Announcers: Tom Hart, Greg McElroy, Katie George, Cole Cubelic
The home side Renegades started former Ball State alum Drew Plitt at quarterback. After going unselected in the 2022 NFL Draft, Plitt participated in a Cincinnati Bengals minicamp, which led to a chance to play in the Bengals preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Plitt completed all six of his pass attempts for 76 yards and one touchdown to register a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Plitt was waived by the Bengals on August 23, 2022.
Arlington head coach Bob Stoops is hoping his quarterback room is healthier than in 2020 where his starter Landry Jones started the season injured. Meanwhile, backup quarterback Kyle Sloter is waiting in the wings.
Vegas Vipers head coach Ron Woodson put the fate of his offense on the experienced shoulders of Luis Perez. Perez was magical in 2020 with the New York Guardians, and he was money last season with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. Would he be able to do it today?
Arlington’s Taylor Russolino had the honours of kicking off to the Vipers who took over the ball at their own 31-yard line.
With his first drive of the day, Perez made good progress through the air, although the Arlington defense stopped their ground game. The varied air attack saw passes complete to Martavis Bryant, Geronimo Allison, Jeff Badet, and Cinque Sweeting. The drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Luis Perez to Jeff Badet. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Vegas opened the scoring 6-0 over Arlington.
After the kickoff, Drew Plitt took the field for Arlington. The Renegades came out running for a first down. When they took to the air for a 15-yard pass to Tyler Vaughns, he caught the ball on the sidelines. Dean Blandino in the command center ruled that the receiver had one foot inbounds. The drive eventually stalled and Arlington settled for a Taylor Russolino 38-yard field goal, making the score 6-3 for Vegas.
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Perez took over on his own 26-yard line. After two plays the first quarter ended with the score 6-3 Vegas over Arlington.
The first play of the second quarter saw Perez getting sacked for a loss of 11 yards. The Vipers were forced to punt from deep in their own end, but the return was bobbled and Arlington took possession on their own 37-yard line. Vegas returned the favor and put the rushing pressure on Arlington’s quarterback Drew Plitt who came out passing. The Vegas defense would not allow Arlington to convert a first down, and they were forced to punt.
Luis Perez’s drive stalled in the face of a stiffening Arlington defense. Carrizosa’s 56-yard punt went through the end zone for a touchback, letting Drew Plitt take over on the Arlington 35-yard line. Vegas forced a fumble on a third and two, but Arlington recovered the ball. Arlington was forced to punt. Marquette King punted out of bounds for a touchback.
With 6:59 left in the half, Luis Perez took over 1st & 10 on the Vegas 35. Passes to Jeff Badet for 12-yards, and a Bryant rush led to first downs. Finally a 39-yard pass found Jeff Badet, and he ran into the end zone for the Vegas touchdown. The two-point conversion pass to Brandon Dillon was successful. Score 14-3 for Vegas.
In their next drive, things were not going well for the Arlington Renegades as they were stuffed on 4th and one on the Vegas 44.
After the two-minute warning, Perez’s offense seemed to be having timing problems, suffering two false-start penalties. The drive was cut short and Vegas was forced to punt.
A good return by Joe Powell allowed Drew Plitt to take over on the Arlington 35. Drew Plitt came up throwing, with one completion to Sal Cannella, then threw an interception picked up by Vegas’s C.J. Avery.
Perez took over the ball. Jeff Badet caught a deep pass on the Arlington 5-yard line but Badet was called for offensive pass interference. Dean Blandino in the box confirmed the penalty. The Vegas field goal attempt by Bailey Giffen missed wide left. The score at half time was 14-3 for Vegas.
In the second half, Drew Plitt and the Arlington offense took over the ball on their own 27-yard line. Plitt engineered a drive, aided by a roughing the passer call, and moved the ball into Vegas territory. Vegas head coach Ron Woodson is vocal, and didn’tthink his team should be penalized.
