Tag: LA Wildcats

With XFL now cancelled, what’s next for former Longhorns?

Now that the XFL has followed suit and cancelled their season, what could be the next stop for three former Texas Longhorns?

The XFL was part of every major sports league that cancelled their season due to the outbreak. The XFL released a statement on the cancellation.

It was a great gesture by the league to pay their players the base salary plus benefits despite the league cancelling the remainder of their first season. With their season now in the books, what is in the future for the three former Texas Longhorns who were still on active rosters?

Cedric Reed and Patrick Vahe of the Los Angeles Wildcats and Kent Perkins of the St Louis Battlehawks will now have an opportunity to get another shot at the NFL if a team should look their way for training camp rosters in the 2020-21 NFL seasons.

Vahe was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens following the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent the entire offseason and training camp with the team prior to the beginning of the season. He was a roster cut casualty before being picked up the following October for the XFL Draft. He should garner some interest this offseason.

Perkins was a part of the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals as part of their practice squad, moving up to the active roster late in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He, much like Vahe, was an undrafted free agent after not being selected in the draft. He was released after announcing retirement from the NFL. He resurfaced in the XFL, so could he apply for re-instatement into the NFL? That will be one situation to monitor.

Both Vahe and Perkins could provide interior depth for the upcoming seasons provided they are brought onto training camp rosters. Both should still be eligible to be on practice squads for the upcoming season.

The third member of the former Longhorns who could make the jump back to the NFL is Cedric Reed. He was an undrafted free agent from the 2015 NFL Draft class. Reed signed with the Buffalo Bills and spent the 2015 season as a member of their practice squad.

He was released the following July and picked up by the Miami Dolphins. He would be released prior to the 2016 season as part of roster cuts. Reed didn’t play football again until he was picked up in the XFL Draft. As a member of the Wildcats, Reed accumulated 13 tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits in five games.

The hope for Reed, Vahe and Perkins is that they put enough quality tape together for NFL teams to become interested. The possibility for the former Longhorns is there, just a matter of monitoring the situation at this point.

 

WATCH: Former Longhorn Cedric Reed forces fumble

Former Longhorn Cedric Reed helped the LA Wildcats secure a victory thanks to his first forced fumble. You can watch the play here:

Leading by six late in the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles Wildcats needed a defensive stop to secure a victory on Sunday. Not only did they get a stop, but the Wildcats were able to add onto their lead, thanks to Cedric Reed.

The former Longhorn ran right by the right tackle, making his way for Tampa Bay Vipers’ quarterback Taylor Cornelius. Once hit, Cornelius lost the ball, leaving it for Boogie Roberts to scoop it up for a touchdown.

You can watch the play here:

Los Angeles went on to win the game 41-34, with the difference coming from Reed’s force fumble. It was the second win of the season for the Wildcats, moving to 2-3 on the season.

Reed has been a key contributor all season, having the second-most sacks in the league this season. Added on to his three sacks are 13 total tackles, five quarterback hits, and this forced fumble.

You can watch Reed and the Los Angeles Wildcats again this weekend, as they will face the Seattle Dragons on Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN2.

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Watch: Wildcats’ big guy Boogie Roberts scoops and scores a touchdown

Boogie Roberts of the LA Wildcats rumbled 23 yards for a TD at 289 pounds against the Tampa Bay Vipers.

The LA Wildcats had an historic comeback — okay it is the XFL, everything is new and historic — Sunday against the Tampa Bay Vipers.

LA trailed 24-6 before going on a 35-3 run en route to a 41-34 victory. One of the highlights of the rally was 6-foot-2, 289-pound Boogie Roberts rumbling 23 yards after picking up a Taylor Cornelius fumble.

Here goes:

Roberts’ “dash” made it 39-27 and the two-point PAT turned it into a 14-point game.

Roberts played college ball at San Jose State.

XFL midterm report card grades for all 8 teams

The XFL is halfway through its season and the Houston Roughnecks are way ahead of the rest of the teams.

The XFL has reached the midpoint of its season. One team stands above all: the Houston Roughnecks. How does everyone grade out?

