Guardians' Rally Falls Short Against Vegas
March 18, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
Orlando Guardians News Release
LAS VEGAS - The Orlando Guardians scored a season-high five touchdowns, but still fell short as the Vipers defeated the Guardians 35-32 Saturday night at Cashman Field.
Orlando scored on its opening possession, marching 67 yards in 13 plays. Quinton Flowers capped the drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak. A successful one-point conversion run by Jah-Maine Martin put the Guardians on top 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Vegas answered with a touchdown drive of its own with under three minutes left in the first quarter when Luis Perez located Jeff Badet for a 35-yard strike. Perez connected with running back Rod Smith for a 2-point conversion to put the Vipers up, 8-7.
Vegas added nine points in the second quarter. Perez found Sean Price for a 3-yard touchdown before a 39-yard field goal extended the Vegas lead to 17-7.
With 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter, quarterback Quinten Dormady fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Charleston Rambo to cut Orlando's deficit to 17-13 going into halftime.
Vegas put together a 53-yard drive on nine plays to open the third quarter, with Smith scoring a one-yard rushing touchdown to put the Vipers up 23-13. The Guardians responded less than five minutes later with a Martin 2-yard run that pulled Orlando within four, 23-19.
The Vipers struck fast early in the fourth quarter, with Smith finding the end zone for another one-yard rush that extended the Vegas lead to 29-19. But the Guardians went 73-yards on six plays and scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Devin Darrington. A one-point conversion run from Darrington slashed the Orlando deficit to 29-26.
Vegas and Orlando continued to trade blows in the fourth quarter, with Vegas extending their lead to 35-26 off a 25-yard pass from Perez to Badet. Orlando responded with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Dormady to Cody Latimer with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter to pull the Guardians within three, 35-32. A 3-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game was just out of reach of tight end Logan Carter on a pass from Dormady.
The Guardians elected to go for a 4th-and-15 from their own 25 to retain possession, but failed to convert. But the Orlando defense held Vegas to a four-and-out, giving the offense another chance, but a sack and two penalties ended the contest.
Quinten Dormady was 22-of-25 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Perez finished the contest with 269 passing yards, completing 20 of 28 throws.
ORLANDO GUARDIANS POSTGAME NOTES
Quinten Dormady was 22-of-25 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns
Cody Latimer caught eight passes for a season-high 124 yards, including a 45-yard TD catch from Dormady in the fourth quarter
Dormady registered a season-high 22 completions
Paxton Lynch was 5-of-9 passing for 47 yards; also rushed for 16 yards on four carries
Running back Jah-Maine Martin led the team in rushing with nine carries for 36 yards and one touchdown
Caeveon Patton led the Guardians with 11 total tackles, while Terrance Plummer, Terrance Smith and Najeem Hosein each tallied seven
Devin Darrington registered six carries for 17 yards and one touchdown
Charleston Rambo and Lance Lenoir recorded five receptions each for 61 yards and 41 yards, respectively
Terrance Smith, Trevon Sanders and Jacoby Jones all registered one tackle for loss
Quinton Flowers scored his first touchdown with the Guardians, a one-yard rushing TD in the first quarter
Orlando scored a season-high five touchdowns
The 35-32 score marked the most combined points in an XFL game this season
Guardians recorded a season-high 364 yards of total offense
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