XFL Results: Guardians Shut Down TB Vipers In New York Home Opener

Both teams have taken the field at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the quarterbacks meeting in the middle for pre-game interviews. Aaron Murray will lead the Vipers, coming off more than 13,000 yards and 121 touchdowns in his career at Georgia. Leading the Guardians is Matt McGloin, who played four seasons for the Oakland Raiders and had an impressive senior year at Penn State.

1ST QUARTER

Duke is back to receive for the Guardians in the opening kickoff, starting from 11. He sneaks around the left side through traffic and picks up an impressive 59-yard return before being taken out-of-bounds. McGloin connects to Powell for 6 yards in his first pass of the gain, but comes up empty in two consecutive plays. The Guardians opt to go for it on 4th and 4, and McGloin connects right down the middle to Powell for 15 yards, picking up the 1st down and putting them on the TB 27. Victor picks up 3 yards on a short rush, followed by an incomplete to bring up 3rd & 7. McGloin connects with J. Horn who takes it out of bounds at the TB 11 to pick up a new set of downs. Guardians got caught with an illegal substitution pushing them back 5 yards – still 1st down. McGloin tries up the center to Horn again, but the Vipers get called for pass interference. 1st & Goal. McGloin with a QB rush up the center – TOUCHDOWN. They set up for the 1-point attempt. The ball is pitched to T. Cook who finds a hole on the right side to take it home.

TB VIPERS – 0 | NY GUARDIANS – 7

Matt Broken back for the Vipers. He takes it about 30 yards to the TB 37 on a good return. Smith rushes left on the Vipers’ first play of the season, but gets nowhere. They go no-huddle and Murray connects to Truesdell for 9 yards. Another no-huddle and Smith rushes up center for a gain of 4 yards, picking up the 1st. A third no-huddle, and once again Smith picks up 10 yards. The ball pops free in the first fumble of the game, but the Vipers quickly recover. We finally get a huddle, and it pays off as Murray hits Williams deep up the center for 17 yards, putting them at the NY 23. After a short pass losing 2 yards and an incomplete, Murray connects up the middle again to Horn for 19 yards. 1st & Goal. Murray tries for Truesdell but it’s INTERCEPTED in the endzone by Andrew Soroh!

The Guardians will start again from the NY 20. McGloin goes deep on the left side to Pearson, but he’s double covered and comes up empty after a struggle. Victor picks up 22 yards on a rush left end and gets out of bounds at the NY 42. McGloin goes deep again to Redding, but he’s pushed out and it’s ruled incomplete. After a short rush and another incomplete it brings up 4th & 6. They’ll punt.

Horn calls a fair catch for the Vipers at the TB 18. Smith takes the first play up the right end for a 12-yard rush. Vipers lose 5 yards to a false start, enforced on the TB 25. Murray from the shotgun. He FUMBLES but recovers, connecting with Truesdell for a short gain, but he FUMBLES as well – Guardians recover.The play is reviewed, and it’s instead ruled an incomplete. Still Vipers ball at the TB 25. Murray goes on a job to avoid the sack and has to throw it away, bringing up 3rd & 15. Another incomplete  to D. Williams makes it 4th & 15. They’ll punt, but that’s the end of the first quarter.

2ND QUARTER

Duke returns for the Guardians and makes it to the NY 43. After an incomplete on 1st down, McGloin goes deep out of the shotgun, connecting with McKay for a 45-yard bomb. Down at the TB 12. McGloin finds Pearson with a short pass on the left side – TOUCHDOWN! They set up for 1 point and Cook leaps over the middle to drive it in.

TB VIPERS – 0 | NY GUARDIANS – 14

Brown is back for the Vipers on the kickoff, and takes it about 18 yards to the TB 25. Murray goes deep on the first play and connects with Tolliver for a 44-yard gain, going out-of-bounds at the NY 31. Incomplete on 2nd. Murray to Patrick on a short right pass, but he’s taken down right away for a loss. 3rd & 11 and he throws to the left side into coverage, incomplete. Franks sets up for a 50-yard field goal, but he just misses on the left side.

