LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Xtreme picked the right time to play their best defensive game of the season.
The Xtreme clinched the Western Division title, using a smothering defensive effort in a 24-0 blanking of the San Francisco Demons.
Ranked seventh in the eight-team league in total defense, the Xtreme had allowed 53 points in their last two games heading into Saturday’s showdown for the divisonal title.
The Xtreme (7-3) stymied the Demons, limiting them to 261 yards while forcing a pair of turnovers en route to the first shutout in club history.
San Francisco (6-4), which beat Los Angeles in the first week on Mike Panasuk’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, also has qualified for the playoffs and will meet league-leading Orlando next week.
Improving Saladin McCullough capped a game-opening nine-play, 85-yard drive with an 11-yard run that gave Los Angeles a 7-0 advantage 5:14 into the contest.
McCullough, who is a backup to Rashaan Shehee, carried eight times for 73 yards. Shehee rushed for 92 yards on 17 attempts.
Noel Prefontaine scored on a 10-yard run later in the quarter, extending the lead to 14-0.
Jose Cortez, the league’s leading kicker, connected from 19 yards on the final play of the first half to give Los Angeles a 17-0 advantage.
Not to be outdone, Tommy Maddox threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeremaine Copeland with 8:11 left in the third quarter to cap the scoring. It was Maddox’s league-leading 18th TD toss.
A former NFL first-round pick, Maddox completed 15-of-24 passes for 164 yards
Demons quarterback Mike Pawlawski went 17-of-29 for 136 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in favor of Pat Barnes in the fourth quarter. Barnes was 4-of-11 for 65 yards.
SUMMARY
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SAN FRANCISCO 0 0 0 0 0
LOS ANGELES 14 3 7 0 24 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: LOS - TD, SALADIN MCCULLOUGH 11 YD RUN (SALADIN
MCCULLOUGH RUN FOR CONVERISON), 5:14. Drive: 9
plays, 85 yards in 5:14. Key plays: Maddox
17-yard pass to Dunn on 3rd-and-3 to Los
Angeles 39; Maddox 20-yard pass to Ryans to San
Francisco 41; Maddox 9-yard pass to Copeland to
San Francisco 23. LOS ANGELES 7-0
LOS - TD, NOEL PREFONTAINE 10 YD RUN (SALADIN MCCULLOUGH
RUN FOR CONVERISON), 12:56. Drive: 7 plays, 78
yards in 4:40. Key plays: McCullough 22-yard
run to San Francisco 47; Shehee 28-yard run to
San Francisco 19. LOS ANGELES 14-0
2ND QUARTER: LOS - FG, JOSE CORTEZ 19 YD, 15:00. Drive: 9 plays, 68
yards in 2:21. Key plays: Maddox 10-yard pass
to Copeland on 3rd-and-6 to San Francisco 45;
Maddox 16-yard pass to Copeland to San
Francisco 29; Maddox 21-yard pass to Copeland
to San Francisco 1. LOS ANGELES 17-0
3RD QUARTER: LOS - TD, JEREMAINE COPELAND 11 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX
(RASHAAN SHEHEE RUN FOR CONVERISON), 6:49.
Drive: 7 plays, 51 yards in 3:57. Key plays:
Maddox 10-yard pass to Copeland to San
Francisco 38; Shehee 8-yard run to San
Francisco 11. LOS ANGELES 24-0
4TH QUARTER: NONE
TEAM STATISTICS
SAN LOS
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 16 21
Rushing 6 9
Passing 8 10
Penalty 2 2
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-10 2-9
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-7 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 261 337
Total plays 60 58
Average gain 4.4 5.8
NET YARDS RUSHING 77 173
Rushes 17 30
Average per rush 4.5 5.8
NET YARDS PASSING 184 164
Completed-attempted 21-40 15-28
Yards per pass 4.3 5.9
Sacked-yards lost 3-17 0-0
Had intercepted 2 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 2-32.5 5-37.2
RETURN YARDAGE 121 15
Punts-returns 4-36 1-1
Kickoffs-returns 3-85 1-14
Interceptions-returns 0-0 2-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 5-60 7-54
FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 1-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 27:04 32:56
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Los Angeles (Jose Cortez 36).
San Francisco rushing: Terry Battle 7-40, Brandin Young 3-33, Mike
Pawlawski 3-5, Kelvin Anderson 4-minus 1.
Los Angeles rushing: Rashaan Shehee 17-92, Saladin Mccullough 8-73,
Noel Prefontaine 1-10, Josh Wilcox 2-5, Team 1-minus 2, Scott
Milanovich 1-minus 5.
San Francisco passing: Mike Pawlawski 17-29 for 136 yards, 2 INT, 0
TD, Pat Barnes 4-11 for 65 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
Los Angeles passing: Tommy Maddox 15-24 for 164 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD,
Scott Milanovich 0-4 for 0 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
San Francisco receiving: Terry Battle 6-48, James Hundon 4-76, Travis
Moore 4-34, Jimmy Cunningham 3-16, Brian Roberson 2-22, Kelvin
Anderson 1-4, Brandin Young 1-1.
Los Angeles receiving: Jeremaine Copeland 9-99, Damon Dunn 2-29,
Damon Gibson 2-15, Larry Ryans 1-20, Rashaan Shehee 1-1.
San Francisco tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Wendell Davis
2-0-0, Dwayne Harper 3-0-0, Kevin Kaesviharn 4-0-0, Terrance Joseph
4-0-0, Toby Wright 3-0-0, Greg Williams 7-0-0, Jon Haskins 2-0-0,
Otis Floyd 2-0-0, James Williams 3-0-0, Craig Powell 2-0-0, Dave
Thomas 4-1-0, Carl Hansen 2-0-0, Jermaine Miles 1-0-0, Albrey Battle
2-0-0, Eric England 1-0-0, Lee Cole 1-0-0, Steve Scifres 1-0-0.
Los Angeles tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Ron Carpenter 5-0-0,
Clifton Abraham 2-1-0, Jeff Russell 5-2-1, Reginald Durden 0-4-0,
Tinker Keck 1-0-0, Dell Mcgee 3-0-0, Ricky Parker 3-0-0, Leomont
Evans 4-0-0, Juan Long 2-0-0, Rico Mack 7-2-0, Errick Herrin 1-1-0,
Matt Keneley 3-1-1, Dave Richie 3-0-0, Chad Pegues 2-1-1, Jamal Duff
1-0-0, Latario Rachal 1-0-0.
Interceptions: Los Angeles (Ron Carpenter 1 for 0 yards, Reginald
Durden 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: San Francisco (Kelvin Anderson).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Los Angeles (Dave Richie).
Officials: Referee-Randy Christal, Umpire-Al Granado, Head
linesman-Dana Mckenzie, Line judge-Tom Hofmann, Back judge-Dino
Paganelli, Side judge-David Chesney, Field judge-Paul Engelberts.
A: 18,121; T: 2:44.
