XFL 2023 Results: Week 7 Scores and Best Twitter Reaction from Sunday

Only three weeks remain in the 2023 XFL season, and things got very interesting over the weekend.

The Seattle Sea Dragons kicked off Week 7 by defeating the Arlington Renegades 24-15 on Friday. The Vegas Vipers outlasted the San Antonio Brahmas 26-12 on Saturday, while the Orlando Guardians pulled off the shocker of the season on Saturday night.

Orlando came into the week as the league's only winless team, while the visiting D.C. Defenders were its only undefeated squad. The Guardians stunned the best team of the XFL, winning a thrilling 37-36 contest.

The action picked back up on Sunday with the Houston Roughnecks hosting the St. Louis Battlehawks. Houston came in with a two-game lead atop the XFL South, while the 4-2 Battlehawks were looking to keep pace with Seattle (5-2) in the North.

---

The two teams traded turnovers to start the game. St. Louis fumbled on its first drive, and Houston had its initial drive end when Cole McDonald was picked off by Brandon Sebastian in the red zone. St. Louis opened up the scoring late in the first quarter with a beautiful 12-yard touch pass from AJ McCarron to Gary Jennings for a touchdown.

The two-point try was unsuccessful, but St. Louis found itself with an early six-point advantage.

Houston responded with a terrific drive highlighted by a few nice throws from McDonald—making his first start for the Roughnecks—and a 27-yard run by Brycen Alleyne.

The Battlehawks had the lead at the end of the first quarter, but Houston was threatening with a first down in the red zone. A pass-interference penalty on the ensuing play gave Houston 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Two plays later, McDonald cashed in with a one-yard touchdown pass to Deontay Burnett. A botched point-after play left the score tied at six.

Houston's ensuing kickoff fell short of the 20-yard line, which in the XFL is as massive as a penalty. That gave St. Louis the ball at Houston's 45-yard line, and the Battlehawks capitalized with another touchdown drive.

McCarron's second touchdown pass of the afternoon went to Hakeem Butler. This time, the two-point try was successful.

The Roughnecks answered right back, moving into the red zone on a drive that started at their own 30. However, the series stalled at the St. Louis 13, and Houston was forced to settle for a 25-yard Hunter Duplessis field goal.

St. Louis moved into Houston territory near the end of the half, but failed on a 4th-and-2 conversion attempt. The Battlehawks used their one "challenge anything" opportunity to argue that there was pass interference. The play stood, and the Roughnecks got one last opportunity with 28 seconds remaining.

Not everyone agreed with the decision by head of officiating Dean Blandino.

Houston mismanaged its possession and failed on its own 4th-down attempt with six seconds on the clock. St. Louis got a quick eight-yard pass from McCarron to Butler, setting up a 59-yard field-goal attempt by Donny Hageman.

Hageman's attempt just barely made it over the crossbar, giving St. Louis a 17-9 lead at intermission.

Houston got the ball to begin the second half, and while the Roughnecks moved into St. Louis territory, their drive stalled and ended with a punt. The Houston defense, though, forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive.

The Battlehawks got their own defensive stop on the next series, with Freedom Akinmoladun getting a critical third-down sack to end it.

A flag was initially thrown on the play, but Blandino quickly reviewed the play and determined that Akinmoladun's tackle wasn't unnecessary roughness. Fans on social media really seemed to appreciate both the ruling and the transparency of the process—which is part of the XFL broadcast.

The Battlehawks and Roughnecks traded punts to close out a scoreless third quarter, and St. Louis opened the fourth with the lead and the football.

St. Louis had another three-and-out to start the final frame, and then a good punt was partially erased by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on linebacker Willie Harvey Jr. However, McDonald was sacked on the opening play of Houston's next drive, the Roughnecks never recovered and they punted the ball right back to St. Louis.

Houston managed to break the second-half defensive stalemate when Battlehawks running back Brian Hill fumbled in St. Louis territory. Cornerback William Likely scooped up the ball and returned it for a touchdown.

However, St. Louis' defense denied Houston's two-point try, which left the Battlehawks with a two-point lead.

Even though Hill had fumbled twice on the afternoon, the Battlehawks went right back to him on the ensuing drive. He had a critical third-down reception followed immediately by a 15-yard run for a first down.

That helped spark a methodical scoring drive that McCarron capped with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Darrius Shepherd.

A pass-interference call on the point-after try gave St. Louis two attempts at it, and Hill took the ball in for the successful conversion and a nine-point lead—which is still a one-score game in the XFL.

Houston's next drive went nowhere, and St. Louis got a fourth-down stop to get the ball back and give the offense an opportunity to close out the game. The Battlehawks did exactly that with a third-down screen pass to Shepard.

McCarron finished the game 26-of-34 for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Hill led all players with 53 rushing yards, while Shepard led all players with 70 receiving yards.

Fans on social media seemed to enjoy what was a thrilling finish to Week 7, though some Houston fans were understandably disappointed in the result.

The win places St. Louis in a tie with Seattle and only a game behind the Defenders in the North. The Roughnecks are now nursing a one-game lead in the South.

Week 8 will kick off on Saturday afternoon when the Battlehawks host the Vipers. That game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff and can be viewed on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.