CARSON – After Saturday’s games on the second week of the 2020 XFL season, The Dallas Renegades and Los Angeles Wildcats kicked off Sundays set of games. Dallas entered the game as six-point favorites and would earn a 25-18 victory over the Wildcats (0-2) at Dignity Health Sports Park.
After defense dominated the first half, things picked up in the fourth quarter. The final quarter would give the game a boost of energy as the Wildcats would drive down the field and capture momentum, scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 6-yard pass by Josh Johnson to Nelson Spruce. The Wildcats would go for a one-point conversion after the touchdown but came up short. With L.A. leading 9-6, Landry Jones and the Dallas offense would answer right back with a touchdown of their own after a 21 yard run from Cameron Artis-Payne. Payne would go on to score the one-point conversion as well giving Dallas the 13-9 lead.
After a three-and-out by the Wildcats, Dallas would begin to run away with the game, scoring another touchdown off a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Parham. A one-point conversion would be unsuccessful leaving the score 19-9 with under five minutes to play. Johnson and the Los Angeles offense would drive down the field and score after a 44-yard touchdown bomb as Johnson to Spruce connected again for his second score of the game.
The Wildcats would score the first 3-point conversion of the XFL, making it a 19-18 game. On what would be their last drive of the game, the Renegades drove down the field and a 17-yard score by Artis-Paynem would seal the 25-18 win. A last-minute comeback attempt by Johnson and the Wildcats would come up short as Dallas would secure their first win and Los Angeles would fall 0-2.
Artis-Payne would end the game with 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns while Jones threw for 305 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions during his XFL debut. Spruce ends the game as Los Angeles lone scorer, catching two touchdown passes from Josh Johnson.
“It’s not a secret, I didn’t play well today,” said Landry. “The thing I’m most proud of are those scrambles — I couldn’t believe it.”
UP NEXT:
The Renegades are now 1-1 on the season and will return to the field next Saturday when they face the Seattle Dragons (1-1) with a 2 p.m. CT kickoff from CenturyLink Field.
Around The League:
Seattle edges Tampa Bay 17-9: The Seattle Dragons picked up their first win of the season in front of an XFL-record 29,172 fans at CenturyLink Field thanks to a big second-half surge. The Dragons dominated both offense and defense as Brandon Silvers found Keenan Reynolds for the 68-yard score. The next Tampa drive, Marcell Frazier picked off the pass and returned it to the end zone for the touchdown.
“I couldn’t be more excited for our players because most of all players have never experienced the support like that stadium can give them,” Dragons Head Coach Jim Zorn said.
Defenders improve to 2-0: The DC Defenders continued to defend their home turf with a big 27-0 win over the New York Guardians at Audi Field on Saturday. Linebacker Jameer Thurman picked off a Matt McGloin pass and took it to the house. New York struggled to generate offense and that made things easier for DC.
