Valor Drop Matchup with Baltimore
Friday June 15, 2018
Nelson totals five touchdowns in loss to Brigade
BALTIMORE, MD— The Washington Valor fell, 72-42, to the league-leading Baltimore Brigade Friday night at Royal Farms Arena. Valor quarterback Arvell Nelson, playing in his third game with the team, totaled five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) and accounted for 236 total yards.
After taking a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening possession, the Brigade forced a Valor three-and-out, setting Baltimore up in scoring position. Brigade quarterback Randy Hippeard found wideout Quentin Sims in the corner of the end zone to give Baltimore a 14-0 lead with 2:34 left in the first quarter. Nelson, who entered the week with 11 touchdowns in just two games, found wide receiver Reggie Gray for an 18-yard score to cut the Brigade lead to 14-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Valor linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson tied the game at 14 when he gathered a loose ball that had bounced off the goalpost. With 5:44 left in the first half, Brigade fullback Rory Nixon scored his second rushing touchdown of the game and sixth of the season. Just five minutes after the Valor recovered a loose kickoff, Brigade wide receiver Demetres Stephens did the same, giving Baltimore a 28-14 lead with 4:37 left in the half. On Washington’s first play of the following possession, Nelson found wideout Josh Reese for a 48-yard, catch-and-run touchdown, bringing Washington back within one score. Baltimore managed a field goal before the end of the half, extending their lead to 31-21.
On the third quarter’s first drive, Hippeard and Sims connected in the end zone for the second time, giving Baltimore a 38-21 lead. Nelson then tossed his second touchdown of 40+ yards, finding Gray for a 42-yard score bringing the Valor back within 10. On the following possession, Nixon powered in his third rushing touchdown of the game, setting a Brigade single-game record for rushing touchdowns. Early in the fourth quarter, Nelson tallied his first rushing touchdown of the game, cutting the lead to 45-35. Baltimore quickly answered when Hippeard found wide receiver Milton Williams for his first of two touchdowns. Nelson continues to manufacture big plays, hitting wideout TT Toliver for a 30-yard touchdown to bring the Valor back within 10 points. The final five minutes of the game belonged to Baltimore as the Brigade ran off a 20-0 run to close the game, including touchdowns passes to Williams and wideout Brandon Thompkins and a pick-six by defensive back Joe Powell.
MVP: BAL QB Randy Hippeard – 18/25 passing, 178 yards and five touchdowns
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: BAL FB Rory Nixon – three rushing touchdowns
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: BAL DB Joe Powell – six total tackles, one interception returned for a touchdown
The Valor return to Washington, D.C. next Friday, June 22, hosting the Philadelphia Soul at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena. The game will be broadcast live on Monumental Sports Network, AFL Now and Facebook Watch.
ABOUT THE WASHINGTON VALOR
The AFL’s Washington Valor are owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which is one of the largest integrated sports and entertainment companies in the country with one of the most diverse partnership groups in all of sports. The company also owns and operates the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go, the AFL’s Baltimore Brigade, NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming, as well as Capital One Arena, the premier sports and entertainment venue in Washington, D.C. Monumental Sports & Entertainment is also co-owner of aXiomatic, which has controlling interest in global esports franchise Team Liquid, and oversees the management of Kettler Capitals Iceplex--the training facility for the Washington Capitals--and the Eagle Bank arena at George Mason University.
