A second half surge from the D.C. Defenders were too much for the San Antonio Brahmas to answer back, ending San Antonio’s two game win streak in a 18-12 loss Sunday afternoon at Audi Field.
Nothing seemed to click for either team during the first half. On the second play of the game, the Brahmas (4-2) started off with quarterback Quinten Dormady throwing an interception, his fourth in the past two games. The Defenders (3-3) ended their first series off with a missed field goal by kicker Matthew McCrane.
Ineptness on offense continued for San Antonio, while in the red zone, the Brahmas decided to go for it on fourth down but was stopped, turning over on downs. The only positive for the Brahmas was their defensive unit. The Defenders backed into their endzone and could not muster anything on offense which resulted in a forced punt. On their following offensive series, Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu fumbled the ball and was recovered by Brahmas safety A.J. Hendy for an 18-yard return.
Capitalizing off of the fumble recovery, the Brahmas finally put points on the board with a successful 43-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Santoso bringing the score to 3-0 in the second quarter. After a pair of punts, the Defenders on a 12-play drive found the endzone on a two yard rushing score by running back Cam’ron Harris giving the Defenders a 6-3 lead after a failed two point attempt with a little under two minutes left in the half.
In the second half, The Defenders added to their lead with a 54-yard field goal by McCrane. The Brahmas tied the game with Dormady finding running back John Lovett for a two yard passing touchdown. D.C. recaptured the lead with McCrane hitting his third 50 plus yard field goal this time from 58 yards. After Santoso’s 40-yard field goal to tie the game up again, the Defenders reached the end zone when quarterback Jordan Ta’amu found receiver Kelvin Harmon for a 13-yard touchdown giving D.C. an 18-12 lead.
The Brahmas could not find any success on their final two drives of the game. Calling all of their timeouts on the Defenders last offensive series, setting Dormady and the Brahmas offense for one final drive. But with 30 seconds left on the clock, the Brahmas attempted to lateral around on the last play but a rushed pass back to Dormady and fumble recovery by D.C. sealed the victory for the hometown Defenders.
Despite the loss, Lovett continued his on-field success ending the afternoon with 153 yards, a season high for all running backs in the UFL on 23 attempts and catching one touchdown in the air. On special teams, Santoso was perfect on his two field goal attempts with his longest being 43 yards. Punter Brad Wing had his most action this season, averaging 43 yards on his four attempts, pinning the Defenders inside the 20 yard line twice.
