In the opening series, Vegas quarterback Brett Hundley couldn’t hang on to the ball and fumbled. The Defenders recovered.
DC wasted no time in taking advantage of the turnover. D’Eriq King easily ran into the end zone for a Defenders touchdown. The 2-point conversion attempt failed making the Score 6-0 for the DC Defenders.
With the ball back, Brett Hundley put together a decent drive. However, Vegas had to settle for a Bailey Giffen field goal attempt which was wide.
Matt McCrane attempted a 47-yard field goal and missed. The score remained 6-0 for DC.
Quarterback Luis Perez came in for Vegas. He passed to Jeff Badet for a 21-yard gain and then handed to John Lovett for a 17-yard run. Vegas’s drive stalled and they settled for a Bailey Giffen 37-yard field goal attempt, which he hit. The score was now 6-3 for DC.
At the end of the first quarter the score was 6-3 for the DC Defenders.
Jordan Ta’amu drove the ball from his own 28. A 19-yard pass to Lucky Jackson moved the chains, and then an 11-yard pass to Ellis provided another first down. Ta’amu ran the ball himself for another first down, then a 17-yard pass to Chris Blair put the ball on the Vegas 3-yard line. D’Eriq King entered the game but was sacked for a 5-yard loss. After a short pass to Abram Smith, King ran the ball into the end zone for the DC major. That was the second touchdown of the day for King.
The two-point conversion pass to Chris Blair was good, making the score 14-3 for the Defenders.
Vegas kept going with Luis Perez as quarterback. Perez passed to Jeff Badet for a 14-yard gain. On 4th and 1, Perez handed to DeAndre Torrey for a 6-yard run and a first down. A 12-yard pass to Mathew Sexton moved the chains again. With 1st and 10 on the DC 17, Perez passed incomplete to Jeff Badet in the end zone, and then a pass to Cinque Sweeting was also no good. Vegas settled for a Bailey Giffen 33-yard field goal to make the score 14-6 for the Defenders.
DC took the ball on their own 29-yard line and Ta’amu went three and out. Vegas returned the punt to their own 28. Vegas stuck with Perez, and he handed to John Lovett for a 7-yard rush. A handoff to Jeff Badet was fumbled, but Vegas recovered the ball for a 5-yard loss.
At the two minute warning Vegas was 3rd and 8 on their own 30-yard line.
Vegas’s John Lovett caught an 11-yard pass, and then ran 3-yards to make the 1st down on the next play. A 16-yard pass to Martavis Bryant was followed by a 24-yard pass to Brandon Dillon on the DC 16-yard line. With 16-seconds remaining, Perez completed a short pass to Badet, but flags flew. The penalty was against DC and Perez had a first and goal situation. Perez rushed the ball 5-yards for the touchdown. The command center reviewed the play and ruled Perez was down on the half-yard line.
A 10-second runoff was applied and the Vipers had run out of time.
At half time, the DC Defenders led 14-6 over the Vipers.
DC took the kickoff in the second half, but the ball was fumbled on the return and Vegas took over on the DC 17-yard line. Unfortunately, Vegas could not move the ball and turned the ball over on 4th down. Jordan Ta’amu responded with a 49-yard quarterback keeper to the Vegas 33-yard line. On 4th and 1 Abram Smith rushed 5 yards to move the chains. On first and goal from the Vegas 6-yard line, D’Eriq King made 1 yard. On 2nd down, Ryquell Armstead made a 3-yard gain. On 3rd down, King was stuffed for no gain. The Defenders settled for a Matt McCrane 20-yard field goal to make the score 17-6 for DC.
Vegas took the ball on their own 15 and could not move the ball, despite a confirmed defensive pass interference infraction which was not called or challenged. The Vipers punted and DC’s Ezzard returned the ball to the DC 40.
Jordan Ta’amu connected with Chris Blair for a 38-yard pass. On 4th and 5, DC settled for a 35-yard Matt McCrane field goal.
The Vipers fielded the ball on their own 26 yard line. A 15-yard pass to Jeff Badet was followed by a 6-yard pass to Mathew Sexton. Another pass to Badet took the ball to the DC 40.
At the end of the third quarter the score was 20-6 for DC.
Luis Perez connected with Cinque Sweeting for a 26-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed, but Vegas had closed DC’s lead to 20-12.
Jordan Ta’amu got the ball on his own 21-yard line. A holding penalty sent them backward. Then, Ta’amu was stripped of the ball but Vegas could not recover it. Ta’amu got out of trouble by completing a 16-yard pass to Chris Blair for a first down. On 3rd and short, Ta’amu rushed 7 yards to move the chains. A Vegas unnecessary roughness penalty took the ball to the Vegas 34-yard line. Armstead had a 12-yard run to the Vegas 9-yard line but limped off the field afterward. On 3rd and 10 Abram Smith was stopped short. DC settled for a Matt McCrane 26-yard field goal to increase DC’s lead to 23-12.
Cinque Sweeting returned the kickoff to the Vegas 30. A pass down field intended for Cinque Sweeting was intercepted by Ramirez when Sweeting slipped on the field.
With about 5 minutes remaining, DC clearly intended to kill the clock by running the ball. Abram Smith ran the ball for one first down, but was unsuccessful on 3rd down. On 4th and 2 on the Vegas 32, D’Eriq King passed 32-yards to Jequez Ezzard for the major. The 2-point conversion attempt was incomplete, making the score 29-12 for DC.
Perez had another chance to score. Before the 2-minute warning, Perez passed to Cinque Sweeting in the end zone, but the ball was tipped. Sweeting caught it anyway, but his toes were out of bounds.
