Seattle Sea Dragons #25 Morgan Ellison (XFL Twitter)
Seattle (0-2) at Vegas (0-2)
Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m. ET
Cashman Field, Las Vegas
Attendance: 6,037
Broadcaster: FX, ESPN+
Announcers: Matt Barrie, Joey Galloway, Tiffany Blackmon, Eric Mac Lain
Odds: Dragons -3.5, O/U 38 (DraftKings)
Vegas kicked off to Seattle. Ben DiNucci came in to lead the Sea Dragons and immediately completed to Jahcour Pearson for a quick first down. Then, DiNucci’s pass was tipped by Beasley and the Vipers Avery jumped on the live ball at the Seattle 35. The play was reviewed by Dean Blandino and the fumble recovery was confirmed.
Luis Perez came in as quarterback for two downs, and then Brett Hundley was brought in and went to work for the Vipers. He was able to move the chains. On third and eight, Hundley completed to Jeff Badet in the end zone for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion attempt failed making the score 6-0 for the Vegas Vipers.
DiNucci had a good drive going for the Sea Dragons, but a penalty thwarted their progress and they were forced to punt. The Vipers’ Mathew Sexton had a good return to the Vegas 42. Hundley went three and out and punted back to the Sea Dragons. Despite punting against a stiff wind, the Vipers forced Seattle to take the ball on their own 9-yard line.
DiNucci began the drive by running nine yards, and then passed to Josh Gordon for an 18-yard gain at the sideline. A 32-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson put the ball on the Vegas 26. With a 26-yard pass to Blake Jackson on the goal line Seattle scored a touchdown, tying the score at 6-6. The 3-point conversion attempt failed.
Brett Hundley took over on the Vegas 20. After a short run by Lovett, Hundley kept the ball and ran 19-yards, but a holding penalty brought the ball back 10-yards.
At the end of the first quarter the score was tied 6-6.
Vegas could not convert another first down and were forced to punt. Ben DiNucci went three and out and the Sea Dragons punted the ball back.
In the next series, Brett Hundley was sacked by Daniel Joseph on 2nd down. On third down, Hundley completed a 37-yard pass to Mathew Sexton on the Seattle 30, and then a 19-yard pass was completed to Cam Sutton. The Vipers’ Giffen kicked a 39-yard field goal to make the score 9-6 for Vegas.
Ben DiNucci could not answer back and went three and out. Nizialek punted the ball to the Vegas 22. Brett Hundley almost connected a deep ball to Jeff Badet, but the Vipers were forced to punt.
Seattle’s Morgan Ellison had an impressive 35-yard run to the Vegas 20. After the two-minute warning, the Sea Dragons’ Dominic Eberle kicked a 34-yard field goal to tie the score 9-9.
Brett Hundley took control on the Seattle 45, and immediately ran the ball 16-yards to the Seattle 29. From here the Vipers could not convert on third down and were forced to attempt a Giffen 47-yard field goal that was well short.
At the half the score was tied 9-9.
Vegas took possession in the 3rd quarter and Hundley was able to move the ball. A 56-yard pass to Jeff Badet took the ball to the Seattle 16, and then an 11-yard rush by Rod Smith took the ball to the 5-yard line. Brett Hundley was able to run the ball into the end zone for the Vegas major. A 2-point conversion pass to Martavis Bryant was good making the score 17-9 for Vegas.
Seattle’s Ben DiNucci took over on his own 19-yard line. Ellison had a good 12-yard run to give the Sea Dragons a first down. DiNucci rushed to his own 42 for another first down. Then, Ben DiNucci’s pass intended for Adam Sparks was intercepted by Damion Willis and returned to the Vegas 41.
With a couple first downs Brett Hundley moved the ball into Seattle territory. When facing 4th and nine, Giffen kicked a 47-yard field goal making the score 20-9 for Vegas.
