DC Defenders running back #23 Ryquell Armstead runs the ball against the St. Louis Battlehawks. (XFL Twitter)
St. Louis (0-2) at DC (2-0)
Sunday, March 5 at 1 p.m. ET
Audi Field, Washington, DC
Attendance: 16,212
Broadcaster: FX, ESPN+
Announcers: John Schriffen, Tom Luginbill, Storm Buonantony, Harry Douglas
Odds: DC -3, O/U 36.5, (DraftKings)
The Defenders kicked off and St. Louis got the ball first. A sturdy Defenders defense forced A.J. McCarron to go three and out.
Jordan Ta’amu took over and immediately aired it out to Chris Blair for a 57-yard reception. It was DC’s longest play of the season, and it set up the Defenders inside the St. Louis 5. A 7-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Wolf gave the Defenders a touchdown. On the 2-point conversion attempt Ethan Wolf put the ball in the end zone. DC quickly led the game 8-0.
St. Louis received the kickoff and took over at their own 29-yard line. McCarron tried to move the ball but on 2nd and 6 he was picked off by Michael Joseph who turned it into a pick six. The 2-point conversion failed. DC now led 14-0.
A.J. McCarron tried it again, this time starting from his 27-yard line. He made one first down, and then a 24 yard pass to Brian Hill put the ball on the DC 21. A pass to Austin Proehl got them 6-yards closer to the goal line. A six yard rush by Durant gave the Battlehawks a first down. Finally a pass to Brian Hill took the Battlehawks into the end zone. The 2-point conversion pass to Darius Shepherd was good, making the score 14-8 for DC. Now we had a game!
On the ensuing drive, an Armstead rush attempt was fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Battlehawks’ Ben Deluca on the DC 24. McCarron could not move the ball and the Battlehawks had to settle for a 53-yard Hageman field goal attempt, which was missed wide right.
DC took over the ball, however another fumble on an Armstead run appeared to turn the ball over. The officials on the field ruled Armstead was down before the ball came lose, but the Battlehawks challenged the ruling on the field. Dean Blandino reviewed the play and overturned the ruling, giving St. Louis the ball on their own 48-yard line.
A 20-yard pass to Shepherd took the ball to the DC 21.
At the end of the 1st quarter the score was 14-8 for the DC Defenders.
A fumble by Brian Hill gave the ball back to the DC Defenders on their own 4. Jordan Ta’amu ran for 14 yards to get the ball to their own 22 and a first down. However, Ta’amu could not move the ball any further and the Defenders were forced to punt.
A huge punt pushed the Battlehawks back to their own 26-yard line. A.J. McCarron was able to move the ball to the DC 45, chiefly relying on the running talents of Durant, but the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
D’Eriq King came in as the Defenders quarterback. St. Louis’s defence had Kings number, and he could not move the ball whatsoever. The Defenders had to punt. McCarron got the ball and also could not get a first down. The Battlehawks punted back to DC.
The Defenders stuck with D’Eriq King as quarterback. The Battlehawks defense feasted on King, sacking him deep on third down. On the punt, Austin Proehl had a nice return but an illegal block penalty brought the ball back.
At the two-minute warning McCarron had a first down on his own 33-yard line. McCarron kept the drive moving, throwing to Hakeem Butler for a 20-yard gain. McCarron kept going to Butler for more yards, and then completed a 21-yard pass to Butler on the DC 7. With 11 seconds remaining in the half a Brian Hill pass took the ball the Defender’s 1-yard line. Finally, a pass to Hakeem Butler in the end zone gave the Battlehawks the major. The 2-point conversion rush was stuffed, and the score was tied at 14 points apiece.
In the first half, DC led off quickly with 14 points, but the Battlehawks came back with 14 unanswered points to tie the game. At half time, the score was St. Louis 14, DC 14.
