This was the second meeting this season between the Battlehawks and Vipers and a rematch of a Week 6 contest in Las Vegas that St. Louis won 29-6.
The St. Louis Battlehawks returned home The Dome at America’s Center, where they will complete the regular season with a three-game homestand. The home crows was massive and there was a good chance they would be able to buoy the Battlehawks to a win. Meanwhile, the Vegas Vipers, sit in fourth place in the XFL North Division and a win does not get them into playoff contention. With zero chances of making the playoffs they are playing for pride.
Vegas received the kickoff and Cinque Sweeting returned the ball 44-yards to the St. Louis 46. Vegas quarterback Jalan McClendon kept the ball on the ground, and rushed 8-yards himself to move the markers. After a pass was batted down, McClendon ran again for another first down on the St. Louis 28. McClendon handed to Lovett who ran 23 yards to the St. Louis 5, and then he handed to Lovett again who easily ran for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Bryant was good making the score 8-0 for Vegas.
The Battlehawks received the kickoff and St. Louis quarterback Nick Tiano took over on his own 22-yard line. With an 11-yard rush Tiano generated one first down, but the drive stalled and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
McClendon started his drive on the Vegas 8. A pass to Geronimo Allison was good for a 17-yard gain. Rod Smith rushed for 7-yards and then McClendon carried it for 9-yards to move the chains. Martavis Bryant was open down field but McClendon overthrew him. On 3rd down, a 12-yard pass to Mathew Sexton was good for another first down. Brian Burt rushed 14-yards to the St. Louis 24, and then Rod Smith ran to the 13-yard line. A pass to Smith took the ball to the St. Louis 1-yard line. A bad snap was recovered by McClendon but the Vipers found themselves pushed back to the 13-yard line.
At the end of the 1st quarter the score was 8-0 for Vegas.
On 3rd and 13 Sweeting ran for 8-yards. A Vegas penalty was tacked on and Sam Sloman attempted a 23-yard field goal which was good. The score was now 11-0 for Vegas.
St. Louis took the kickoff to their own 27-yard line. Tiano passed to Marcel Ateman for a 24-yard gain, and then Tiano ran 11-yards to move the markers to the Vegas 39-yard line. Tiano passed to Hakeem Butler in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was good when Nick Tiano ran the ball himself, spinning in the air over the goal line. The score was now 11-8 for Vegas.
Sweeting returned the kickoff for Vegas, however a holding penalty gave the Vipers the ball on their own 20. McClendon got the drive going by passing to Sexton for 7-yards and then ran the ball 8-yards himself. Rod Smith was good for a 9-yard rush and then a 7-yard pass. Brian Burt rushed for 6-yards and then 7-yards to move the chains to the St. Louis 32. On 3rd and 6 the St. Louis crowd got very loud, and then a McClendon pass intended for Dillon was picked off by Lavert Hill and returned to the Battlehawks 40-yard line.
The play was challenged by Vegas for illegal hands to the face and a penalty was issued. Vegas retained possession with a first down on the St. Louis 26-yard line.
On 3rd and 3 McClendon was sacked for a 6-yard loss and the Vipers settled for a 43-yard Sloman field goal attempt that missed wide right.
Tiano took over on the St. Louis 33. An 11-yard pass to Ateman moved the chains. At the two minute warning the Battlehawks were 3rd and 1 on the Vegas 42.
Tiano passed to Durant for a 12-yard gain and a 1st down. A holding penalty against St. Louis pushed the Battlehawks back 10-yards. A challenge by St. Louis head coach for illegal use of the helmet during a tackle of Tiano failed. On 1st and 20, Tiano passed to Shepherd for a 14-yard gain, and then passed to Austin Proehl for a first down on the Vegas 19. Tiano passed into the end zone to Proehl and was picked off by Marwin Evans who returned the ball to the Vegas 25.
With 0:44 remaining, McClendon passed to Bryant for a 37-yard gain. Brian Burt caught a pass and ran it for a 1st down at the St. Louis 28. Then, Burt carried it for 3-yards and the Vipers could do no more. A Sloman field goal attempt was good, but it was cancelled due to a St. Louis time out. On the next try Vegas attempted to fake the field goal and pass the ball, but they failed.
At half time the score was Vegas Vipers 11, St. Louis Battlehawks 8.
