Three straight wins for Knight Hawks after perfect homestand

Vegas has reeled off three straight wins following the team’s bye week of the season.

This past weekend, the Knight Hawks downed the San Antonio Gunslingers, 55-27, Saturday, May 10 from Lee’s Family Forum. The victory pushes the team to 4-2 on the year which is good for the second spot in the Western Conference.

It also counts as the team’s second win over San Antonio in the last three weeks.

Saturday marked the end of a two-game homestand for Vegas as it prepares to trek to Arizona for a meeting against the Rattlers. Last season, the Knight Hawks were eliminated from the playoffs by their next opponent on the final play of the game.

The playoff rematch is set for Saturday, May 17 from PHX Arena at 6 p.m.

“We’ll figure that out tomorrow,” head coach Mike Davis said. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight and be ready for a tough opponent next week.”

Running back Antonio Wimbush had a career night, erupting for a career-high four touchdowns as he found the end zone twice in the second and fourth quarters respectively.

Wimbush’s first score of the day put his team ahead 13-0 early in the second quarter. Just before halftime, he’d add another one to run the home team’s lead to 20 points.

“Just letting it all come to me honestly,” he said. “I told Coach Mike, ‘I got four for you today just watch.’ Just having the guys up front and receivers blocking up front and obviously [quarterback Ja’Rome Johnson] it helps.”

As a team, Vegas rushed for four first half touchdowns with two belonging to Wimbush and Johnson.

“We kind of knew we had to establish the run game,” Davis said. “Wimbush is one of the best backs in the league, if not the best back in the league.”

The second half was more of the same for Wimbush as he tallied his third and fourth rushing scores in the final 15-minute session with the latter counting as his 50th touchdown in the IFL. By the final horn, he finished with 67 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries.

Johnson played a clean game under center, ending the night with 12 completions on 19 attempts with 146 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also added a game-high 95 rushing yards with two more touchdowns.

“We have so many keys,” Wimbush said. “Like coach was saying, we’re just trying to get out of our own way.”

Receiver Quentin Randolph continued to be the top target for Johnson, closing the game with 76 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Teammate CJ Jefferson also hauled in his first touchdown as a Knight Hawk.

Vegas’ defense pitched a shutout in both the first and fourth quarters of the win. Defensive back James Ceasar halted the opening drive of the game with an interception at the goal line. That counted as his seventh career interception while being his first of the season.

Later in the same quarter, Ceasar grabbed his second pick of the game.

“It was just the preparation we had all week,” he said. “We watched film knowing the plays they were going to run. It just came down to being in good position and coming down with the play and making it.”

A minute and a half into the second quarter, San Antonio trotted out a new quarterback, hoping to put its first points on the board. The team’s first touchdown didn’t come until just over a minute left in the first half before going into halftime down, 27-14.

“I wouldn’t say we shut them down,” Davis said. “We made some plays when we needed to make plays. We gave up a couple of touchdowns that we shouldn’t have. We’re still tweaking things.”

No matter who was under center, the Knight Hawks’ pressure forced three fumbled snaps but were unable to come up with any. In fact, the penultimate drive of the game for the Gunslingers housed the third fumbled snap. The drive would come to a crashing stop when defensive back Rome Weber snatched the team’s third interception of the game.