Saturday, April 8: St. Louis Battlehawks 21, Vegas Vipers 17 (OT)
Twenty-eight games had been entered in the 2023 XFL books, none of them had gone overtime. In fact, none of the 20 games played back in 2020 needed the extra “shootout”-style session, either. For St. Louis and its 35,000-plus fans, it was worth the wait Saturday. The exciting victory put the Battlehawks (6-2) in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, setting up a pivotal game this Sunday against Seattle.
Star St. Louis QB A.J. McCarron, compromised by a sore shoulder, was kept on the shelf. The hope was the extra rest will have him ready to rock this weekend when a win would clinch a postseason berth. So, in the interim, riding to the rescue: Nick Tiano, who like McCarron, was briefly a Houston Texan. The 26-year-old Tennessee native would have his first crack at game action since college, and the crack would come in front of one of the three largest crowds in XFL history (all by the Battlehawks this season.)
Keeping in mind Vegas (2-6) had scored a mere six points in 60 minutes against St. Louis two weeks ago, this time, the Vipers banged in eight right away. John Lovett smashed in from 5 yards out to briefly quiet the Dome. The halftime score favored the visitors, 11-8, but a missed field goal and botched fake field goal had left six points in the trash bin for Vegas. (Those could have been useful later.)
“The fake field goal thing is on me,” said Vipers head coach Rod Woodson after the game. “This loss is on me. I take responsibility for two of them now, this one and when we should have been running the ball (late) against Seattle.”
The game went slightly off the rails in the second half. Early in the fourth quarter, Travis Feeney, as part of a three-man rush, popped the ball loose from Vegas QB Jalan McClendon. Western Illinois big man LaCale London caught the resulting pop fly at the Vipers 49-yard line. It became the 17th takeaway of the season by the ‘Hawks, most in the XFL.
However, a few plays later, Tiano gave it right back with an underthrow, picked in the end zone by Maurice Smith. (Noting that McCarron had thrown just four interceptions in seven games, that was Tiano’s second of the afternoon.)
Turnover tetherball would soon continue. Brian Hill, trying to turn the corner on a run play, was stripped of the ball by Pita Taumoepenu – Hill’s third fumble of the season, not something he needed NFL scouts to see. Vegas took over at its the St. Louis 27 with 7:50 left, and quickly got in the end zone against a bevy of Battlehawks backups – with Ben DeLuca, Mike Rose, Nate Meadors and Jonathan Alexander all out, a screen to Geronimo Allison went for an easy 27-yard score. A failed conversion froze the scoreboard at 17-8.
Yeah, 8. Vegas’ defense has figured some things out. Only two offensive touchdowns allowed since the last St. Louis game in Week 6. But, how about a special teams touchdown allowed? At a critical time no less.
With 4:55 remaining, St. Louis’ Gary Jennings, the fastest man in the league by some accounts, scooted 64 yards on a gloriously designed fake punt. Steven Mitchell’s late block at the 20 got him the final patch of turf he needed, and the 35,000 fans went flat-out berserk. The 3-point conversion to potentially tie it wasn’t nearly as well executed so the ‘Hawks were still down, 17-14. (Note: Sterling Hofrichter – the punter – gets credit for the touchdown pass simply by having lobbed it to Jennings, who looked like he was standing in the middle of a farm in rural Saskatchewan.)
Vegas looked to run out the final five minutes, but the Vipers’ run game hasn’t exactly been a locomotive this year. Closer to a Big Wheel. McClendon – with all of three starts since his senior year of high school eight years ago – became the money man with the football.
Seven of the Vipers’ 21 first downs for the afternoon were rushes by McClendon, and one with three minutes remaining looked like it may be enough for the Vipers to keep that clock burning precious seconds. But with 2:07 left, a third-down crossing route that would have all but sealed the game resulted in a drop by Cinque Sweeting. Instead of running out the clock from there, the Vipers had to punt. (Jeff Badet missing the game with a bad hamstring ended up being a big deal for Vegas, for sure.)
A touchback on the resulting punt had already gifted the home team a 35-yard line start but an illegal man downfield call made it a 40-yard-line start. The thought bubble above the head of Coach Anthony Becht: Get the ball 20 more yards downfield; you’ve got the big-legged Donny Hageman ready to kick that tying field goal. On third-and-8, Tiano drilled one to Marcell Ateman – first down at the Vegas 46. A screen to Hill moved the ball to the Vegas 32. Another completion to Hill took it even closer, to the 23.
With 32 seconds left, a Battlehawks false start was a potential killer. Fortunately for Becht, he had a timeout he could take to avoid the 10-second runoff. Tiano crawled up the middle on a draw to work it to the 16. A crossing route to Darrius Shepherd seemed to be completed but C.J. Avery destroyed the defenseless Shepherd, jarring the ball loose. On third down, still down three points and out of timeouts, Ateman almost came up with a terrific one-hand catch at the goal line, but when the ball was stripped away, it was “settle for a tie” time.
A 34-yard field goal by Hageman made up for an earlier miss from 47 and indeed sent the game to overtime. (Which in XFL play, is basically a World Cup soccer shootout but with each team getting three tries from the 5-yard line instead of five tries from the 12-yard penalty spot.) Here’s the shootout transcript:
Vegas1: Tight end Cam Sutton barely across the goal line on a slant. Two points. Or was it? Dean Blandino in the command center looked at it and said no, Jeremy Piven from “Old School”-style. (“I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”)
St. Louis1: Tiano to Hakeem Butler. Two points. No Jeremy Piven. 19-17, Battlehawks.
Vegas2: McClendon to Martavis Bryant. Two points. Or was it? Offensive pass interference. Piven. Still 19-17, Battlehawks.
St. Louis2: After an unsportsmanlike conduct call arguing the Bryant penalty, the ‘Hawks were able to go from the 2½ as opposed to the 5. Hill up the middle. Ballgame. 21-17, Battlehawks.
The king of the fourth-quarter comebacks had been crowned in OT this time instead. A season-saving win to get to 6-2 and set up a serious showdown with Seattle.