With Drew Plitt moving the ball well, Max Roberts of the Vegas defense strip-sacked the ball from his hands. In the ensuing play, Perez threw a pick six to Tomasi Laulile who scored the major. The conversion was unsuccessful, making the score 14-9 for the Vegas Vipers.
The Vegas kickoff was returned 43-yards by Torrey to the Vegas 48-yard line. On the next play a fumble turned over the ball back to the Renegades. A review by Dean Blandino confirmed the ball was out.
Drew Plitt took over the ball and managed to put together a scoring drive with passes to Sal Canella and De’Veon Smith, and ending with a 32-yard field goal by Taylor Russolino. Score was now 14-12 for the Vipers.
In the next series Vegas went three and out. The punt was nearly blocked and forced punter Trent Carrizosa to carry the ball to the Vegas 35, short of the first down. Ron Woodson challenged the play, saying Arlington was offside. The sky box reviewed the play and the ruling on the field stood.
Arlington took over on the Vegas 35, and Drew Plitt immediately threw a pass to Jordan Smallwood on the Vegas 13. He then completed to Ellis for a 6-yard gain, and then incompleted passes to Brandon Arconado and twice to De-Veon Smith. Arlington was forced to a Taylor Russolino field goal, putting them ahead 15-14.
In the next series, Perez’s shovel pass was almost intercepted by Arlington, making for a long 3rd quarter for Vegas. Arlington’s Josh Hawkins pressuring Perez forced the Vipers to three and out. At the end of the third quarter Arlington was ahead 15-14.
At the beginning of the 4th quarter, Drew Plitt drove the ball to midfield but was sacked on third down forcing the punt. On the punt, a Vegas penalty made the down a 4th and two, and Drew Plitt was sent in to try for the first down. He successfully completed a pass to Vaughns to extend the drive. Plitt continued to engineer a drive that ended with a 4th down sack on the 2-yard line. A lengthy drive with no scoring for Arlington.
With 4:31 left in the game, and down by one point, Vegas has a long field ahead of them. On third down, Perez threw a pick six to De’Vante Bausby who easily scored the touchdown. The one-point conversion was good making the score 22-14 for the Arlington Renegades.
Vegas was down by 8 points with 4:03 remaining. Perez could not do much on the next drive, as Arlington’s defense came up big, sacking Perez twice. Vegas punted just before the two-minute warning.
Vegas was able to shelve Arlington’s ensuing drive, forcing a punt. Perez took over on the Vegas 40 yard line. A quick 40 yard pass to Cinque Sweeting put the ball on the Arlington 30, and then Perez completed another first down to Sexton. With 15-seconds remaining Perez was looking at 3rd and 10 on the Renegades 20. A touchdown pass to Cinque Sweeting made the score 22-20. Perez was sacked on the two point conversion attempt.
Down by two points with 2 seconds remaining, the Vegas Vipers did not opt for an onside kick, and instead opted to throw the Hail Mary pass, which was incomplete.
