This game marked the second official match up between the Seattle Sea Dragons and the Arlington Renegades in the history of the XFL, harking back to 2020 when the Dallas Renegades defeated the Seattle Dragons 24-12 on Feb. 22, 2020, in Seattle.
The last four Renegades games have been low scoring affairs. It will be interesting to see if the high-flying Seattle offense can light up the scoreboard against the stingy Renegades. With ongoing quarterback issues, Arlington may be unable to put together more than a couple scoring drives.
In the opening series, Seattle Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci drove the ball well, combining short passes with running plays, including quarterback sneaks of 13 and 8 yards. At 3rd and 2 on the Arlington 22-yard line, Arlington’s Barnes sacked DiNucci for a 4-yard loss. The Sea Dragons settled for an Eberle 44-yard field goal to make the score 3-0 for Seattle.
Arlington Renegades’ quarterback Drew Plitt took the ball on the Arlington 26-yard line. He was able to generate two first downs, and was forced to go for it on 4th and 5 on the Seattle 43, where Plitt connected to Sal Cannella for a 9-yard pass that moved the sticks. Drew Plitt had a nice 12-yard carry to the Seattle 22. On 3rd and 6 Plitt could not connect to Smith and the Renegades were forced to take a 36-yard Taylor Russolino field goal to tie the score 3-3.
Ben DiNucci took over on his own 25-yard line. He connected to Veasy for a 25 yard pass at midfield.
At the end of the 1st quarter the score was tied 3-3.
DiNucci connected long downfield to Blake Jackson for a 37-yard gain to the Arlington 19. Arlington’s defense stiffened and the Sea Dragons settled for an Eberle 33-yard field goal to make the score 6-3 for Seattle.
Plitt took the ball on the Arlington 36. He was able to move past midfield, but the drive stalled. Marquette King was brought in to punt. DiNucci took over on his own 35-yard line and went three and out. The Sea Dragons punted back to the Renegades.
On first down, Plitt threw a pass to Bolden that was intercepted by Qwynnterrio Cole on the Arlington 10, and then Ben DiNucci connected to Jordan Veasy for a 47-yard gain to the Arlington 10-yard line. From there, Darius Bradwell ran the ball in for a Sea Dragons touchdown. The 1-point conversion rush attempt by Bradwell was good to make the score 13-3 for Seattle.
Plitt took the ball on the Arlington 28 and worked to engineer a scoring drive of his own. Vander Esch caught an 18-yard pass to move the chains and then Plitt connected with Bolden for a 18-yard gain on the Seattle 36. At the two-minute warning Arlington had a 2nd and 4 on the Seattle 16-yard line.
A 14-yard pass to Winningham was caught on the Seattle 2-yard line. Seattle challenged the catch and the reception stood after review by the command center. De’Veon Smith rushed once and was stuffed, but on 2nd down he scored the major. A 1-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 13-9 for Seattle.
With just less than 1 minute remaining, Seattle took the ball on their own 24-yard line. A handoff to Hammond was good for 12 yards. DiNucci kept the ball himself, running for 5 and then a 4 yard gain. On 3rd down a roughing the passer call on T.J. Barnes gave Seattle a 1st down on the Arlington 40. DiNucci ran for 11 yards to put the ball on the 29, and then he passed to Blake Jackson to move the ball to the 24. With 14 seconds remaining, Ben DiNucci threw a 24-yard pass to Josh Gordon in the end zone for a Sea Dragons touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Juwan Green was good and Seattle went ahead 21-9.
At half time the score was Seattle 21, Arlington 9.
In the 2nd half Arlington started on their own 27. De’Veon Smith had some good runs of 9 and 18 yards, but Drew Plitt started passing and could not connect to his receivers. Finally, on 4th and 5 Plitt passed to Tyler Vaughns for a 9-yard gain that moved the chains to the Seattle 30-yard line. Plitt rushed 7 yards for another first down, and then handed to Brown for a 9 yard gain to the Seattle 11-yard line. On 4th and 1, Plitt was pressured and could not connect to Sal Cannella. Arlington turned over the ball on downs.
Seattle’s Ben DiNucci took over on his own 12-yard line. On 3rd down he connected 13-yards to Jahcour Pearson to move the chains. A 17-yard run by Hammonds took the ball to midfield. DiNucci passed to Williams for a 10-yard gain, and then to Blake Jackson for a 21-yard reception on the Arlington 18. DiNucci passed to Jahcour Pearson in the end zone, but was intercepted by Will Hill who returned the ball to the Arlington 30.
Drew Plitt passed to Hall for a 12-yard gain.
At the end of the 3rd quarter the score remained Seattle 21, Arlington 9.
On 3rd and 4, Caleb Vander Esch could not hang on to the ball and Arlington was forced to punt.
Seattle took the ball on their own 21. Arlington’s defense was solid until Ben DiNucci threw a 26-yard pass to Juwan Green on the Seattle 49. DiNucci kept the drive alive with a 7-yard Bradwell rush and an 8-yard pass to Pearson. A DiNucci quarterback sneak moved the chains to the Arlington 27-yard line.
Seattle’s drive stalled and they attempted a 43-yard field goal, which was good. A false start penalty forced them to re-kick the field goal from the 48, and Eberle was again good, to extend the lead to 24-9.
Arlington started their drive on the 26. Drew Plitt passed to Sal Cannella for 22-yards, and then to De’Veon Smith for an 11-yard gain. Arlington was penalized for “hands to the face” which gave Plitt 1st and 20 on the Seattle 49. Bolden took a short pass and turned it into an 18-yard gain. Plitt passed incomplete into the end zone but he took a big hit and drew a roughing the passer call before he limped off the field.
