Third straight win sewn up after Vegas succeeds against San Antonio

A third road game in the first four contests of the season wasn’t too much for the Vegas Knight Hawks as they earned a third straight victory.

En route to that third straight win, Vegas whacked San Antonio, 62-35, Saturday, April 18 in a Week 6 IFL matchup. The recent stretch of success comes after the league’s reigning champions lost their season opener on the road to Green Bay.

“It makes it a little easier when your offense is clicking this early in the season,” head coach Mike Davis said. “Then you’ve got to figure out how good we can be as a whole group.”

With a 3-1 overall record as it prepares to see some familiar faces when New Mexico comes to town as the newly rebranded Chupacabras. This Saturday’s contest will welcome back quarterback Ja’Rome Johnson, defensive lineman Maurice Jackson, kicker Ben Derby and former associate head coach Kyle Moore-Brown who all were members of last year’s championship winning team.

“I think it’ll be nice to see some of the guys,” Davis said. “Some of the guys left here with bad tastes in their mouths because we didn’t want them back. Realistically, everybody we wanted here is here except a couple of people and they’re not in New Mexico.”

Saturday’s game against the Chupacabras will be the first of three straight home games for the Knight Hawks.

Vegas’ offense went 9-for-9 on drives on the way to the win with familiar faces continuing to lead the charge

Franchise-leading receiver Quentin Randolph had a monster day with three touchdowns in the victory while hauling in eight passes for 104 yards. Two of those scores came in the first quarter as the offense whistled through the first 15 minutes.

Ultimately, all three of Randolph’s touchdowns came in the first half.

“There’s not enough words [to explain what he means to the franchise],” Davis said. “Literally, not enough words. The kid is just doing what he’s supposed to do – he’s doing what he said he was going to do.”

Quarterback Jayden De Laura didn’t suffer his first incompletion until early in the second quarter. By that time, he had completed his first 12 pass attempts of the game.

Entering Week 6, De Laura led the league in completion percentage (74.5%) and efficiency (211.3). After going 16-for-18 in this one with 211 yards and three passing touchdowns to show for it, he now has 13 aerial touchdowns on the year without an interception.

“Anytime you have somebody with those types of [personal] goals, desires and drives, it makes life a little easier,” Davis said.

De Laura also found the end zone two more times with his legs in a game where his Knight Hawks scored five rushing touchdowns. Running back Josh Tomas and receivers Senicka McKie and Phoenix Sproles all scored a rushing touchdown apiece.

Tomas has six rushing touchdowns in his first season with Vegas after being named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year honors last year. McKie has now scored a touchdown, either rushing or receiving) in three straight games.

Despite leading 14-7 after the first quarter and being up 35-21 at halftime, Davis saw plenty of opportunities to extend that lead. The Knight Hawks’ defense forced two fumbles in the first quarter but would fail to secure either of them for possession.

One of those two possessions ended in points for the home team.

“They probably should’ve scored 21 points the whole game,” Davis said. “Maybe less, right? You give up the fumble that we got but they said we didn’t have it and they picked it up and scored.

“That game could’ve been so ugly.”

Defensive back Clifton Duck snagged an interception against his former team before helping his Vegas defense hold San Antonio to just 14 second half points.