Final score was 22-20 Arlington over Vegas.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
Vipers 6 8 0 6 20
Renegades 3 0 12 7 22
------ Las Vegas Vipers ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Luis Perez 22/36 249 6.9 3 2 39 3 – 13
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Michael Carrizosa 1 2 2.0 0 2
John Lovett 4 10 2.5 0 6
Cinque Sweeting 2 6 3.0 0 5
DeAndre Torrey 3 6 2.0 0 6
Rod Smith 5 1 0.2 0 1
Team Total 15 25 1.7 0 6
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Cinque Sweeting 3 64 21.3 1 30 4
DeAndre Torrey 1 1 1.0 0 1 1
Mister Harriel 1 19 19.0 0 19 1
Jeff Badet 6 81 13.5 2 39 9
Rod Smith 2 7 3.5 0 6 2
Geronimo Allison3 22 7.3 0 10 4
Martavis Bryant 4 28 7.0 0 10 9
Mathew Sexton 2 27 13.5 0 18 5
Brandon Dillon 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Team Total 22 249 11.3 3 39 36
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
D.J. Calhoun 4 4 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.5 0 0 0
Deontay Anderson 5 1 5.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maximilian Roberts 2 1 2.5 1.0 - 6.0 1.0 0 1 0
LaRon Stokes 4 3 5.5 1.5 - 2.0 3.5 0 0 0
Marwin Evans 4 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jawuan Johnson 4 1 4.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
P.J. Dawson 1 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Vic Beasley 1 2 2.0 0.5 - 1.0 1.5 0 0 0
Jah'Sheem Martin 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Adam Sparks 4 1 4.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.5 0 0 0
Robert Windsor 2 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
C.J. Avery 4 3 5.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 1 0 0
Mister Harriel 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Keylon Kennedy 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Pita Taumoepenu 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Team Total 44 22 55.0 3.0 - 9.0 10.0 1 1 0
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
C.J. Avery 1 8 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Mathew Sexton 1 17 17.0 17 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
DeAndre Torrey 5 115 23.0 43 0
Cinque Sweeting 1 17 17.0 17 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Michael Carrizosa 5 219 43.8 0 0 70
------ Arlington Renegades ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Drew Plitt 19/25 172 6.9 0 1 22 3 - 9
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Deveon Smith 15 42 2.8 0 8
Drew Plitt 5 16 3.2 0 11
Keith Ford 9 24 2.7 0 9
Adrian Killins 2 1 0.5 0 4
TEAM TOTAL 31 83 2.7 0 11
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Tyler Vaughns 4 38 9.5 0 15 5
Brandon Arconado 3 32 10.7 0 17 5
Deveon Smith 2 15 7.5 0 9 3
Lujuan Winningham 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Jordan Smallwood 1 22 22.0 0 22 1
Sean Modster 1 -2 -2.0 0 -2 1
Sal Cannella 7 70 10.0 0 20 8
Nate Becker 1 -3 -3.0 0 -3 1
TEAM TOTAL 19 172 9.1 0 22 25
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Keith Ford 1 0 1
Drew Plitt 1 0 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Willie Taylor 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Davonte Lambert 1 1 1.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Aaron Adeoye 2 2 3.0 1.5 - 1.0 1.5 0 0 0
Colin Schooler 3 1 3.5 1.0 - 11.0 1.0 0 0 0
Shakur Brown 2 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
De Vante Bausby 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 1 0 0
T.J. Barnes 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Donald Payne 4 3 5.5 0.5 - 1.0 0.5 0 0 0
Jamal Carter 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 1 1
Joe Powell 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Keith Ford 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Clarke 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Josh Hawkins 4 2 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Will Hill 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tomasi Laulile 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Otaro Alaka 0 1 0.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 32 12 38.0 3.0 - 13.0 6.0 2 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
De Vante Bausby 1 6 1
Tomasi Laulile 1 22 1
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Joe Powell 3 29 9.7 23 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Adrian Killins 3 66 22.0 31 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Marquette King 3 113 37.7 0 0 46
------ Team Stats ------
VGS ARL
TOTAL PLAYS 54 59
TOTAL YARDS 261 246
YARDS PER PLAY 4.8 4.2
FIRST DOWNS 13 13
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 13 9
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 0 3
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 0 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 38.5% 28.6%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 25.0%
PASS COMPLETIONS 22 19
PASS ATTEMPTS 36 25
PASSES INTERCEPTED 2 1
YARDS PER PASS 10.7 8.6
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 3 0
SACK YARDS LOST 13 9
RUSH ATTEMPTS 15 31
YARDS PER RUSH 1.7 2.7
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
PENALTIES 8 4
TURNOVERS 3 1
FUMBLES 1 2
INTERCEPTIONS 2 1
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 2
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 25:58 34:02
