The D.C. Defenders are back in the UFL Championship. This year, they’ll host it.
The Defenders, 5-5 in the regular season, upset the 8-2 Orlando Storm to send D.C. into the title game, 28-22. The Storm entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed; the Defenders were the fourth and final playoff team.
The Storm had beaten the Defenders in back-to-back games to end the regular season, winning 27-19 at Orlando in Week 9 and 29-23 in D.C. in Week 10.
Sunday’s game was played in Daytona Beach, after being moved from Orlando (due to a scheduling conflict) to Columbus, Ohio before returning to Florida.
The Defenders will host the winner of Sunday night’s game between the 6-4 Louisville Kings and the 6-4 St. Louis Battlehawks.
The Storm and the Kings are in their first UFL seasons. The Defenders won the title a year ago.
For the first two years of the merged USFL and XFL, the championship game was played in St. Louis. This year, D.C. was selected as the site of the championship game in April.
For D.C., quarterback Jason Bean completed 18 of 33 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. Four running backs combined for 172 rushing yards; Abram Smith led the way with 57 yards on 11 carries.
The Defenders’ final four points came via a 61-yard field goal from kicker Matt McCrane. As of this year, field goals of 60 yards or longer are worth four points in the UFL.
The UFL Championship will be played on Saturday, June 13, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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