Sports stats



XFL XFL

XFL Play of the Week: XFL Championship

May 17, 2023 - XFL (XFL) News Release


SAN ANTONIO - Championship games call for championship moments. The Arlington Renegades defense provided three title-worthy interceptions during its 35-26 XFL Championship win Saturday over the D.C. Defenders.

All three stack up among the best turnovers of the 2023 season. But Brandon Rusnak's fourth-quarter interception off Defenders quarterback and XFL Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Ta'amu stands out for the sheer will and individual effort to make the play.

"Their backer made a great play on the ball," D.C. head coach Reggie Barlow said. "He jumped it, got his hand on it and stayed up in the air and he (made) a play. That was a big play by that young man."

One of the most important matchups of the game was Ta'amu against the Renegades defense. Ta'amu entered the game after a regular season of minimizing turnovers. He finished the regular season with only three interceptions in 229 attempts. That was the lowest number by any quarterback with more than 113 attempts.

But the Renegades defense was tops in the league in turnovers. Led by defensive back Joe Powell's four picks, Arlington had a league-high 13 interceptions for two touchdowns. The Renegades also had 10 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries.

"We knew we had to create turnovers, which is what we've been doing all season," linebacker Willie Taylor said. "We kept the pressure on them and just hit them in the mouth all game."

D.C. had first-and-10 at midfield about 75 seconds into the fourth quarter, down 12 points. The Defenders had five receivers spread wide, three to Ta'amu's left and two to his right.

Arlington lined up with two down linemen and two edge rushers standing up outside the tackles. Two safeties were deep and four defenders lined up across from four of the wide receivers.

The lone wideout to not be lined up against a defender was Chris Blair, in the near slot on the left side. Blair was D.C.'s third-leading receiver in catches and first in receiving yards during the regular season.

D.C. ran a play called "52 Squirrel Slants," which had squirrel routes for the two slot receivers on the left side of the play and slant routes on the right side. Squirrel routes are when a receiver fakes a slant and goes into a quick out route. As Greg McElroy explained on the ABC broadcast, they are a way to beat zone coverage.

But Rusnak, lined up as a linebacker on the play, had his eye on Blair. When Ta'amu received the snap and immediately turned to throw to Blair for a quick five-yard out, Rusnak sprinted to his right.

Renegades co-defensive coordinator Jay Hayes said the Arlington staff figured out what plays D.C. ran by formation and wanted to keep Ta'amu guessing by utilizing many disguises.

"We didn't want to show him what we were doing so that we could be able to cover everything," Hayes said.

Rusnak jumped the route and got his right hand on the bullet pass. He tipped the ball into the air, grabbed it again with his right hand and started dashing for the end zone.

If not for tripping over his own feet on the play, Rusnak might have been able to score.

Instead, he got up after tripping and kept going to get the ball to the Defenders 23-yard line.

"We usually start off throwing the short passes and the linebacker had a good jump on it, another great catch," Ta'amu said.

The interception was critical. It gave the Renegades great field position in Defenders territory. About four minutes later, Taylor Russolino kicked a 33-yard field goal to add some insurance to their double-digit lead.

Rusnak's pick was Ta'amu's second of a season-high three in the game. His first was in the second quarter when Will Hill tipped a pass and Powell made an athletic play to keep the ball from hitting the ground before snagging it.

The third pick basically ended the game. D.C. had cut the deficit to nine points with just over a minute left and went for a fourth-and-15 onside conversion alternative to try and continue the comeback.

But Arlington knew what was coming. The defensive staff knew the Defenders run dig routes when they try to go for first downs. Donald Payne tipped the pass and Cre'Von LeBlanc came down with an interception.

Earlier in the second half, LeBlanc had a premonition to tell Powell that when the time came, he was going to end the game.

"I told him I am going to seal that thang," LeBlanc said.

Seal it he did.

The celebration was on after that final interception and minutes later the team was lifting the XFL Championship trophy amidst a flurry of confetti.

"Defensively, we played that way all year. It just took us a while to get going to play complimentary football," Hayes said. "You get to the playoffs, that's all you need (is) a chance. All you have to do is keep winning. That's what we did."

Check out the XFL Statistics

• Discuss this story on the XFL message board...

XFL Stories from May 17, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central