Randolph saves Vegas’ win streak with pass breakup in overtime to preserve 1-point victory

Vegas Knight Hawks receiver Quentin Randolph has won games for the franchise before. However, prior to Sunday he never saved a game quite like this before.

Head coach Mike Davis had to get creative in Vegas’, 71-70, overtime win over Northern Arizona Sunday, June 7 in a Week 13 matchup. The last-second win helped preserve the team’s win streak which now sits at nine consecutive victories.

“We came out flat to a one-win team,” head coach Mike Davis said. “If they would’ve won, it would’ve been their championship. That’s what you get and it took us til overtime to sway the momentum.”

The wild finish goes down as the third road win of the year for the Knight Hawks as the team improves to 9-1 overall. Moreover, the team’s dominance over the Western Conference continued as it moved to 6-0 in the West this year.

Entering play, Vegas (8-1) sat first in the conference ahead of both San Diego (7-2) and Arizona (7-3). All the while, Jacksonville (9-1) and Green Bay (9-2) are duking it out in the Eastern Conference.

“You’ve got to be prepared for [anything],” Davis said. “Anything can happen if you let [the opponent] get momentum.”

Up next, the Knight Hawks will return home for another Western Conference meeting. They will welcome the Tucson Sugar Skulls Saturday, June 13 into Lee’s Family Forum. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Davis’ choice to put Randolph in the secondary to help preserve a win despite being the franchise’s all-time leading receiver, proved to be all the difference in the eventual win.

“They just persevere,” Davis said. “They grind it out, they’re learning how to win. As long as you can learn how to win, you’ll be okay.”

Even with the win, Vegas gave up a season-high 70 points along the way. Randolph came up with the pass breakup on a two-point conversion attempt by Northern Arizona in overtime.

At one point of the game, the Knight Hawks trailed by as many as 13 points. In addition, the team trailed by 10 or more points five different times en route to the win.

“Confidence,” Davis said. “It just lets them know we’re never out of the game. All it takes is getting all three phases together for one or two drives and we can turn any tides.”

On its second drive of the game, the Wranglers scored to open the game’s scoring for the night. Immediately following that, the team added a deuce on the ensuing kickoff to go up, 9-0, over the reigning National Champions.

The touchdown coupled with the deuce is something that Northern Arizona did three total times Sunday night.

“You let them score and they’re getting nine points every time they score,” Davis said. “You’ve got kids kicking deuces and at the end of the day, we missed a couple so it takes another stop. Obviously, we were able to get them to miss a couple of field goals. It just is what is it.”

In the fourth quarter, the Wranglers hauled in a big catch for a new set of downs on a 3rd and 6 with under a minute left in regulation. On the very next play, the team scored on a quarterback scramble as the Knight Hawks watched from the sidelines without any timeouts.

That decision gave Vegas the ball back with 33.9 seconds left in regulation, trailing by seven points.

After having the game tied at 64 apiece, Northern Arizona missed a chance at the game-winning field goal as the time in regulation expired.

“I’m not going to say a bad team,” Davis said. “But a team that’s at the bottom of the standings beating a team at the top of the standings, that makes their season. No matter what their final record is.”

While making the game-winning play on defense, Randolph also caught the touchdown pass that gave his team its first lead of the game. In total, the Knight Hawks only led for four-plus minutes of regulation.

Receiver Deshon Stoudemire reeled in a pair of touchdown catches as quarterback Jayden De Laura had a fast start to the contest. Early in the second quarter, he was a perfect 5-for-5 for 72 yards and a touchdown.

That perfect stretch was just getting started for De Laura. He added another touchdown on the team’s next possession as he moved to 7-for-7 through the air.

Coming out halftime, De Laura was still perfect before running into trouble on his club’s first second half drive. After starting 11-for-11 on pass attempts, De Laura was sacked on 3rd and goal before throwing an interception on a 4th and goal.

While that went down as his first incompletion of the night, it counted as his third interception of the season.

On the team’s final offensive possession, De Laura rushed for 11 yards to put the team in prime scoring position. He’d capitalize on that field position by scoring from a yard out with his legs on the next play.

In the win, De Laura threw for 296 yards and six touchdowns on 20-of-23 passing despite that lone interception. He also added 22 yards and a rushing touchdown on six carries.

Receiver Senika McKie also snagged two touchdowns in the win including the game-tying scoring haul just before the end of regulation.

Northern Arizona was determined not to let reigning Offensive Player of the Year Josh Tomas dictate the outcome of the game. In fact, it wasn’t until late into the first half that Tomas was able to attempt his first kick return.

Even with him attempting to be frozen out of the game, Tomas found his way to 113 total yards on 12 combined touches and three touchdowns.