XFL XXII TITLE GAME
Arizona Stadium
January 15th, 2040
Attendance: 63,400
59⁰
Dakota entered the big game as huge favorites to won their 3rd straight TITLE while Vegas was looking to avenge last year's lose and claim the francises 1st Title.
Dakota won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball first. Vegas held them to a quick 3 and out forcing a punt.
Vegas came out with a gamelan to run the ball and they succeeded on their 1st drive rushing the ball for 73 yards on 8 carries capped by a WR Gabriel Largent 12 yard TD run with 6:34 left in the 1st quarter giving Vegas a 6-0 lead after a failed 2 point conversion.
Dakota took their next possession in Vegas territory at the 47 yard line but on 3rd and 3, QB Robert Alvarez hit RB Christian Fritz in the flat for just a 1 yard gain and Dakota elected to punt.
Vegas started the next drive with 3 more runs but 2 failed pass attempts plus a false start penalty forced them to punt with 41 seconds left in the 1st quarter up 6-0.
Alvarez hit WR Mark Moore on a catch and run of 49 yards on the 1st play of the drive putting them at the Vegas 34 yard line but 3 straight incompleteness forced Dakota to attempt a 51 yard fieldgoal but K Robert Combs, who went 32/36 this season including 3/3 from 50+ yards missed, keeping the score 6-0 Vegas with 14:51 left in the half.
Vegas's next drive was a quick 3 and out which forced another punt. Dakota would go 3 and out themselves and punted the ball right back to Vegas. For the 3rd straight drive, Vegas went 3 and out and punted the ball back to Dakota.
Dakota would put together their best drive of the game so far, using a balanced attack to move the ball from their own 17 yard line to the Vegas 17 yard line. On 3rd and 3, Alvarez threw an incomplete on and they settled for a Combs 34 yard fieldgoal making the score 6-3 Vegas with 2:02 left in the half.
Vegas would run the ball 3 times and ran out the clock in the 1st half sending the game to halftime with a 6-3 lead.
Vegas got the ball to start the 2nd half and used a balanced attack to move the ball 75 yards on 10 plays, highlighted by WR Largent's 5 yard TD run. They again went for 2 points and converted making the score 14-3 Vegas with 10:03 left in the 3rd quarter.
Dakota, Vegas then Dakota would punt on the next 3 possessions until Vegas took over with a 1st and 10 from their own 40, up 14-3 with 4:17 left in the 3rd quarter when QB James Henry threw an interception to CB Fransico Erickson setting Dakota up with a 1st and 10 from the Vegas 46 yard line.
Dakota would put the ball in QB Robert Alvarez's hands as he threw 7 straight passes, topped off by a 13 yard TD pass to WR Richard Yang. Future Hall of Fame RB Barry Williams pounder his way into the endzone for a 2 point conversion making the score 14-11 Vegas with 2:50 left in the 3rd quarter.
Vegas would take over on their own 25 yard line after a touch back on the kickoff and on the 2nd play of the drive, FB Victor Murray would fumble on a 7 yard run as CB Scott Nemeth knocked the ball loose and recovered the fumble.
Dakota would take over at the Vegas 44 yard line and back to back turnovers had given Dakota all the momentum in the game. Alvarez would drop back to pass on the 1st play of the drive and RDE Royal Valentino beat LT George Douglas for a sack and 8 yard lose. Dakota wouldn't recover and 2 plays later was forced to punt the ball back to Vegas which blew a golden opportunity to at least tie the game.
Vegas started from their own 20 with 37 seconds left in the 3rd quarter and after 3 straight runs, 2 straight pass attempts ended the drive when on 3rd and 8, QB James Henry was sacked by DE Damon Todd for an 6 yard lose.
Dakota had a short 5 play drive which ended on a 3rd and 8 incompletion which forced them to punt the ball back to Vegas, down 14-11 with 11:08 left in the game.
Vegas ran the ball 3 times but Dakota forced a 3 and out getting the ball back at their own 19 yard line with 9:04 left in the game when QB Robert Alvarez was picked off by 4x ALLPRO SLB Andrew Reed which gave Vegas a 1st and 10 from the Dakota 31 yard line.
Vegas would run the ball right down Dakota's throat when WR Scott Clark rushed for 25 yards on the 1st play then WR Largent would rush for 4 yards followed by a 2 yard TD rush. That made the score 21-11 Vegas with 7:34 left in the game. WR Gabriel Largent had 3 rushing TDs which set a Title game record and is 2nd Alltime in any playoff game behind only RB Thomas Banning (SPP) who had 4 rushing TDs in 2021 versus Tampa Bay.
Dakota was down 2 scores and they needed to score on this drive and Alavarez threw the ball on 5 straight plays but on 4th and 6 from the Dakota 42 yard line, Alvarez's pass was knocked down forcing a turnover on downs with 6:24 left in the game.
Vegas ran the ball on 1st and 2nd down but on 3rd and 8, they unexplictably threw the ball and is was incomplete so K Michael Smart attempted a 57 yard fieldgoal and missed.
Dakota took over near midfield but Alvarez was sacked on 1st down by DT Herbert's Cheney for a 7 yard lose and on 4th and 12, Dakota essentially threw in tge towel and punted with 4:09 left in the game down 21-11.
Vegas would run the ball 3 times, eating up the clock and punted the ball back to Dakota with 2 minutes remaining.
Dakota and Alvarez had one last gasp left and he hit WR Yang for 57 yards followed 2 plays later by a 1 yard TD pass to WR Yang. They tacked on another 2 point conversion making the score 21-19 Vegas with 1:33 left in regulation.
Dakota attempted an onside kick but Vegas recovered and they ran the bowl as Dakota used its last time out and finally took a knee, Vegas would win XFL XXII 21-19, the 1st Tilte in francise history.
WR Gabriel Largent and SLB Andrew Reed were named co-MVPs!