Good special team’s coverage by Vegas forced Seattle to field the ball on their own 16. On third down DiNucci was able to connect to Jordan Veasy for an 18-yard pass. Dean Blandino reviewed the catch and it stood. An 11-yard run by Morgan Ellison gave the Sea Dragons another first down. Then, DiNucci went back to Veasy for an 18-yard pass. The ball was now on the Vegas 28-yard line.
Again, DiNucci connected with Veasy for a 9-yard gain, and then handed to Ellison for 3-yards and another Seattle first down. Then, Ben DiNucci connected with Josh Gordon in the back of the end zone for a Seattle touchdown. The 3-point conversion pass to Jackson was no good. The score was now 20-15 for Vegas.
At the end of the third quarter Vegas led Seattle 20-15.
To open the 4th quarter the Seattle defense stiffened and Hundley was forced to go three and out. Ben DiNucci and the Sea Dragons took over on their own 30. An 18-yard pass to Veasy moved the chains to the Vegas 37. Then, Ben DiNucci ran the ball 9-yards to the Vegas 23, but DiNucci fumbled the ball. Luckily for the Sea Dragons it went out of bounds.
A huge 16-yard run by Ellison took the ball to the Vegas 9-yard line. DiNucci kept going to Ellison, but the Vegas defense stood strong and tackled Ellison for a 7-yard loss. Morgan Ellison was hurt on the play. On 4th down, Seattle was forced to attempt a Dominic Eberle 32-yard field goal which was good. The score was now 20-18 for the Vegas Vipers.
Cinque Sweeting returned the kickoff 42-yards to midfield. Brett Hundley connected to John Lovett on the sideline and Lovett ran the ball the rest of the way for a Vegas 50-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was no good, making the score 26-18 for Vegas.
Ben DiNucci began to drive the ball from his own 27. A 33-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson took the ball to the Vegas 38-yard line. A pass to Hammonds, and his making the defense miss the tackle, gave the Sea Dragons another first down. Finally, a pass from DiNucci to Juwan Green in the end zone gave Seattle another touchdown. A 3-point conversion attempt failed, and the score was 26-24 for Vegas.
Seattle reported their headsets were not working so the officials shut down communications for both teams.
With 2:45 on the clock, Brett Hundley passed 16-yards to Jeff Badet across the middle to move the chains. With the clock run down to the 2-minute warning, Seattle had depleted their time-outs.
With 1:55 on the clock the Sea Dragons forced the Vipers to punt. With a penalty, Seattle returned the ball to their own 27-yard line. On 4th and two from their own 35, Ben DeNucci passed to Josh Gordon for a 65-yard touchdown. The 3-point conversion attempt failed making the score 30-26 for Seattle with 58 seconds remaining.
Brett Hundley had less than a minute to score a major. A face-masking penalty aided Vegas’s drive. Then, a pass to Geronimo Allison on the sideline was incomplete. A short pass to Sexton was complete with only 12 seconds remaining. Another pass to Sexton was dropped with 6 seconds remaining. The final pass attempt to Bryant was incomplete as the time ran out.
Final score was Seattle Sea Dragons 30, Vegas Vipers 26.