Arlington backup Kevin Anderson came in off the bench facing 1st and 10 on the Seattle 14. A short pass to De’Veon Smith and then a Smith run gave the Renegades 3rd and 1 on the Seattle 5. Smith rushed 3 yards for the first down, and then easily ran it into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. The 2-point conversion pass drew a Seattle unnecessary roughness penalty and the Renegades got to re-run the conversion from the 2-yard line. A pass to Sal Cannella was incomplete, and the conversion failed.
At the two-minute warning the score was Seattle 24, Arlington 15.
Seattle was 2nd and 4 on the Arlington 42. Hammonds was able to get a first down which helped Seattle in their attempt to run out the clock. Ben DiNucci kept handing to Hammonds, and with Arlington out of time-outs the clock ran down quickly. Seattle went into victory formation and ended the game.
The final score was Seattle Sea Dragons 24, Arlington Renegades 15.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
SEA 3 18 0 3 24
ARL 3 6 0 6 15
------ SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Ben DiNucci 21/32 266 8.3 1 1 47 2 - 10
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Ben DiNucci 9 52 5.8 0 13
T.J. Hammonds 7 45 6.4 0 17
Darius Bradwell 6 18 3.0 1 7
TEAM TOTAL 22 115 0.0 1 17
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Jordan Veasy 3 79 26.3 0 47 4
Blake Jackson 4 68 17.0 0 37 5
Josh Gordon 3 43 14.3 1 24 4
Juwan Green 3 31 10.3 0 26 4
Jahcour Pearson 5 31 6.2 0 13 7
Damion Willis 2 14 7.0 0 10 4
Kelvin McKnight 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
T.J. Hammonds 1 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 21 266 0.0 1 47 30
Fumbles
FUM LOST REC
0 0 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Antoine Brooks 3 4 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tre Walker 4 3 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Clarence Hicks 3 3 6.0 1.0 - 3.0 1.0 0 0 0
Antwuan Jackson 2 3 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Alijah Holder 4 1 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Qwynnterrio Cole 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Linden Stephens 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tyrell Adams 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Chris Payton-Jones 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bryce Thompson 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Austin Faoliu 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Chris Smith 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tuzar Skipper 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Zafir Kelly 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Elijah Ponder 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Shareef Miller 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Josh Gordon 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Daniel Joseph 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Niko Lalos 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 32 28 60.0 1.0 - 3.0 1.0 1 0 0
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Qwynnterrio Cole 1 15 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Kelvin McKnight 1 12 12.0 12 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Kelvin McKnight 4 100 25.0 37 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Dominik Eberle 3 3 100.0% 48
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Cameron Nizialek 1 37 37.0 0 0 37
------ ARLINGTON RENEGADES ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Drew Plitt 19/29 213 7.3 0 1 31 1 - 3
Kevin Anderson 1/1 5 5.0 0 0 5 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 20/30 218 0.0 0 1 31 1 - 3
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
De'Veon Smith 12 61 5.1 2 18
Leddie Brown 8 34 4.3 0 9
Drew Plitt 4 29 7.3 0 12
JaVonta Payton 1 0 0.0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 25 124 0.0 2 18
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Sal Cannella 4 64 16.0 0 31 7
Victor Bolden 3 40 13.3 0 18 5
De'Veon Smith 3 33 11.0 0 17 4
Tyler Vaughns 3 25 8.3 0 15 3
Caleb Vander Esch 1 18 18.0 0 18 3
LuJuan Winningham 1 14 14.0 0 14 2
Rannell Hall 1 12 12.0 0 12 1
Brandon Arconado 1 7 7.0 0 7 1
Nate Becker 1 5 5.0 0 5 1
Leddie Brown 1 0 0.0 0 0 1
JaVonta Payton 1 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 20 218 0.0 0 31 29
Fumbles
FUM LOST REC
0 0 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Colin Schooler 3 7 10.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Donald Payne 2 8 10.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Joe Powell 7 1 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Hill 3 3 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Shakur Brown 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Cre'Von LeBlanc 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Clarke 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
T.J. Barnes 2 0 2.0 1.0 - 4.0 2.0 0 0 0
Willie Taylor 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Tomasi Laulile 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bruce Hector 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bunmi Rotimi 1 0 1.0 1.0 - 6.0 1.0 0 0 0
De Vante Bausby 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Isaiah Graham-Mobley 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Josiah Coatney 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 28 30 58.0 2.0 - 10.0 5.0 1 0 0
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Will Hill 1 31 0
Punt Returns
NO YDS AVG LONG TD
0 0 0.0 0 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Leddie Brown 2 36 18.0 25 0
Rannell Hall 2 35 17.5 27 0
Victor Bolden 1 26 26.0 26 0
TEAM TOTAL 5 97 0.0 27 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Taylor Russolino 1 1 100.0% 36
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Marquette King 2 87 43.5 0 0 44
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS SEA ARL
TOTAL PLAYS 56 56
TOTAL YARDS 371 339
YARDS PER PLAY 6.6 6.1
FIRST DOWNS 20 22
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 10 11
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 8 10
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 2 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 58.3% 33.3%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 66.7%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 256 215
PASS COMPLETIONS 21 20
PASS ATTEMPTS 32 30
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 1 1
YARDS PER PASS 8.0 7.2
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 1 0
SACKS ALLOWED 2 1
SACK YARDS LOST 10 3
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 115 124
RUSH ATTEMPTS 22 25
YARDS PER RUSH 5.2 5.0
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 1 2
PENALTIES 3 4
TURNOVERS 1 1
FUMBLES 0 0
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 29:31 30:29
