Football returned to Houston on Saturday afternoon when the Roughnecks kicked off the XFL season with a 37-17 win over the Los Angeles Wildcats from the University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium. | Courtesy of Roughnecks
The Roughnecks opened up the inaugural XFL season with a dominant 37-17 win over the Los Angeles Wildcats on Saturday evening at TDECU Stadium.
The newly-established pro football franchise wasted little time to make a mark as Houston scored on the opening possession of the game after only three plays.
The first touchdown of the team came on a 50-yard bomb from quarterback P.J. Walker and receiver Cam Phillips, who led the team with 67 receiving yards.
Walker had a great performance on Saturday as he threw for 272 yards, four touchdowns and completed 23/39 of his passes. He also rushed for 26 yards and a two-point conversion early in the third.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Wildcats had the advantage for much of the first half and led by as many as eight, which included a stretch of 14 unanswered points for Los Angeles.
Safety Cody Brown delivered a devastating hit in the end zone that prevented a touchdown that would have put the Wildcats ahead by eight if it had been caught.
Instead Los Angeles settled for a field goal, and the Roughnecks capitalized on preventing the touchdown by going down and scoring on a 39-yard touchdown from receiver Sam Mobley, which gave the Roughnecks the lead right before the half.
Walker threw his fourth touchdown of the game on a short pass to receiver Khalil Lewis early in the third quarter, and Houston did not look back.
Houston’s defense shut out Los Angeles for the entire second half.
Running back James Butler rushed for 30 yards in the game and had the Roughnecks’ final touchdown of the evening.
Houston will play again at TDECU Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 16.
