BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Saladin McCullough rushed for 124 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Los Angeles Xtreme beat the Birmingham Thunderbolts 35-26 Sunday night.
The win gave Los Angeles (4-2) sole possession of first place in the XFL West Division.
Los Angeles quarterback Tommy Maddox completed 17 of 25 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremaine Copeland had seven receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown.
There were five lead changes before the Xtreme took the lead for good on a 19-yard field goal by Jose Cortez in the fourth quarter. The kick was set up by an interception by Errick Herrin.
Los Angeles added to its lead with 1:45 to play on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to Copeland.
Maddox leads the XFL with 10 touchdown passes and 1,389 passing yards.
Birmingham quarterback Casey Weldon completed 16 of 21 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game at the end of the third quarter with a wrist injury.
Jay Barker — a hometown favorite who quarterbacked Alabama to a national championship in 1992 — threw two interceptions and completed 2 of 5 passes in place of Weldon.
Attendance at the game was reported as 11,197.
Summary
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
LOS ANGELES 6 13 7 9 35
BIRMINGHAM 7 16 3 0 26 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: BIR - TD, QUINCY JACKSON 9 YD PASS FROM CASEY WELDON
(CASEY WELDON PASS TO STEPFRET WILLIAMS FOR
CONVERISON), 4:11. Drive: 8 plays, 85 yards in
4:11. Key plays: Weldon 36-yard pass to S
Williams to Los Angeles 28. BIRMINGHAM 7-0
LOS - TD, SALADIN MCCULLOUGH 1 YD RUN (CONVERISON
FAILED), 11:01. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards in
6:00. Key plays: Maddox 25-yard pass to
Copeland to Birmingham 29. BIRMINGHAM 7-6
2ND QUARTER: BIR - FG, BRAD PALAZZO 46 YD, 0:22. Drive: 7 plays, 54
yards in 4:14. Key plays: Weldon 28-yard pass
to Jackson to Birmingham 48; Bostick 25-yard
run to Los Angeles 25. BIRMINGHAM 10-6
LOS - TD, SALADIN MCCULLOUGH 5 YD RUN (PAT FAILED), 8:54.
Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards in 4:05. Key plays:
Duff recovery of Bostic fumble at Birmingham
29. LOS ANGELES 12-10
BIR - TD, STEPFRET WILLIAMS 80 YD PASS FROM CASEY WELDON
(CASEY WELDON PASS TO ED SMITH FOR CONVERISON),
10:40. Drive: 2 plays, 82 yards in 1:06.
BIRMINGHAM 17-12
LOS - TD, DAMON GIBSON 58 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX
(SALADIN MCCULLOUGH RUN FOR CONVERISON), 12:06.
Drive: 2 plays, 72 yards in 0:51. LOS ANGELES
19-17
BIR - TD, ED SMITH 14 YD PASS FROM CASEY WELDON (PAT
FAILED), 14:13. Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards in
1:54. Key plays: Weldon 15-yard pass to Jackson
to Los Angeles 49; Weldon 24-yard pass to
Jackson to Los Angeles 24; Weldon 1-yard run on
3rd-and-1 to Los Angeles 14. BIRMINGHAM 23-19
3RD QUARTER: LOS - TD, DARNELL MCDONALD 16 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX
(SALADIN MCCULLOUGH RUN FOR CONVERISON), 4:08.
Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards in 3:44. Key plays:
Mccullom 11-yard run to Birmingham 35; Maddox
12-yard pass to Copeland on 3rd-and-3 to
Birmingham 16. LOS ANGELES 26-23
BIR - FG, BRAD PALAZZO 35 YD, 11:43. Drive: 12 plays, 60
yards in 7:24. Key plays: Bostic 14-yard run to
Los Angeles 44; Weldon 17-yard pass to Jackson
to Los Angeles 23; Weldon 11-yard pass to Smith
to Los Angeles 17. LOS ANGELES 26, BIRMINGHAM 26
4TH QUARTER: LOS - FG, JOSE CORTEZ 19 YD, 6:19. Drive: 5 plays, 19
yards in 2:47. Key plays: Herrick 4-yard
interception return to Birmingham 20; Maddox
18-yard pass to McDonald to Birmingham 2. LOS
ANGELES 29-26
LOS - TD, JEREMAINE COPELAND 7 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX
(PAT FAILED), 13:15. Drive: 8 plays, 52 yards
in 4:25. LOS ANGELES 35-26
TEAM STATISTICS
LOS BIR
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 22 15
Rushing 7 5
Passing 13 10
Penalty 2 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 8-11 3-7
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 352 360
Total plays 57 47
Average gain 6.2 7.7
NET YARDS RUSHING 123 65
Rushes 30 19
Average per rush 4.1 3.4
NET YARDS PASSING 229 295
Completed-attempted 17-25 18-26
Yards per pass 8.5 10.5
Sacked-yards lost 2-11 2-14
Had intercepted 0 2
PUNTS-AVERAGE 2-51.0 1-32.0
RETURN YARDAGE 123 128
Punts-returns 1-16 2-17
Kickoffs-returns 5-101 6-111
Interceptions-returns 2-6 0-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 3-25 6-40
FUMBLES-LOST 1-0 1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 32:00 28:00
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
Los Angeles rushing: Saladin Mccullough 25-124, Ken Oxendine 2-7,
Tommy Maddox 3-minus 8.
Birmingham rushing: James Bostic 14-78, Curtis Alexander 1-5, Joe
Douglass 1-minus 5, Casey Weldon 2-minus 6, Jay Barker 1-minus 7.
Los Angeles passing: Tommy Maddox 17-25 for 240 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD.
Birmingham passing: Casey Weldon 16-21 for 300 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD,
Jay Barker 2-5 for 9 yards, 2 INT, 0 TD.
Los Angeles receiving: Jeremaine Copeland 7-82, Damon Gibson 3-94,
Frank Leatherwood 3-25, Darnell Mcdonald 2-33, Saladin Mccullough
2-6.
Birmingham receiving: Quincy Jackson 6-96, Ed Smith 5-46, Stepfret
Williams 3-122, James Bostic 3-28, Kaipo Mcguire 1-17.
Los Angeles tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Leomont Evans 6-3-0,
Shawn Stuckey 6-3-1, Donnell Day 4-1-0, Dell Mcgee 4-2-0, Dave Richie
4-3-1, Jamal Duff 3-0-0, Jeff Russell 3-1-0, Ron Carpenter 3-3-0,
Juan Long 3-3-0, Ricky Parker 2-0-0, Rico Mack 2-1-0, Eric Johnson
2-1-0, Errick Herrin 2-1-0, Chad Pegues 2-1-0, Matt Keneley 2-2-0,
Terry Billups 1-0-0, Jose Cortez 1-0-0, Ken Oxendine 1-0-0, Ramondo
Stallings 1-1-0.
Birmingham tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Chris Shelling 11-6-0,
James Willis 7-3-0, Duane Butler 6-1-0, Calvin Jackson 6-1-0, David
Knott 6-3-0, Dion Foxx 4-2-0, Charles Preston 4-2-1, Johnny Mitchell
3-1-0, Eric Sloan 3-1-0, Patrick Scott 3-1-0, Jarett Loggins 2-1-0,
Toya Jones 1-0-0, Keith Franklin 1-0-0, Sedrick Curry 1-0-1.
Interceptions: Los Angeles (Errick Herrin 1 for 4 yards, Dell Mcgee 1
for 2 yards).
Fumbles lost: Birmingham (James Bostic).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Los Angeles (Jamal Duff).
A: 11,197.
