Matthew McCrane’s third field goal, a 49-yarder with four seconds left, capped the D.C. Defenders’ late 11-point rally to defeat the host Arlington Renegades 29-28 on Saturday afternoon.
Arlington (0-3) led 28-18 on Taylor Russolino’s 49-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the game, but D.C. began its comeback with Cam’Ron Harris’ 1-yard touchdown run, plus the two-point conversion rush by quarterback Jordan Ta’amu, with 48 seconds to go.
Rathan than a traditional kickoff, the Defenders (2-1) opted to stage a do-or-die fourth-and-12 play from their own 28, and they converted on Ta’amu’s 19-yard completion to Ty Scott. The winning kick came three plays later.
McCrane earlier had field goals of 54 and 58 yards. Ta’amu completed 11 of 24 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Rowland and Brandon Smith had TD catches.
Renegades quarterback Luis Perez went 24 of 40 passing for 290 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores went to Tyler Vaughns (nine catches, 109 yards), and the other to J.P. Payton. Lindsey Scott Jr. rushed for a touchdown.
Stallions 33, Showboats 14
Adrian Martinez completed 18 of 28 passes for 334 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Birmingham marched by visiting Memphis.
Martinez also rushed for 44 yards and a score for the Stallions (3-0), who saw their lead cut to three, 15-12, when Matt Coghlin made a 34-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half.
But Birmingham dominated from there, outscoring the Showboats 18-2 the rest of the way. Case Cookus threw for 139 yards and a TD on 15-for-22 passing as Memphis (1-2) got 192 of its 212 yards of offense through the air.
–Field Level Media