After the two-minute warning, Luis Perez went back to Cinque Sweeting for a 25-yard touchdown. On the 3-point conversion attempt the Defenders were called on offside, however the attempt was reattempted and it failed. The score was now 29-18 for DC.
With 1:55 on the clock, the Vegas Vipers opted for a 4th and 15 attempt instead of an onside kick. Perez was sacked, giving DC the ball.
Vegas still had two time outs as DC again attempted to run out the clock. Penalties slowed down the proceedings. With 47 seconds remaining DC increased their score with a Matt McCrane 23-yard field goal.
Vegas attempted to score, but the clock ran out.
The final score was DC Defenders 32, Vegas Vipers 18.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
VGS 3 3 0 12 18
DC 6 8 6 12 32
------ VEGAS VIPERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Luis Perez 23/32 283 8.8 2 1 26 1 - 4
Brett Hundley 4/5 50 10.0 0 0 23 1 - 6
TEAM TOTAL 27/37 333 9.0 2 1 26 2 - 10
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
John Lovett 7 39 5.6 0 17
Rod Smith 5 23 4.6 0 15
Luis Perez 1 4 4.0 0 4
DeAndre Torrey 2 3 1.5 0 6
Jeff Badet 3 2 0.7 0 5
Brett Hundley 2 0 0.0 0 3
TEAM TOTAL 20 71 3.5 0 17
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Jeff Badet 7 80 11.4 0 21 9
Cinque Sweeting 3 65 21.7 2 26 6
Brandon Dillon 3 47 15.7 0 24 3
Martavis Bryant 3 43 14.3 0 23 4
Mathew Sexton 4 33 8.3 0 12 5
Rod Smith 3 30 10.0 0 14 3
John Lovett 2 22 11.0 0 11 3
DeAndre Torrey 1 7 7.0 0 7 1
Brian Burt 1 6 6.0 0 6 1
Maximilian Roberts 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 27 333 12.3 2 26 36
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Brett Hundley 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Deontay Anderson 8 0 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Adam Sparks 8 0 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Marwin Evans 7 0 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
C.J. Avery 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
P.J. Dawson 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaRon Stokes 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Pita Taumoepenu 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Vic Beasley 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Jah'Sheem Martin 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Maximilian Roberts 2 0 2.0 1.0 - 5.0 1.0 0 0 0
Robert Windsor 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nijuel Hill 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jawuan Johnson 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bryant Jones 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
DeAndre Torrey 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
D.J. Calhoun 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 50 0 50.0 1.0 - 5.0 8.0 0 0 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Cinque Sweeting 1 5 5.0 5 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
DeAndre Torrey 6 136 22.7 44 0
Cinque Sweeting 1 13 13.0 13 0
TEAM TOTAL 7 149 21.3 44 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Michael Carrizosa 1 48 48.0 0 0 48
------ DC DEFENDERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jordan Ta'amu 14/19 177 9.3 0 0 38 0 - 0
Deriq King 2/2 38 19.0 1 0 32 1 - 5
TEAM TOTAL 16/21 215 10.2 1 0 38 1 - 5
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jordan Ta'amu 9 89 9.9 0 49
Abram Smith 22 58 2.6 0 11
Ryquell Armstead 4 18 4.5 0 12
Deriq King 4 8 2.0 2 5
TEAM TOTAL 39 173 4.4 2 49
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Chris Blair 4 84 21.0 0 38 4
Lucky Jackson 4 65 16.3 0 36 6
Jequez Ezzard 1 32 32.0 1 32 1
Josh Hammond 5 17 3.4 0 7 5
Alex Ellis 1 11 11.0 0 11 1
Abram Smith 1 6 6.0 0 6 2
Ryquell Armstead 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Josh Malone 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 16 215 13.4 1 38 21
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Jequez Ezzard 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Anthoula Kelly 7 0 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jamal Brooks 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Santos Ramirez 5 0 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 1 0 0
Kentrell Brice 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Fadol Brown 3 0 3.0 1.0 - 6.0 2.0 0 0 0
Anthony Hines 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Reggie Northrup 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
K.J. Sails 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Michael Joseph 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jarrell Owens 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jacub Panasiuk 1 1 2.0 0.5 - 2.0 1.0 0 0 0
Malik Fisher 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Andre Mintze 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Dejuan Neal 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Joseph Wallace 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Caraun Reid 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Davin Bellamy 0 1 1.0 0.5 - 2.0 1.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 44 2 46.0 2.0 - 10.0 7.0 1 0 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Santos Ramirez 1 7 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Jequez Ezzard 1 13 13.0 13 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Jequez Ezzard 3 37 12.3 17 0
K.J. Sails 1 10 10.0 10 0
TEAM TOTAL 4 47 11.8 17 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Daniel Whelan 1 45 45.0 0 0 45
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS VGS DC
TOTAL PLAYS 59 61
TOTAL YARDS 394 383
YARDS PER PLAY 6.7 6.3
FIRST DOWNS 20 23
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 15 9
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 5 10
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 0 4
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 30.0% 27.3%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 50.0% 100.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 323 210
PASS COMPLETIONS 27 16
PASS ATTEMPTS 37 21
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 1 0
YARDS PER PASS 8.7 10.0
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2 1
SACKS ALLOWED 2 1
SACK YARDS LOST 10 5
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 71 173
RUSH ATTEMPTS 20 39
YARDS PER RUSH 3.5 4.4
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 2
PENALTIES 11 6
TURNOVERS 2 1
FUMBLES 1 1
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 27:35 31:34