Dallas Renegades

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

One of the disappointments. There were high hopes when Bob Stoops was named coach of the Renegades. He brought the ultimate winning pedigree from Oklahoma. Dallas has struggled on offense and it has been dampened by injuries to quarterback Landry Jones, expected to be a huge asset. At 2-3, the Renegades need to find their stride in the second half of the season or they won’t qualify for the playoffs. Grade: C-minus

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Watch: Josh Johnson throws pair of quick TD passes for LA WIldcats

Josh Johnson found De’Quan Hampton for a touchdown in the second quarter Sunday.

De’Quan Hampton saw “the opportunity to dog somebody” when the 6-foot-3 tight end from USC was matched up on a 5-foot-11 DB for the Tampa Bay Vipers.

Josh Johnson took advantage of the matchup for the LA Wildcats and found Hampton, who leaped over … for a touchdown to bring the Wildcats back into their home game against the Vipers Sunday in California.

Johnson didn’t waste any time on the Wildcats’ next drive. He found Penn State’s Blacknall Saeed with a long pass.

Johnson connected with another tight end, Brandon Barnes, for the score that made it 24-20 heading toward halftime.

 

Watch: Vipers’ Taylor Cornelius delivers some Mahomes magic

Taylor Cornelius found Jalen Tolliver in the back of the end zone for a Tampa Bay Vipers’ touchdown.

The Tampa Bay Vipers have found life with Taylor Cornelius at quarterback. In the second quarter Sunday against the LA Wildcats on the road, Cornelius delivered some Patrick Mahomes-type magic and found Jalen Tolliver in the back of the end zone.

Watch this dart from the 6-foot-6, 233-pound former Oklahoma State QB:

Another angle:

Tolliver, who played at Arkansas-Monticello, was quick to say who the score was for:

Watch: Security guard gets clobbered on XFL sidelines

A security guard for the Guardians was blindsided by the Wildcats’ Kermit Whitfield.

An XFL running play by the LA Wildcats turned into the hit of the day. However, it wasn’t by a New York Guardian making a tackle on wide receiver Kermit Whitfield.

Rather, the security guy was doing his job, watching the fans with his backed turned to the play and former Florida State player decleated him.

Check out this shot:

He popped right back up and went back to work.

XFL player earns personal foul for throwing a flag back at an official

This is never a good idea.

New York Guardians safety Dravon Askew-Henry earned himself the most unnecessary penalty of the 2020 XFL season so far after throwing a penalty flag back at an official after a key defensive holding call. Askew-Henry was flagged for holding, but the official threw his flag very late, and his toss inadvertently hit Askew-Henry in the midsection. Askew-Henry caught the flag and threw it right back, which caused another flag to fly.

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Watch: XFL Wildcats come up big after coach Winston Moss’ gamble

Winston Moss of the LA Wildcats took a risk and wound up with a huge reward in the XFL.

Winston Moss was not safe for television after he tried to fire up his LA Wildcats Saturday against the New York Guardians at halftime.

Following, the expletive-laced pep talk, Moss decided to take a huge risk and go for it on fourth-and-two from the Wildcats’ 28 in the third quarter trailing 14-6.

A 31-yard pass interference penalty kept the drive going and a play later Josh Johnson found Saeed Blacknall, who played at Penn State, with a 42-yard pass for a score. The two-point conversion worked and the game was tied at 14.

A piece of Moss’ halftime motivation:

Watch: Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry throws penalty flag at official

The New York Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice on one play, once for throwing the marker at the official.

The New York Guardians have had trouble keeping their composure this XFL season. First, quarterback Matt McGloin threw a vintage fit on the sidelines in Week 2. In Week 3, center Ian Silberman got into it with an opponent, was flagged and benched. And Saturday, against the LA Wildcats, DB Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice after throwing the flag at an official.

Askew-Henry was called for holding on the pass pattern. The official threw the penalty flag and it wound up being caught by Askew-Henry, who was none to happy about the call. The West Virginia product took the flag and winged it back at the official who threw it his way first. The official didn’t have a flag to throw so he gestured to a fellow official to throw his, which the other official did.

The result was a five-yard holding penalty and a 15-yard unsportsmanklike conduct call.

That was an XFL first as was having a game between teams that each have female presidents.