DC led off the third quarter with possession. Jordan Ta’amu was back in at quarterback. A 29-yard pass to Lucky Jackson gave the Defenders energy, however in the next series Ta’amu was pressured and appeared to not being able to move the ball any further. On 4th and 2, Ta’amu was able to hand to Smith for an 8-yard run and the first down. Matt McCrane kicked a 41-yard field goal to put DC ahead 17-14.
Battlehawks Darius Shepherd with a huge 72-yard kickoff return to the DC 25. A.J. McCarron tossed to a wide open Jake Sutherland for a 23-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was no good and the score was now 20-17 for St. Louis.
Ta’amu came in and engineered a drive. He managed two first downs before a 36-yard pass to Lucky Jackson at the St. Louis 20-yard line. Then, the Battlehawks defense came up strong, but Ta’amu was still able to connect to Josh Hammond on the DC 8-yard line for another first down. Afterward, two Ta’amu keepers gave the Defenders a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Lucky Jackson was good, giving the Defenders a 25-20 lead.
A.J McCarron was sacked on his own 27-yard line and the ball was stripped by Bellamy. DC’s Smith recovered the ball on the St. Louis 24. D’Eriq King came in at quarterback and could not move the ball.
At the end of the third quarter, DC led 25-20.
To lead off the 4th quarter a 35-yard field goal attempt by Matt McCrane was good. The DC lead was now 28-20.
A.J. McCarron and the Battlehawks faced a stiff DC defense and had to punt on 4th down. DC took possession on their own 33-yard line.
With Jordan Ta’amu back behind the ball, the Defenders were moving again. A 17-yard pass to Lucky Jackson took the ball to the St. Louis 38-yard line. A 10-yard rush by Armstead gave DC another first down. The Battlehawks defense seemed to be porous and the Defenders kept running. D’Eriq King was put in at quarterback and he managed a touchdown pass to Chris Blair in the end zone. The 2-point conversion was delayed because the fans were throwing lemons on the field. Finally, the conversion attempt was unsuccessful, making the score 34-20 for DC.
A.J. McCarron and the Battlehawks could not answer back and turned over the ball on downs. At the two-minute warning, DC was keeping the ball on the ground and looked to be running out the clock.
With 1:54 remaining, the Battlehawks defense forced DC to punt on 4th down. The punt went into the end zone for a touchback. McCarron took over on his own 35 and began with a 7-yard pass to Hakeem Butler. With the clock running down McCarron was sacked for a 7-yard loss.
A 13-yard pass to Hakeem Butler gave the Battlehawks a first down at midfield. Then, an 11-yard pass to Hill gave McCarron anther first down with 51 seconds remaining. The DC defense stiffened and the Battlehawks struggled to do much more. Finally a long pass from McCarron intended for Austin Proehl at the goal line was intercepted by Brice.
DC went into victory formation and attempted to run the clock, but Ta’amu fumbled the ball. McCarron was able to throw it to Mitchell for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Mitchell was good, making the score 34-28 for DC.
With 22 seconds remaining, the Battlehawks opted to try the 4th and 15 pass option. DC thwarted the Battlehawks comeback by sacking McCarron.
The game ended with undisciplined play.
