DC Defenders Sweep Arlington Renegades In UFL Thriller, 33-30

The sole matchup on the UFL Sunday slate featured the Arlington Renegades (3-4) heading up to the nation’s capital to visit the DC Defenders (5-2) at Audi Field for their second head-to-head matchup of the season.

In the first meeting of 2025, the Defenders ousted Arlington in a Texas shootout, 37-33.

Major playoff implications in this matchup, as DC can clinch a playoff berth with a win on Sunday, while the Renegades would be eliminated with a loss. If Arlington wins, the XFL conference remains wide-open and we could see a photo-finish between St. Louis, DC, and Arlington.

Arlington and DC is always prime entertainment, as the last three score lines have been 37-33, 32-31, and 29-28.

Game Flow

After a quick three and out to start the game, the Renegades were forced to punt the ball to DC, but quickly retained possession after Chris Rowland fumbled the return and long snapper Antonio Ortiz recovered.

Arlington was able to turn the early turnover into points, courtesy of a Lucas Havrisik 30-yard field goal.

With the Defenders offense taking the field for the first time, they wasted no time finding the end zone as Deon Jackson scampered for an explosive 57-yard rushing touchdown. Jackson’s rush is the longest Defenders rushing play of the season. 

Due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Arlington following the touchdown, the Defenders went for a three-point conversion attempt following the touchdown and were successful on another rush from Jackson.

The Defenders pass-rush has been dominant this season against opposing offensive lines, and Sunday afternoon against Arlington was no different. On the ensuing drive, Malik Fisher led the pass-rush into Perez’s lap as Fisher popped the ball loose and DC recovered to regain possession.

Recently acquired Washington Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel made an appearance at Audi Field for the game, mentioning his bond with Renegades wide receiver Isaiah Winstead.

After back to back punts by each offense, the Defenders were able to recapture their groove as running back Abram Smith carried the rock into the end zone from six-yards away. DC led 15-3 after failing to convert the two-point attempt.

Through almost two years of the UFL’s super challenge, we may have finally seen the wackiest use of it during this matchup between Arlington and DC. Due to the massive amount of “stuff” going on during the play, this video will break it down best:

Tyler Vaughns is always a point of discussion when analyzing this specific matchup, mainly due to his extreme success against DC. Sunday was no exception, as Vaughns was continuously targeted for back-shoulder passes throughout the game, and came down with a 23-yard touchdown strike from Perez to quiet the DC crowd. Vaughns also converted the two-point attempt, shortening the DC lead to 15-11.

The second quarter continued to be action packed, as UFL MVP favorite Jordan Ta’amu led DC down the field and into the red zone. On a third and goal, we saw offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss “in his bag”, as the double pass from Ta’amu to Rowland back to Ta’amu resulted in a jaw-dropping Defenders touchdown to extend the lead back to two possessions over Arlington.

Arlington was not backing down with playoff hopes on the line. Tyler Vaughns was a key part of the fight. Perez remained patient in the pocket on the next drive, leading Arlington into the red zone and finding Vaughns in the back of the end zone with a one-handed snag for their second touchdown connection of the game.

With the Defenders working their two-minute offense, they were unable to find any rhythm, moving the game into halftime with the Defenders leading the Renegades, 21-17.

As DC started the second half with possession, the offense was determined to find points, as Ta’amu led an impressive drive and found Cornell Powell for a four-yard touchdown.

Midway through the third quarter, Arlington began to pick up serious momentum. Arlington found points on their next drive as well, but with another Lucas Havrisik field goal, this time from 54-yards away.

After forcing a Defenders punt, the Renegades drove down the field and converted another field goal from Havrisik, minimizing the Defenders lead to 27-23 over Arlington.

DC was finally able to put a halt to Arlington’s hot streak, as they regained possession and Ta’amu found Powell on third and goal for their second touchdown connection of the game.

Down ten points with less than eight minutes remaining, the Renegades were now in do-or-die mode. Perez found holes in the Defenders secondary all day, finding the mismatches and exploiting them. He did the same on this important drive, placing Arlington at the goal line and letting backup Holton Ahlers do the rest on a one-yard QB sneak touchdown. Arlington’s one point attempt was successful from Perez to Cannella, making it just a field goal margin 33-30.

After another stop from Arlington’s defense, the Renegades found themselves with a chance to tie, or win the game in DC with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

Luis Perez and the Renegades pushed the ball into Havrisik field goal range with just under ten seconds left in the game. Due to a penalty call, the runoff of the clock was set to occur and Arlington was forced to make a decision. Spike the ball and have Havrisik try a 50-yard field goal, or attempt to move up a few yards and get out of bounds since Arlington had zero timeouts remaining. Perez took matters into his own hands and decided to try the quick out to Vaughns, but former NFL first round pick Deandre Baker read it the entire way and jumped the out to ice the game for DC, and clinch a UFL playoff berth.

Final Thoughts

Another all-time spring football classic between these two teams. The rivalry from the 2023 XFL Championship is still clearly alive, as both teams have retained a good majority of their rosters since that time. 

After a season sweep of Arlington, the Defenders will now shift focus on the final two weeks with Houston and St. Louis on the horizon. Week 10 will be a XFL Conference Championship preview, but will be in DC as opposed to the predetermined St. Louis home site for the Championship game, which was officially announced postgame.

Arlington will now have the opportunity to begin planning for next season by potentially elevating players who have not seen much time this season. Will this be the end of Perez in spring football? Does Bob Stoops stay for another season? Many questions to be answered in Arlington.

What are your thoughts on this matchup between the DC Defenders and Arlington Renegades? Which UFL players impressed you? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!