XFL 2023 Results: Week 8 Scores and Best Twitter Reaction from Saturday

Week 8 of the 2023 XFL season got underway Saturday with North Division rivals the St. Louis Battlehawks and Vegas Vipers squaring off in the early game, and the Arlington Renegades and Orlando Guardians going at it in a South Division clash in the later game.

With just three regular-season weeks remaining, both games were significant in terms of playoff positioning.

The DC Defenders could have become the first team to clinch a playoff spot Saturday had the Vipers beaten the Battlehawks, but St. Louis came from behind and won the first overtime game of the 2023 XFL season despite being without star quarterback AJ McCarron due to injury.

Here is a rundown of the scores for Saturday’s XFL games, as well as recaps and reaction for all of the action thus far.

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XFL Saturday Scores

St. Louis Battlehawks def. Vegas Vipers, 21-17 (OT)

Arlington Renegades def. Orlando Guardians, 18-16

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Battlehawks 21, Vipers 17

With a massive game against the Seattle Sea Dragons set for next week, Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said before Saturday’s game against Vegas that he was sitting McCarron to make sure he is fully healthy for Week 9 and beyond.

Despite that, St. Louis won its third consecutive game to improve to 6-2, putting it in second place in the North Division, a half-game ahead of Seattle.

Nick Tiano got his first start at quarterback for St. Louis, and although he didn’t put up huge numbers, he got the job done with 194 yards, one touchdown (two interceptions) through the air, as well as 51 rushing yards.

The key play of the game for St. Louis didn’t come from its offense, though, as it was the special teams unit that stepped up in the fourth quarter.

With the Battlehawks trailing by nine points with about five minutes remaining, they ran a fake punt, and punter Sterling Hofrichter found a wide-open Gary Jennings for a 64-yard touchdown:

St. Louis missed the three-point conversion to tie, but it forced overtime in the waning seconds of regulation with a field goal.

Saturday marked the first opportunity for fans to see the XFL overtime rules in action, and the reaction on social media was overwhelmingly positive:

Similar to an NHL shootout or penalty kicks in soccer, the two teams alternated two-point conversion attempts from the 5-yard line, and the team with the most successful conversions after three tries each won.

Vegas missed each of its two tries, while Tiano hit wide receiver Hakeem Butler for two on St. Louis’ first attempt, and running back Brian Hill then put the game away on the Battlehawks’ second try:

Vegas was the only team eliminated from playoff contention entering Week 8, but it mostly played inspired football thanks to an opportunity to play spoiler.

Just as they have throughout the season, however, the Battlehawks came through in key moments and got better as the game went on.

Next week’s contest against Seattle will be even bigger, but since the Sea Dragons and Defenders play each other this week, the Battlehawks will either be tied for first in the North or all alone in second entering Week 9.

Winning without McCarron was huge, especially since he should be fully healthy and good to go against Seattle.

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Arlington Renegades 18, Orlando Guardians, 16

A tough season for the Guardians took another gut-wrenching twist Saturday.

Down two and with just under 40 seconds remaining, Orlando quarterback Quinten Dormady fumbled the ball after being sacked, clinching an 18-16 win for the 4-4 Renegades that also snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Guardians, meanwhile, dropped to 1-7 on the year.

It was one of five turnovers for Dormady on the afternoon (two interceptions, three fumbles). XFL Twitter unsurprisingly had a few thoughts on that:

The Renegades turned those five turnovers into a defensive touchdown and plenty of second chances for an offense that struggled to generate many points outside of a De’Veon Smith rushing score.

Arlington’s season will continue next Sunday against the D.C. Defenders at noon ET, while the Guardians will be in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET against the San Antonio Brahmas.