Final score was DC Defenders 34, St. Louis Battlehawks 28.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
STL 8 6 6 8 28
DC 14 0 11 9 34
------ ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
A. J. McCarron 26/42 262 6.2 4 2 24 4 - 23
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Brian Hill 12 32 2.7 0 8
Mataeo Durant 3 18 6.0 0 7
A. J. McCarron 2 6 3.0 0 5
TEAM TOTAL 17 56 3.3 0 8
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Hakeem Butler 9 105 11.7 1 21 13
Darrius Shepherd 5 51 10.2 0 20 8
Brian Hill 4 49 12.3 1 24 4
Jake Sutherland 1 23 23.0 1 23 1
Steven Mitchell 3 17 5.7 1 8 4
Austin Proehl 2 12 6.0 0 6 3
Marcell Ateman 1 7 7.0 0 7 3
Jovani Haskins 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Mike Hampton 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Mataeo Durant 1 -2 -2.0 0 -2 2
TEAM TOTAL 26 262 10.1 4 24 40
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Brian Hill 1 1 0
A. J. McCarron 1 1 0
TEAM TOTAL 2 2 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Ben DeLuca 5 2 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 2
Willie Harvey 4 2 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 1 0
Tre Watson 5 1 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Carson Wells 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Travis Feeney 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kevin Atkins 2 1 3.0 1.0 - 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
Lukas Denis 3 0 3.0 1.0 - 3.0 1.0 0 0 0
Elorm Lumor 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Mike Rose 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
Lakiem Williams 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Chris Cooper 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Taniela Tupou 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Hampton 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 1 1
Silas Kelly 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Brandon Sebastian 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nate Meadors 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Freedom Akinmoladun 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 40 14 54.0 2.0 - 4.0 7.0 0 2 3
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Austin Proehl 3 15 5.0 9 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Darrius Shepherd 5 190 38.0 72 0
Steven Mitchell 1 21 21.0 21 0
TEAM TOTAL 6 211 35.2 72 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Sterling Hofrichter 4 149 37.3 0 2 39
------ DC DEFENDERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jordan Ta'amu 11/20 196 9.8 1 0 58 0 - 0
Deriq King 3/3 14 4.7 1 0 5 2 - 4
TEAM TOTAL 14/23 210 9.1 2 0 58 2 - 4
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Abram Smith 16 54 3.4 0 8
Ryquell Armstead 11 51 4.6 0 11
Jordan Ta'amu 10 22 2.2 1 14
Deriq King 2 9 4.5 0 5
TEAM TOTAL 39 136 3.5 1 14
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Lucky Jackson 4 89 22.3 0 36 7
Chris Blair 2 62 31.0 1 58 2
Josh Hammond 3 30 10.0 0 12 5
Abram Smith 3 16 5.3 0 6 4
Ethan Wolf 2 13 6.5 1 7 4
Deriq King 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 14 210 15.0 2 58 23
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Ryquell Armstead 2 2 0
Jordan Ta'amu 1 1 0
TEAM TOTAL 3 3 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Dejuan Neal 6 2 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 1
Kentrell Brice 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Reggie Northrup 3 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Francis Bernard 4 1 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 1 0
Davin Bellamy 2 3 5.0 2.0 - 11.0 2.0 0 1 0
Michael Joseph 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Santos Ramirez 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Anthony Hines 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Fadol Brown 1 1 2.0 0.5 - 2.5 1.0 0 0 0
Anthoula Kelly 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Andre Mintze 1 1 2.0 1.0 - 7.0 1.0 0 0 0
Joseph Wallace 1 1 2.0 0.5 - 2.5 2.0 0 0 0
Gabe Wright 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jarrell Owens 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 35 16 51.0 4.0 - 23.0 7.0 2 2 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Kentrell Brice 1 0 0
Michael Joseph 1 41 1
TEAM TOTAL 2 41 1
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Jequez Ezzard 2 2 1.0 4 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Jequez Ezzard 3 47 15.7 21 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Daniel Whelan 4 214 53.5 0 0 61
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS STL ORL
TOTAL PLAYS 63 64
TOTAL YARDS 295 342
YARDS PER PLAY 4.7 5.3
FIRST DOWNS 16 18
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 14 9
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 2 9
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 0 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 33.3% 46.2%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 100.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 239 206
PASS COMPLETIONS 26 14
PASS ATTEMPTS 42 23
PASSES INTERCEPTED 2 0
YARDS PER PASS 9.2 14.7
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 4 2
SACKS ALLOWED 4 2
SACK YARDS LOST 23 4
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 56 136
RUSH ATTEMPTS 17 39
YARDS PER RUSH 3.3 3.5
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
PENALTIES 3 2
TURNOVERS 4 3
FUMBLES 2 3
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 28:32 31:35
