The D.C. Defenders improved to 8-1 Sunday after a narrow 28-26 overtime win over the Arlington Renegades in front of a sold-out crowd at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
With the win, the Defenders clinched a home playoff game in two weeks for the North Division championship.
D.C. jumped on the Renegades early as quarterback Jordan Ta’amu threw two touchdown passes and D’Eriq King also had one to give the Defenders a 20-9 halftime lead.
D.C. struck again in the third quarter when former Washington Redskins and longtime NFL safety, D.J. Swearinger intercepted Arlington quarterback Luis Perez and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. At this point, the Defenders led 26-9.
The sold-out crowd went wild when Swearinger took it to the house.
.@JungleBoi_Swagg 🥄🥄#DefendDC | #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/2GGMTu9A7L
— D.C. Defenders (@XFLDefenders) April 16, 2023
While the two teams went scoreless for the remainder of the third quarter, the Renegades made a furious fourth-quarter comeback after a pair of De’Veon Smith touchdown runs and a field goal to suddenly tie the game on a Taylor Russolino 27-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.
The game went into overtime where Ta’amu found Jake Hammond for the score and another Defenders’ win.
Ta’amu completed 14 of 20 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. King completed six of nine passes for 76 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Swearinger finished the game second on the team in tackles with seven in his second XFL game.
Next up for D.C. is a trip to San Antonio to close out the regular season before returning home in two weeks to host either St. Louis or Seattle for the North Division championship.