Losing streak over as Knight Hawks beat Gladiators by 14

A losing streak that nearly elapsed a full month of the season for the Vegas Knight Hawks is now over. The team got back to the basics in a two-possession win over the Duke City Gladiators.

Vegas put away Duke City, 53-39, Saturday night in New Mexico to end a two-game road trip for the franchise.

“I think it was more about controlling what we can control,” head coach Mike Davis said. “We needed to worry about us getting better and executing on both sides of the ball. Tonight, we did that for the most part until late. We’re still learning”

Entering play the Gladiators had just one win on the year in 10 tries. Two of the three losses for the Knight Hawks during its losing streak came to teams with two wins or less entering gameday. In addition, all three losses came by one possession.

“Football is a humbling sport,” Davis said. “Sometimes you need to get humbled a little bit and take care of the little things. Those three losses let us find some issues that we had and we could adjust.”

Things will balance out for Vegas as it prepares to return home for a two-game homestand that will feature the current top three teams in the Western Conference including the Bay Area Panthers and Arizona Rattlers.

The Knight Hawks will welcome the Rattlers into Lee’s Family Forum for a Saturday, June 22 matchup that is set to begin at 6 p.m.

Defense set the tone early on the way to a two score win for Vegas after holding Duke City to just six points in the first half. From the start, things started to slide for the home team with a fumble, though recovered, on fourth down of the team’s first possession of the game.

Already down 9-0, the Gladiators nearly had their second possession end on a turnover as well but it would ultimately stall after a missed field goal from 61 yards out.

The Knight Hawks held their opponent without points for the first 23-plus minutes of the game on the way to a six-point first half. Looking for answers, the defensive output forced a quarterback change in the second quarter for the home team.

“I think its good for them,” Davis said. “But then what did we give up, 40 in the second half? For us, obviously they pushed the ball down the field and made some plays and we made some mistakes. But for us, it’s more about understanding the schematics and scheme and getting back to what we need to do best and that’s playing hard-nose football.”

Everything was going according to plan for Vegas after a challenge from the sideline wiped away a touchdown on 4th and 5. That decision to challenge would net the team another fourth down chance which it would intercept for the team’s second forced turnover of the night.

The Knight Hawk secondary would pick off the backup two times in the second quarter for a total of three turnovers in the first 30 minutes of play. Defensive backs Darius Williams and James Ceasar were responsible for the picks.

The final stamp from the defense came late in regulation with Duke City hoping to cut into the 11-point lead for the visitors. Defensive lineman Lorenzo Hernandez secured the sack and safety and essentially the skid-snapping win for Vegas.

Quarterback Ja’Rome Johnson made his return to the starting lineup after nearly a month serving as the team’s backup.

“I trust him completely,” Davis said of his offensive coordinator Hurtis Chinn. “I just asked the question: ‘Who’s starting?’ He said, ‘We’re going to go with Rome.’ I said, ‘Cool, let’s do it.’

“If I get involved with that then I’m losing track of what I’m doing.”

Johnson made his presence felt immediately with his legs, scoring the first of an eventual three rushing touchdowns by the second-year leader. In total, six of the seven Vegas touchdowns on the night came on the ground with running back Taurean Taylor tallying two scores of his own.

Moreover, 86 yards of the team’s 187 total yards of offense came on the ground.

Receiver Caleb Holley recorded his sixth multi-touchdown game of the season with a rushing and receiving score in this one.

“They’re going to take what the defense gives you,” Davis said. “Life becomes easier – it’s a tough game and anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday or whatever day you play on so we have to take care of us. When you can lean on the run game and our guys up front, it makes life a lot easier.”

Johnson accounted for 172 of those 187 total offense yards with four scores while going 9-for-15 through the air.