass intended for Fred Brown was picked off by Vegas’s Anderson and returned to the Vegas 22. Vegas moved the ball to their own 30 and had to punt the ball back to San Antonio.
With 1:16 remaining, Benkert started a drive on this own 40. Benkert ran it past midfield to move the chains. Passes to Vasher and Brown were incomplete. With 14 seconds remaining the Brahmas punted and the Vipers simply ran out the clock.
The score at halftime was Vegas 19, San Antonio 12.
In the 2nd half, Vegas received the ball on their own 23-yard line. Jalen McClendon rushed for a 6-yard gain and then handed to Rod Smith for 11 more yards and a first down. McClendon passed to Mathew Sexton for 21 yards, but a personal foul penalty against the Brahmas moved the ball ahead 15-yards. A 20-yard pass to Geronimo Allison moved the ball to the San Antonio 6-yard line. A 5-yard penalty pushed Vegas back, and then a 10-yard pass to Cam Sutton put the ball on the 1-yard line. On 4th and 1 Lovett ran the ball into the end zone. The 1-point conversion pass to Mathew Sexton was good to make the score 26-12 for Vegas.
Kurt Benkert was still playing, taking the ball on the San Antonio 20-yard line. He put together a drive, including a 23-yard pass to Akers that put the ball on the Vegas 41. On 4th and 1 on the Vegas 32, Jacques Patrick ran the ball 2 yards to move the chains. On 4th and 4 a pass to Fred Brown near the goal line was incomplete. The Brahmas turned over the ball on downs.
Vegas started on their own 24-yard line, but the San Antonio defense held tough and McClendon went three and out. The Vipers punted back to the Brahmas, but the ball was fumbled on the return and recovered by Vegas. An unnecessary roughness call on Vegas moved them back 15-yards and they took the ball on their own 37.
On 1st down, San Antonio’s Beesley sacked McClendon for a 7-yard loss. On 3rd down, Beesley and Scott sacked McClendon again, this time for a 9-yard loss. Facing 4th and 27, Vegas had to punt again.
At the end of the 4th quarter the score was 26-12 for Vegas.
This time San Antonio’s Bonds took the punt cleanly giving the Brahmas field position on their own 35-yard line. Vegas’s defense pressured Benkert and he could not get a first down. San Antonio was forced to punt.
McClendon took the ball on his own 35. He handed to Smith for a 5-yard rush and then passed to Dillon for a 6-yard gain and a 1st down. Another handoff to Smith was good for an 11-yard gain. McClendon handed to Lovett for a 5-yard gain but another handoff to Lovett was stuffed. McClendon then passed 23-yards downfield to Smith to move the sticks to the San Antonio 16-yard line. The Brahmas defense stiffened and Vegas could do no more. A 34-yard Giffen field goal attempt was narrowly missed to the right.
The Brahmas started their drive on their own 24-yard line. Benkert was blind-side sacked for a 9-yard loss. On 3rd down a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Vegas’s Calhoun gave the Brahmas a 1st down. Benkert connected to Fred Brown for a 21-yard gain near midfield. On 3rd down Benkert was sacked by Taumoepenu who forced a fumble which was recovered by Vegas.
McClendon could not generate a first down and Vegas punted back to the Brahmas.
Benkert took over on his own 10 with just over 2 minutes remaining. At the two minute warning the Brahmas were 2nd and 3 on their own 17.
An 11-yard pass to Akers took the ball to the San Antonio 21, and then Benkert was sacked by Taumoepenu and Stokes for an 11-yard loss. Jacques Patrick ran for 6-yards, but an unnecessary roughness penalty against Vegas gave the Brahmas an automatic first down. After passing incomplete to Hilliman, Benkert was hit by Beasley and had to leave the field.
With less than a minute remaining, Juwan Pass came in off the bench to lead the Brahmas. Jacques Patrick caught a short pass and ran for a 20-yard gain to the Vegas 40. Juwan Pass was sacked for a 6-yard loss as the clock clicked down to 21 seconds remaining. On 4thj and 16 Pass connected to Toivonen for a 12-yard gain and turned over the ball on downs.
