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XFL Houston Roughnecks

Roughnecks Riding High with 3-0 Start

March 10, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
Houston Roughnecks News Release


The Houston Roughnecks coaching staff tells its players there are no ties on the goal line. You either win or you lose.

So when the San Antonio Brahmas offense lined up at the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter against Houston this past weekend, the Roughnecks defense didn't plan on losing. Houston was winning 22-13, but a nine-point game in the XFL is a one-score game. And the Brahmas, who lost Week 1 after being up 12 points with a few minutes to go, knew better than anyone that the next four plays were the ballgame.

Emmanuel Ellerbee and Tavante Beckett stonewalled a leaping Kalen Ballage on first down. Ballage's extension toward the goal line was short on second down and Jack Coan's quarterback sneak on third was stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey, setting up fourth down.

The crowd at TDECU Stadium stood on their feet as San Antonio lined up in the I-formation. Coan took the snap and handed the ball off to Ballage on a simple dive play. But the Roughnecks won nearly all the battles at the line of scrimmage. Ballage was met by a defender by the time he secured the football and by two more after he spun away from the first tackler.

The Roughnecks emerged from that goal-line stand like they have in every game so far: victorious.

"You don't see many better goal-line stands than that," said Houston head coach Wade Phillips, who began coaching in 1969. "In my whole career, I'd seen hardly any better than that."

Through the first three weeks of the season, only the Roughnecks and D.C. Defenders remain undefeated. In fact, the Houston franchise has never lost a game as it went 5-0 during the abbreviated 2020 season.

Through three weeks Houston has the league's top scoring offense and scoring defense with the offense having scored exactly double the points allowed by the defense.

"We put ourselves in a good situation but we worked for it," defensive back Sean Davis said. "We come out here each and every day, put the work in and we expect the same results. We're just trying to stack wins."

Playing in Phillips' classic 3-4 defense, Houston has held each opponent to 14 points or fewer.

Linebacker Trent Harris has been destructive in opponents' backfields, notching 4.5 sacks and six tackles for loss. Both are tops in the XFL. But he's had plenty of help. Lineman Tim Ward has three sacks and four tackles for loss. John Daka has four TFLs as well. Davis, who has two interceptions, leads the ball-hawking DB group that has combined for five picks.

And when the game is close, the defense bunkers down even more. Houston has allowed just six points after halftime in its last two games.

"Winning is always fun," Harris said. "But I think this group works hard to prepare the right way so hopefully we can keep going."

While the defense has been drawing the headlines, the Houston offense ranks second in the league in yards per game.

Quarterback Brandon Silvers has been the fulcrum of the group. The 28-year-old from Troy University is second in the league in passing yards and leads the league in completions of over 20 yards.

"He's really come along well," Phillips said. "He's a good quarterback in the first place, but I think he's learning the system, comfortable with it. He's very accurate as a passer and he's a very smart guy. I think he'll continue to get better and better."

Although there are still about two months to go before the XFL Championship Game, the Roughnecks are feeling confident about the way they are playing. But their eyes aren't looking into the horizon and missing the games in front of them, including Saturday's contest at winless Orlando.

Defensive back A.J. Hendy said the coaching staff has done a good job getting the team to buy into a day-by-day approach. They want to stack wins on top of each other, and so far they've been doing that.

"We've got a good group of guys," Hendy said. "Everybody is unselfish and wants to accomplish the goal of winning a championship. We don't shy away from that."

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