The Battlehawks took the kickoff in the 2nd half with Nick Tiano starting his drive on the St. Louis 30-yard line. On 3rd and 10, a 20-yard pass to Marcel Ateman at midfield moved the markers. A Brian Hill 14-yard rush gave the Battlehawks another first down, and then Tiano was sacked for a 9-yard loss. On 3rd and 11, Tiano rushed, but could only make 3-yards. A 47-yard Donald Hageman field goal attempt was wide left.
McClendon took the ball on his own 37-yard line. A Burt 13-yard rush moved the markers. McClendon seemed content to keep the ball on the ground, especially with the home crowd making plenty of noise. A five-yard penalty pushed them back, but a 10-yard rush by Rod Smith gained it back and more. On 3rd and 6 a pass to Burt was incomplete and the Vipers were forced to punt.
The punt went into the end zone and St. Louis automatically got the ball on their own 35-yard line. Tiano came out passing, but he could not connect with his receivers. St. Louis punted back to Vegas.
McClendon started on his own 32-yard line. On 3rd and 6 McClendon rushed 18-yards to take the ball past midfield.
No scoring in the 3rd quarter, and the score remained 11-8 for Vegas.
McClendon was sacked at midfield for a 5-yard loss, where he fumbled the ball, forced by Feeney and recovered by London.
Tiano made a first down with a pass to Shepherd. On an end zone pass attempt to Shepherd, Tiano was picked off by Vegas’s Maurice Smith to turn the ball back over to the Vipers.
McClendon started the Viper drive on the 35-yard line. The Battlehawks’ defense stiffened and Vegas went three and out.
St. Louis’s Proehl returned the punt to the Vegas 20-yard line. Handing to Brian Hill for 4-yards and then two short passes to Brian Hill gave the Battlehawks a first down. A handoff to Hill was fumbled and recovered by Vegas’s Avery on the St. Louis 27-yard line. The play was reviewed and the fumble recovery stood.
Jalan McClendon passed to Geronimo Allison who ran it into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown. The 1-point conversion failed making the score 17-8 for Vegas.
The Battlehawks got the ball on their own 32-yard line. Tiano went three and out, but on 4th down they faked the punt and Holfrichter passed to Gary Jennings for a 64-yard touchdown. The 3-point conversion attempt was no good and the score was narrowed to 17-14 for Vegas.
McClendon started on his own 30-yard line. On 3rd and 3 the crowd noise maxed out and Vegas had to call a time-out. The home-field advantage seemed to be affecting the proceedings, but McClendon countered by keeping the ball and running 8-yards to move the chains. On 3rd and 5, McClendon could not connect to Sweeting. At the two minute warning Vegas was preparing to punt.
On the punt, Vegas was penalized for a touchback, plus another 5-yard penalty giving St. Louis possession on their own 40-yard line. Tiano moved the ball with a 12-yard pass to Ateman, and then a 14-yard pass to Hill. A 9-yard reception to Hill was offset by a 5-yard false start penalty against St. Louis. Tiano ran the ball 12-yards to move the markers to the Vegas 18. With 0:24 left, Tiano’s pass to Darius Shepherd was incomplete when an Avery tackle knocked the ball lose. On 3rd and 10 a pass to Ateman was incomplete and St. Louis was forced to take a 34-yard Hageman field goal to tie the game 17-17.
With 0:11 left Hageman kicked the ball into the end zone to avoid any kick return. McClendon took the ball on the Vegas 35 and killed off the clock sending the game into overtime.
Vegas took the first try from the 5-yard line. McClendon passed to Sutton who ran it into the end zone. After review Dean Blandino ruled he was not in the end zone, negating the successful try.
Nick Tiano took a turn for the Battlehawks and passed to Hakeem Butler into the end zone for the successful try.
McClendon went back to the 5-yard line for another Vegas try. He connected a pass to Bryant in the end zone, but Bryant was called for offensive pass interference.
St. Louis had a final try where Brian Hill rushed for the successful try, winning the game.
