Saturday, March 25: St. Louis Battlehawks 29, Vegas Vipers 6
As Gonzaga and UConn were getting set to “Duke” it out three miles away for a trip to the Final Four, the Battlehawks and Vipers were mixing it up at Cashman Field. Vegas (1-5), which has not been bad at all offensively of late, was shut out through 53 minutes in front of its home crowd. St. Louis (4-2), notorious slow starters, had bolted out to a 17-0 halftime lead. From there, it was cruise control. Ballhawking Battlehawk Lavert Hill had a pair of picks (his first two of the year), A.J. McCarron threw for 236 yards, and the rout was on as the sun began to set in the desert.
The former Cincinnati Bengal McCarron had begun his day 0-for-3 (including two drops) but then ziplined 19 straight completions. His halftime numbers included two touchdowns (to Gary Jennings and Darrius Shepherd) to go with 166 yards.
With the communications systems from the sidelines briefly on the fritz, McCarron navigated the rocky chop, handing to Kareem Walker for a short touchdown run. Walker was stopped on the conversion attempt by Maximilian Roberts (having a tremendous year for Vegas).
“It was chaos, since I couldn’t get (offensive coordinator) Bruce (Gradkowski)’s calls,” McCarron told the television sideline reporter, Ian Fitzsimmons. “In fact, I think I was hearing our defensive calls for a little instead of Bruce’s. I just didn’t know what to make of any of it.” Life gets weird sometimes, huh?
The combination of Luis Perez and Jeff Badet had been toxic for opposing defenses these last several weeks. Badet, a veteran of the XFL 2.0 and USFL, had to be tying the lobster bib around his neck getting ready to feast on a St. Louis defense that was without both Ben DeLuca and Mike Hampton. Considering Perez had thrown for 552 yards with 5 touchdowns during the past two weeks, and Vegas had scored 35 points the previous week, there was an obvious thought the Vipers could pile up some points. Instead, Perez was yanked late in the third quarter in favor of Brett Hundley, who eventually helped deliver the team’s only touchdown, a 17-yard catch-and-run by John Lovett.
Defensively, Vipers linebacker Pita Taumoepenu continues to make his mark. After two sacks in Week 5 he added two more in Week 6. Not bad for a guy who hadn’t even watched football, let alone played it until his senior year of high school. Having moved to the Dallas area from Tonga, he was swept up in Cowboys fever, and ultimately decided he wanted to play “whatever position that long-haired guy from Green Bay plays.” (Former USC Trojan great Clay Matthews.) He began playing that position quite well in college, albeit for one of USC’s rivals, the University of Utah. He’s been in the NFL already with the Falcons, Seahawks, Cardinals and 49ers and sure looks ready for a triumphant return.
The Battlehawks were much better defensively in Week 6 than in Week 5, when D.C. gashed them for 248 yards on the ground. Defensive coordinator Donnie Abraham is a respected, veteran voice in the locker room (and, by the way, is featured on this week’s XFL Week In Review podcast). His guys were flying to the ball all afternoon, allowing a season-low 43 rushing yards and tackling ferociously in the secondary on pass plays. DB Nate Meadors had eight tackles, including a season-high seven solos.
“We’re a deep team defensively,” Abraham said. “Whenever we get into ‘next man up,’ we know we’re going to be just fine.”
The toughest remaining challenge on the schedule for St. Louis appears to be next weekend with a road game in Houston. Three straight home games follow to close the regular season, including a potential postseason decider against Seattle in Week 9.