The final score was Vegas 26, San Antonio 12.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
SA 6 6 0 0 12
VGS 8 11 7 0 26
------ SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Kurt Benkert 22/31 179 5.8 1 1 23 3 - 29
Jawon Pass 2/6 32 5.3 0 0 20 1 - 6
TEAM TOTAL 24/37 211 0.0 1 1 23 4 - 35
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jacques Patrick 12 20 1.7 0 4
Kurt Benkert 2 7 3.5 0 5
Jon Hilliman 2 3 1.5 0 2
TEAM TOTAL 16 30 0.0 0 5
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Landen Akers 6 75 12.5 0 23 7
Jacques Patrick 4 45 11.3 0 20 7
Alize Mack 3 28 9.3 0 18 4
Jon Hilliman 6 24 4.0 0 7 7
Fred Brown 2 22 11.0 1 21 6
Travis Toivonen 1 12 12.0 0 12 1
Deon Yelder 1 8 8.0 0 8 1
T.J. Vasher 1 -3 -3.0 0 -3 3
TEAM TOTAL 24 211 0.0 1 23 36
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Terrell Bonds 1 1 0
Kurt Benkert 1 1 0
TEAM TOTAL 2 2 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Jordan Williams 5 6 11.0 0.0 - 0.0 3.0 0 0 0
Delontae Scott 5 2 7.0 1.5 - 6.5 2.0 0 1 0
Sean Williams 3 4 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tenny Adewusi 5 1 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Luq Barcoo 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Drew Beesley 2 3 5.0 1.5 - 11.5 2.0 0 0 0
Ranthony Texada 1 3 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jack Koerner 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Kamilo Tongamoa 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Matthew Gotel 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Ben Davis 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Javier Edwards 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kameron Kelly 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Scott 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Terrell Bonds 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Shakir Soto 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Tverdov 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 36 26 62.0 3.0 - 18.0 9.0 0 1 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Terrell Bonds 4 38 9.5 21 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Fred Brown 4 123 30.8 96 1
Travis Jonsen 1 20 20.0 20 0
TEAM TOTAL 5 143 0.0 96 1
Kicking
FGM FGA FG% LNG
0 0 0.0% 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Brad Wing 4 214 53.5 0 0 72
------ VEGAS VIPERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jalan McClendon 21/31 264 8.5 2 0 33 3 - 18
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Rod Smith 7 39 5.6 0 11
Jalan McClendon 8 25 3.1 0 10
John Lovett 9 17 1.9 1 6
Brian Burt 4 6 1.5 0 6
Pita Taumoepenu 1 6 6.0 0 6
Cinque Sweeting 1 3 3.0 0 3
TEAM TOTAL 30 96 0.0 1 11
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Mathew Sexton 4 72 18.0 0 25 4
Geronimo Allison 3 49 16.3 0 24 3
Sean Price 3 46 15.3 1 33 4
Rod Smith 3 36 12.0 1 23 3
Jeff Badet 2 31 15.5 0 21 3
Brandon Dillon 2 12 6.0 0 6 4
Brian Burt 1 10 10.0 0 10 1
Cam Sutton 2 9 4.5 0 10 5
Martavis Bryant 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Cinque Sweeting 1 -1 -1.0 0 -1 3
TEAM TOTAL 21 264 0.0 2 33 31
Fumbles
TEAM TOTAL
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Jalan McClendon 1 0 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
C.J. Avery 4 6 10.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maurice Smith 3 4 7.0 1.0 - 9.0 1.0 0 0 0
Marwin Evans 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Stephen Roberts 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Keylon Kennedy 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Pita Taumoepenu 2 2 4.0 1.5 - 15.0 1.0 0 1 0
Robert Windsor 3 1 4.0 1.0 - 6.0 1.0 0 0 0
LaRon Stokes 1 2 3.0 0.5 - 5.0 0.0 0 0 0
Cavon Walker 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Deontay Anderson 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
D.J. Calhoun 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jamar Summers 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maximilian Roberts 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Vic Beasley 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 30 24 54.0 4.0 - 35.0 4.0 1 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Deontay Anderson 1 22 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Mathew Sexton 1 12 12.0 12 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Martavis Bryant 2 38 19.0 24 0
Cinque Sweeting 1 27 27.0 27 0
TEAM TOTAL 3 65 0.0 27 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Bailey Giffen 1 2 50.0% 39
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Michael Carrizosa 5 198 39.6 0 1 45
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS SAN VGS
TOTAL PLAYS 57 63
TOTAL YARDS 206 336
YARDS PER PLAY 3.6 5.3
FIRST DOWNS 16 17
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 9 11
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 3 5
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 4 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 18.2% 50.0%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 50.0% 100.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 176 246
PASS COMPLETIONS 24 21
PASS ATTEMPTS 37 31
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 1 0
YARDS PER PASS 4.8 7.9
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 1 2
SACKS ALLOWED 4 3
SACK YARDS LOST 35 18
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 30 90
RUSH ATTEMPTS 16 29
YARDS PER RUSH 1.9 3.1
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
PENALTIES 8 12
TURNOVERS 3 0
FUMBLES 2 0
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 1 0
POSSESSION 24:41 35:19