The final score was St. Louis Battlehawks 21, Vegas Vipers 17.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 O F
VGS 8 3 0 6 0 17
STL 0 8 0 9 4 21
------ VEGAS VIPERS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jalan McClendon 13/23 159 6.9 1 0 39 2 - 11
Cam Sutton 0/1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 13/24 159 0.0 1 0 39 2 - 11
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Jalan McClendon 13 62 4.8 0 18
Brian Burt 9 57 6.3 0 14
Rod Smith 13 51 3.9 0 11
John Lovett 3 30 10.0 1 23
Cinque Sweeting 2 8 4.0 0 8
Mathew Sexton 1 8 8.0 0 8
TEAM TOTAL 41 216 0.0 1 23
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Geronimo Allison 2 44 22.0 1 27 3
Martavis Bryant 1 39 39.0 0 39 3
Mathew Sexton 3 27 9.0 0 12 6
Rod Smith 3 20 6.7 0 12 3
Brian Burt 2 18 9.0 0 10 3
Sean Price 1 7 7.0 0 7 1
Cam Sutton 1 4 4.0 0 4 2
Brandon Dillon 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
John Lovett 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Cinque Sweeting 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 13 159 0.0 1 39 24
Fumbles
TEAM TOTAL
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Jalan McClendon 2 1 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
C.J. Avery 4 3 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 1
Keylon Kennedy 4 1 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Cavon Walker 2 3 5.0 1.0 - 9.0 1.0 0 0 0
Deontay Anderson 3 1 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maurice Smith 2 2 4.0 0.5 - 1.5 0.0 1 0 0
Stephen Roberts 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Maximilian Roberts 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Bryant Jones 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jamar Summers 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaRon Stokes 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
D.J. Calhoun 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jah'Sheem Martin 0 2 2.0 0.5 - 1.5 0.0 0 0 0
Marwin Evans 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Jawuan Johnson 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kelvin Pinkney 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Pita Taumoepenu 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 1 0
TEAM TOTAL 27 20 47.0 2.0 - 12.0 5.0 2 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Marwin Evans 1 23 0
Maurice Smith 1 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 2 23 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Mathew Sexton 2 7 3.5 7 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Cinque Sweeting 2 51 25.5 44 0
Mathew Sexton 1 17 17.0 17 0
TEAM TOTAL 3 68 0.0 44 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Sam Sloman 1 2 50.0% 23
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Michael Carrizosa 3 133 44.3 0 0 50
------ ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Nick Tiano 19/34 194 5.7 1 2 32 2 - 12
Sterling Hofrichter 1/1 64 64.0 1 0 64 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 20/35 258 0.0 2 2 64 2 - 12
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Nick Tiano 8 51 6.4 0 12
Brian Hill 10 35 3.5 0 14
TEAM TOTAL 18 86 0.0 0 14
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Marcell Ateman 4 67 16.8 0 24 6
Gary Jennings 1 64 64.0 1 64 1
Brian Hill 6 37 6.2 0 14 7
Hakeem Butler 3 36 12.0 1 32 5
Darrius Shepherd 2 23 11.5 0 14 6
Austin Proehl 2 12 6.0 0 7 6
Mataeo Durant 1 12 12.0 0 12 1
Steven Mitchell 1 7 7.0 0 7 1
Jovani Haskins 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 20 258 0.0 2 64 34
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Brian Hill 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Willie Harvey 2 7 9.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Carson Wells 2 6 8.0 0.5 - 3.0 0.0 0 0 0
Travis Feeney 5 3 8.0 1.0 - 5.0 2.0 0 1 0
Chris Cooper 3 4 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tre Watson 3 3 6.0 0.5 - 3.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lakiem Williams 3 3 6.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Silas Kelly 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lukas Denis 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Gelen Robinson 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Hampton 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nate Meadors 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaCale London 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Freedom Akinmoladun 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Rose 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Brandon Sebastian 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Elijah Hamilton 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Taniela Tupou 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Kevin Atkins 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Manny Wilkins 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jonathan Alexander 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Elorm Lumor 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lavert Hill 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 27 50 77.0 2.0 - 11.0 5.0 0 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Lavert Hill 1 20 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Austin Proehl 1 3 3.0 3 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Darrius Shepherd 4 72 18.0 27 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Donald Hageman 1 2 50.0% 34
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Sterling Hofrichter 2 81 40.5 0 1 43
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS VGS STL
TOTAL PLAYS 66 55
TOTAL YARDS 356 332
YARD PER PLAY 5.4 6.0
FIRST DOWNS 21 15
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 7 11
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 13 4
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 1 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 41.7% 54.5%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 100.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 148 246
PASS COMPLETIONS 13 20
PASS ATTEMPTS 24 35
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 0 2
YARDS PER PASS 6.2 7.0
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 1 2
SACKS ALLOWED 2 2
SACK YARDS LOST 11 12
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 208 86
RUSH ATTEMPTS 40 18
YARDS PER RUSH 5.2 4.8
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 1 0
PENALTIES 8 6
TURNOVERS 1 3
FUMBLES 1 1
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 35:55 24:05