Guardians ball on the NY 40. Victor rushes up center for a loss of 1. McGloin to Powell for a short pass left, but he’s taken down for just 1 yard. 3rd & 10 goes incomplete, so it’ll be a 3-and-out as the punt team takes the field.

Vogel back to receive for the Vipers. He calls a fair catch at the TB 13. Murray out of the shotgun, but he’s quickly sacked at the line. He connects to Williams on the left side, and he runs out of bounds at the TB 21 to bring up 3rd & 2. Murray out of the shotgun again, and he dumps it short right to Williams again for 12 yards. 1st down. Smith rushes for 3 yards, and Murray hits Horn for another 12-yard pass up the middle. Unfortunately, that’s all he gets as he goes incomplete on 3 consecutive plays. Here comes the punt team.

Duke takes the ball for the Guardians and brings it to the NY 15. McGloin connects with a pair of short left passes out of the shotgun, 5 yards to Victor and 9 yards to McKay to get the 1st down. McGloin mixes it up and goes to the right this time, but comes up incomplete, both attempts to Powell. That brings up 3rd & 10. Defensive flag is down as we’ve got multiple fouls on the play. It looks like defensive lineman Ricky Walker of the Vipers through a blatant punch after getting frustrated after a false start. WALKER HAS BEEN EJECTED FROM THE GAME. McGloin hits Powell and he takes it out for a gain of 6. Neutral zone infraction called on TB, so it’s 1st & 10 on the TB 45 as we hit the TWO-MINUTE WARNING. McGloin from the shotgun, but he tries 3 times to J. Horn for 3 consecutive incompletes. They’ll punt.

The Vipers receive on the TB 15 after a fair catch from R. Horn. On the first play Murray comes up empty looking for Tolliver, but connects deep in the middle to Truesdell on 2nd down for a 27-yard gain. With the clock counting down they go no-huddle for an incomplete, stopping the clock. Murray doesn’t find any options, and throws it away. Murray out of the shotgun, but he’s sacked for a big loss of 9. NY gets called for too many players on the field to bring up 3rd & 5. From the NY 42 Murray comes out of the shotgun and immediately drills R. Horn for 11 yards and the 1st down. NY again gets called, this time for unnecessary roughness after the play. Questionable at best. That puts the Vipers on the NY 27, but Murray steps back – INTERCEPTED BY B. JONES!

Guardians will start on the NY 32 with 0:31 to go in the half. McGloin is in trouble but dumps it out to Victor for 5 yards. They go no-huddle and get the snap off at 0:15, and McGloin connects to Pearson for a huge 32-yard pass deep right, and he’s down at the TB 31. The kicking team comes on the field and McCrane will set up for a 49-yard play. It’s up… It’s good.

TB VIPERS – 0 | NY GUARDIANS – 17

3RD QUARTER

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M. Brown returns for the Vipers and gets 24 yards to the TB 30. We have a substitution as Murray has been taken out of the game, and 25-year-old Q. Flowers comes in at QB for the Vipers. Smith with three consecutive rushes up the middle. He gets 8 on the first, 6 on the second to get the 1st down, and 4 on the second. Flowers from the shotgun, but he throws it away. Well, that’s all for Flowers, as Murray retakes the field on 3rd & 11. From the shotgun, but he’s sacked well behind the line. FUMBLE! Vipers recover but it’s 4th & 17 so they’ll be forced to punt.

Guardians call a fair catch on the NY 25. Cook with a 1-yard run. McGloin connects to J. Horn for another 9 yards to get the 1st down. It’ll be 1st & 15 after a false start call. Incomplete. McKay gets a short 4-yard pass, and Kelly gets another short 2-yard pass. 4th & 9 brings out the punter.

