In a weekend filled with some underwhelming play across the board for the XFL, the Houston Roughnecks and St. Louis BattleHawks gave us a more entertaining duel in what was easily the best game of the weekend. The BattleHawks made a comeback attempt in the second half, but ultimately lost 28-24.
Houston Roughnecks Hold off St. Louis BattleHawks
First Quarter
The two teams both got off to a fast start in the first quarter, in contrast to the rest of the action (or lack thereof, at times) across the league this weekend. The Roughnecks struck first by getting a 44-yard field goal on their first drive from Sergio Castillo. Sammie Coates almost brought in a long touchdown pass from Phillip “PJ” Walker, but Coates had a foot out of bounds before he caught it.
Jordan Ta’amu and the BattleHawks eventually responded by going down the field and getting the first touchdown of the game. Matt Jones caught a screen pass and took it 26 yards to the house, making it 6-3 after a failed extra point try. However, Walker and company immediately responded by getting a touchdown of their own, with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Cam Phillips. Their own conversion attempt came up short barely when Walker dived for the end zone but got flipped around so that the ball never crossed the white marker, making it 9-6, which was what the score remained at the end of the first.
Second Quarter
The second quarter stated off with more stalled drives instead. However, that changed when Ta’amu broke his 7-for-7 completion start and threw an interception to safety Cody Brown, who took it down to the one-yard line. James Butler barely snuck it into the endzone on the very next play, and then Walker found Kahlil Lewis for a successful two-point conversion, making the score 17-6.
Ta’amu and the BattleHawks tried to drive the ball back down the field, but eventually they turned the ball over on downs whilst in field goal range. Walker and the Roughnecks drove it back down the field after that. Walker threw another touchdown to Cam Phillips, this time for nine yards, who did a great job of leaping and then getting his feet down. However, due to him taking his helmet off and getting a penalty for that, they had to try the point-after at the 17-yard line, which failed, leaving the score at 21-6. Ultimately, the Roughnecks shut out the BattleHawks in the second quarter.
Third Quarter
The BattleHawks finally broke out again to start the third quarter when Ta’amu led the team down for a six-minute drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown pass to De’Mornay Pierson-El. Ta’amu was sacked on the point-after, leaving the score at 21-12.
The BattleHawks kept the momentum going by getting a quick stop, and then leading another long drive down the field, thus keeping their offense on the field almost the entire third quarter. This second drive was capped off with Ta’amu taking it himself into the end zone for four yards, bringing the score to 21-18 after another failed point-after.
Fourth Quarter
The final quarter started with the Roughnecks pinning the BattleHawks down at the one-yard line, but they managed to escape with an excellent throw and catch from Ta’amu to Pierson-El on third down as the former was being pressured in his own end zone. However, Ta’amu eventually threw an interception to cornerback Jeremiah Johnson (on what was thought to be a free play via a controversial missed offsides call), who took it back down to the red zone.
Walker then eventually found Cam Phillips for a third touchdown, which was followed up by Walker taking it in himself for a one-point conversion, extending their lead back to 28-18. Despite this, the BattleHawks did get a late touchdown just after the two-minute warning off a short pass and quick move by L’Damian Washington that he took 36 yards to the house. The point-after failed, keeping it at 28-24. However, the BattleHawks were unable to stop the Roughnecks afterwards and the game ended there.
Closing Notes
PJ Walker had another strong game, going 20-for-31, 165 yards, and three touchdown passes. However, Cam Phillips was the breakout star with his hat trick, as he had eight catches for 63 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan Ta’amu was mostly solid as well for St. Louis, going 30-for-37 with four total touchdowns despite the two interceptions.
With the win, the Houston Roughnecks rise to 2-0, with the only other 2-0 team being the DC Defenders. The BattleHawks will fall to 1-1 after the loss.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