Another close game for the Vegas Vipers, but still their third loss of the season. The Seattle Sea Dragons recorded their first win.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
SEA 6 3 6 15 30
VGS 6 3 11 6 26
------ SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Ben DiNucci 29/37 377 10.2 4 1 65 1 - 1
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Morgan Ellison 17 103 6.1 0 35
Ben DiNucci 6 32 5.3 0 9
T.J. Hammond 2 8 4.0 0 6
TEAM TOTAL 25 143 5.7 0 35
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Josh Gordon 6 118 19.7 2 65 7
Jahcour Pearson 7 99 14.1 0 33 9
Jordan Veasy 4 63 15.8 0 18 5
Blake Jackson 5 44 8.8 1 26 5
T.J. Hammonds 4 23 5.8 0 10 5
Juwan Green 1 22 22.0 1 22 3
Damion Willis 2 8 4.0 0 6 3
Sharif Finch 1 -3 -3.0 0 6 1
TEAM TOTAL 30 374 12.5 4 65 38
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Ben DiNucci 2 1 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Austin Faoliu 3 4 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Clarence Hicks 3 3 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Tre Walker 2 3 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Elijah Ponder 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Qwynnterrio Cole 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Niko Lalos 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Linden Stephens 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Emmanuel Smith 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Chris Jones 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bryce Thompson 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Antwuan Jackson 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Sama Paama 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Brenden Knox 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Daniel Joseph 1 0 1.0 1.0 - 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
Tuzar Skipper 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Antoine Brooks 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Ben DiNucci 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Shareef Miller 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Alijah Holder 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
P.J. Hall 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Zafir Kelly 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 31 20 51.0 1.0 - 1.0 5.0 0 0 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Blake Jackson 1 4 4.0 4 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Kelvin McKnight 6 102 17.0 31 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Cameron Nizialek 3 123 41.0 0 0 45
------ VEGAS VIPERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Brett Hundley 13/28 224 8.0 2 0 56 1 - 1
Luis Perez 1/2 9 4.5 0 0 9 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 14/30 233 7.8 2 0 56 1 - 1
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Brett Hundley 8 66 8.3 1 19
Rod Smith 10 41 4.1 0 11
DeAndre Torrey 5 5 1.0 0 4
John Lovett 5 3 0.6 0 3
Cinque Sweeting 1 3 3.0 0 3
Jeff Badet 1 2 2.0 0 2
TEAM TOTAL 30 120 4.0 1 19
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Jeff Badet 4 93 23.3 1 56 8
John Lovett 1 50 50.0 1 50 2
Mathew Sexton 3 45 15.0 0 37 4
Cam Sutton 1 19 19.0 0 19 1
Cinque Sweeting 2 9 4.5 0 7 4
Martavis Bryant 1 6 6.0 0 6 2
Geronimo Allison 1 2 2.0 0 2 4
Rod Smith 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
P.J. Dawson 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 13 224 17.2 2 56 27
Fumbles
FUM LOST REC
0 0 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Deontay Anderson 5 4 9.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 1 0
Mister Harriel 6 2 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nijuel Hill 5 1 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
C.J. Avery 1 4 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Adam Sparks 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 1 0 0
Keylon Kennedy 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Stephen Roberts 4 0 4.0 1.0 - 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
Jawuan Johnson 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Martrell Spaight 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Pita Taumoepenu 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Antonio Phillips 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Vic Beasley 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maximilian Roberts 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jah'Sheem Martin 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bailey Giffen 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaRon Stokes 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
P.J. Dawson 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Robert Windsor 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 38 22 60.0 1.0 - 1.0 5.0 1 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Adam Sparks 1 7 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Mathew Sexton 1 20 20.0 20 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Cinque Sweeting 3 83 27.7 42 0
DeAndre Torrey 2 28 14.0 14 0
Mathew Sexton 1 15 15.0 15 0
TEAM TOTAL 6 126 21.0 42 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Michael Carrizosa 5 180 36.0 0 1 44
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS SEA VGS
TOTAL PLAYS 63 59
TOTAL YARDS 519 343
YARDS PER PLAY 8.2 5.8
FIRST DOWNS 22 15
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 14 6
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 7 8
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 27.3% 35.7%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 100.0% 0.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 376 223
PASS COMPLETIONS 29 13
PASS ATTEMPTS 37 28
PASSES INTERCEPTED 1 0
YARDS PER PASS 13.0 17.2
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 4 2
SACKS ALLOWED 1 1
SACK YARDS LOST 1 1
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 143 120
RUSH ATTEMPTS 25 30
YARDS PER RUSH 5.7 4.0
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
PENALTIES 6 4
TURNOVERS 2 0
FUMBLES 1 0
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 30:51 27:09