Vipers get another shot from the TB 18. Murray hits Williams for 7 yards. Patrick rushes for a short gain to get the 1st down. No-huddle as Patrick rushes again for an 8-yard gain and he gets out of bounds. They go no-huddle again, and again give to Patrick for another 5 yards, and another 1st. A set of runs from D. Smith gets 11 yards in total. Slowly but surely taking the ball down the field a down at a time. Vipers sub in Flowers again at QB, who rushes it himself up the left side for 6 yards. No-huddle, and Flowers again rushes, this time right for a big 15-yard gain. Murray is back on the field, but Flowers is now in at WR. This team has just totally given up on passing, and it’s working for them. Smith runs it up center for 5 y ards to put them on the NY 21. Flowers takes it for another 2 yards, but this time he gets smoked. 3rd & 3 and Patrick rushes up the right side for 10 yards. 1st & Goal on the NY 04. Patrick tries the rush again but is laid out. Murray tries twice to the left side, but it’s incomplete both times to bring up 4th & Goal. The kicking team comes on. FIELD GOAL IS GOOD!

TB VIPERS – 3 | NY GUARDIANS – 17

Duke is back for the Guardians on the kickoff. He returns from the NY 3 for an impressive gain of about 30 yards. Victor rushes right for 4 yards as the quarter comes to an end.

4TH QUARTER

3rd & 6 on the NY 37 for the Guardians. McGloin connects with Victor for a 15-yard gain up the right side of the field. He tries it again to Pearson, but it’s incomplete. Victor rushes up the right but is hit hard and taken back for a loss of 3. McGloin goes deep down the middle into the endzone, but it’s knocked down by J. Collins. He tries for Joe Horn in what should have been an easy catch, but he completely misses it. That brings up 4th & 13 and the punt team.

A good punt, as the Vipers have to call a fair catch on the TB 7. Murray takes the field and passes up the middle to Truesdell for about 13 yards. He’s hit hard and the ball is FUMBLED! J. Summers of the Guardians recovers the ball, runs it up the right side – TOUCHDOWN GUARDIANS! They set up for the 1-point conversion, but it’s no good.

TB VIPERS – 3 | NY GUARDIANS – 23

The kicking team comes on, and after an offsides penalty the Vipers start from the TB 31. Patrick tries to run it to the right but loses 2 yards. Murray goes incomplete up the middle to bring up 3rd down. He goes right and finds Smith for a gain of 8 yards. They’ll have to go for it on 4th down and Murray isn’t playing it safe, going deep to Williams, who brings the ball down and gets out at the NY 21. It’s all no-huddle at this point as Tolliver runs it left and out of bounds for 5 yards. Flowers is back on the field as he rushes for another 7 yards to get the 1st. Another set of runs gets 4 yards for Smith, but Murray is sacked to bring up 4th down. They have to go for it again, but it’s incomplete for the turnover.

Guardians have the ball on their own 6. Cook rushes twice up the middle to kill a minute off the clock for a total gain of 9. There’s a false start bringing it back to 3rd & 6, and Victor is smashed for a loss of 1. That’s it. They did kill a lot of time though.

Vipers let the ball bounce on the punt return. 03:43 left to play at the TB 42. Patrick with a pair of runs gets them 8 yards. Flowers is back and he runs it up the middle for the 1st down. No-huddles as Smith rushes for another 7 yards. Flowers surprises the NY defense with an actual pass, and connects deep to Williams for a gain of 37 yards. 1st & Goal as Smith runs for a gain of 1. TB shoots themselves in the foot with a false start. Smith runs for 4 yards, but Flowers gets sacked twice in a row to lose them 15 yards. Good lord. Turnover own downs.

Guardians at the NY 17. Victor rushes twice to the right for 4 yards total. McGloin takes a knee, and the game is over.

FINAL SCORE: TB VIPERS – 3 | NY GUARDIANS – 23