Knight Hawks pick up second win of season, first on road

While on its first road trip in franchise history, the Vegas Knight Hawks picked up win No. 2 on the year.

Coming off its first loss of the season, Vegas beat the Bay Area Panthers, 53-27, Monday, Apr. 4 from SAP Center in San Jose.

The 53 points are a franchise high for the team four weeks into its inaugural season.

More importantly, the win takes the team to 2-1 on the year, good for third place in the Western Conference.

The Knight Hawks will have a short turnaround while they host the Arizona Rattlers Friday, Apr. 8 from The Dollar Loan Center.

Arizona has the best record in the league at 3-0.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

A pivotal shift occurred late in the second quarter when Vegas forced a Bay Area fumble inside the VKH five-yard line.

It was the second turnover of the first half of an eventual five forced turnovers.

At that time, the Knight Hawks were up six. The team would add six more points before heading into halftime to go up, 33-21.

That helped spark 26 unanswered points for Vegas en route to holding the home team to six second half points.

The second half trio of turnovers began with another fumble by the Panthers which the Knight Hawks recovered.

Defensive lineman Kai Higgins recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter after Bay Area had scored on the previous drive via the wildcat.

Defensive back Kyree McLean ended the home team’s final drive of the night with an interception, sealing the victory for Vegas.

McLean is tied for first in interceptions in the IFL.

On the first drive of the game by the Panthers, VKH defensive back Mister Harriel snagged his first interception of the season on a third and six.

Vegas is third in the IFL in team interceptions and third in overall team defense.

Harriel also forced and recovered a fumble.

Defensive lineman Izaah Burks recovered the final fumble for the Knight Hawks.

Wide receiver Frank Brown had another big day for Vegas tallying two touchdowns on four receptions for 71 yards.

Both of his touchdowns were scored in the first half, with his second touchdown in the second quarter coming through two defensive flags.

Brown was flagged for taunting after scoring.

He entered the game as the league’s leading receiver. Currently, he has 203 yards on 17 catches and four touchdowns.

The success became contagious in the receiving core as former UNLV standout Darren Woods scored a touchdown through a penalty in the third quarter.

Woods finished with 15 yards on two catches and a touchdown.

Quarterback Jaylon Henderson had a day going 12-for-17, throwing for 119 yards and three touchdowns.

So far this season, he has posted a 154.2 quarterback rating with seven touchdowns to zero interceptions.

Henderson did rush the ball four times for 21 yards and a touchdown and a fumble.

With the lead in firm grasp, head coach Mike Davis opted to go to backup quarterback Kare Lyles in the fourth quarter.

He would finish the night, 4-of-7 with 22 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown was caught by wide receiver Kasey Allison, who recorded a team-high six catches for 39 yards, a touchdown and a fumble.

Running back Elad Covaliu scored three times on eight carries for 37 yards.

He scored from three yards, one yard and six yards out and he now accounts for half of the team’s six rushing touchdowns on the year.

Kicker Nate Criswell had a good start to the game scoring a point off a rouge (or touchback) on the opening kickoff of the night.

From that point on, Criswell would go on to miss four of his eight PAT attempts.

As of now, Vegas is last in the IFL in PAT kicks at 50%, making eight of its 16 attempts through three weeks.

In addition, Criswell missed both of his field goal attempts and he is now 3-for-10 this season, good for ninth in the IFL in terms of percentage.