SAN ANTONIO – What felt like a perfect opportunity for the San Antonio Brahmas to secure their first home win of the season turned into one of their most gut-wrenching losses.
The Brahmas faced the DC Defenders in a rematch, which is the only team they have beaten this season, hoping to showcase their improvement.
After the Defenders scored first, quarterback Kevin Hogan and the offense responded with a drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Alize Mack, tying the game a 6.
The Brahmas’ Tristan Vizcaino kicked a couple of field goals to give them a 12-6 lead. However, just before halftime, Hogan fumbled the ball.
Anthony Hines III recovered and ran 51 yards away to tie the game at 12 going into the break.
Halfway through the third quarter, the Brahmas retook the lead with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Hogan to tight end Steven Stilianos. The extra point conversion didn’t work, so the Brahmas’ lead became 18-12.
The Defenders responded with two huge touchdowns: a 29-yard pass from Jordan Ta’amu to Cornell Powell and a 76-yard pass from Ta’amu to Braylon Sanders. Ta’amu finished with 278 yards and three touchdowns while completing 19 of his 24 passes.
The Brahmas’ Jashuan Corbin slipped through the Defenders’ defense for a 57-yard touchdown run, cutting DC’s lead to just one point after a failed extra point attempt.
With 1:55 left in the game, the Defenders called a trick play and passed the ball to offensive lineman Gunner Britton on 4th and goal. A costly fumble by Brahmas’ wide receiver Marquez Stevenson sealed the victory for DC.
During the postgame press conference, Brahmas’ head coach, Payton Pardee, shared his disappointment at being so close to the first home win.
“That was a disappointing end to a really hard-fought game,” Pardee said. “To kind of let you guys know what I told our football team, I think we did a lot of good things. Obviously, it’s nowhere near close enough or good enough to get a win.
“You know our team never let go of the rope, so to speak; they fought to the very end. I’m really proud of this team. We need to look inward, improve the mistakes, but I’m proud of the team in a lot of the different things that we did. Obviously, we have to be better.”
Hogan reflected on the final offensive play, where Stevenson converted on 3rd and 31 by dragging his defender across the line to gain but then fumbled the ball.
“One of those crazy plays, 3rd and 31, that’s tough to convert; it was a great job, offensive line giving me a little bit of time,” said Hogan. “And then Speedy (Marquez Steveson) ran a great route, tried to get the ball up to him, and did a good job carrying the defender past the chains.
“He was fighting like we all were all day and just an unfortunate situation that the ball came out, but you know he was fighting his butt off to give us an opportunity to continue the drive. So, it’s a tough one to end on, but if he doesn’t past the chains, it’s probably a different conversation. He (Stevenson) gave us a chance.”
When asked about being unable to get their first home win of the season, Hogan said that’s one of the main goals for the rest of this year for the Brahmas.
“We hurt for the fans, you know,” said Hogan. “We want to provide them with victories. We’re very thankful for their support; they’ve been unbelievable. We want nothing more than to be able to defend the Alamo, and we got two more games here.
“We’re gonna do our best and keep fighting and keep growing and learning from our mistakes and doing whatever we can to provide those fans with some wins at home, cause they deserve it. They’ve been supporting us all year, and we keep coming up short, and we’re gonna keep fighting to get them a win here at home.”
The Brahmas will have another opportunity to defend their home turf next Friday night when the Memphis Showboats visit the Alamodome.
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