A block in the back could have been a nightmare for Chris Rowland and the Orlando Storm on Sunday night at Inter&Co Stadium during the the team’s UFL debut game.
Rowland, a Storm receiver, was trailing on a play as teammate Elijhah Badger was speeding down the field on the way to a 94-yard touchdown off a screen pass. Rowland, however, clipped a Columbus Aviators’ player in the back and flags flew just before Badger crossed the goal line.
A few plays later, however, Rowland redeemed himself, catching the game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Plummer as the Storm opened the season with a 23-17 victory.
It’s awesome, man. It’s hard to win,” Storm coach Anthony Becht said. “When you get these early ones at home … we gotta lock the gates at home. That’s gotta happen. We gotta give our fans what they want. It was great. I love winning.”
Orlando Storm running back Jashaun Corbin runs toward a first-quarter touchdown during the Orlando Storm’s debut UFL game Sunday night, March 29, 2026, at Inter&Co Stadium. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
Becht said afterward that the team should push the Rowland touchdown into Badger’s statistical touchdown column.
“Look he’s a vet, he understands. He’s a great playmaker, but we can’t do those things,” Becht said of the block in the back by Rowland. “We take a lot of pride in penalties. We only had three in this game. … We gotta continue that trend.
“I love Chris we’re taking that touchdown away from him and we’re gonna transfer that over to Badger. Will put an asterisk next to it. … No, (Rowland) knows what he did. It’s silly. We can’t have it. He was hustling down the field … He owes EB something. I don’t know what.”
The two players brushed off the incident after the game.
“There was no trash talking … all love. I mean, we won the game at the end of the day. We still got the touchdown,” said Badger, who played at Florida.
Rowland expected a bit more razzing after Badger’s touchdown was wiped off the board.
“Immediately, I was surprised. I thought he was gonna be like, ‘Dang, why did you do that,’ ” Rowland said. “But first thing, Elijhah is a pro’s pro and he responded, saying ‘Hey, we’re good. We’re gonna finish this drive. It’s all right.
Orlando Storm defensive end Keshawn Banks celebrates after swatting down a pass with teammate Lamar Jackson during the Orlando Storm’s debut UFL game Sunday night, March 29, 2026, at Inter&Co Stadium. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
“Once he said that, I felt a little better. Fittingly it had to be me that scored, which I wasn’t too happy about. I’d rather it had been anyone else, but I’m glad we were able to finish that drive and we handled it well.”
Badger will hold him to his promise, however.
“I owe him a steak dinner. That’s what I told him,” Rowland said.
The Storm had the Inter&Co crown of 11,127 people on their feet early after Columbus fumbled the opening kickoff and safety Josh Minkins jumped on it to give the Storm their initial possession inside the 30-yard line. Three plays later, running back Jashaun Corbin, a Rockledge native and former FSU running back, broke a couple of tackles on a 15-yard touchdown run to put Orlando on top 6-0. The two-point conversion failed.
Pictures | Columbus Aviators vs. Orlando Storm
The Storm offense sputtered a bit the rest of the half, but the defense did its part, holding Columbus to a pair of field goals. Orlando kicker Michael Lantz hit a 55-yard field goal as the first half ended to give Orlando a 9-6 lead at the break.
“It’s the first game, we had a lot of new pieces, but what I liked was we took the lead at halftime,” Bech said. “And then we come out in the second half and we make the adjustments we need to make. … The offense comes out and strikes quick, two drives in a row. That’s how you get things cooking.”
Corbin scored his second touchdown of the game, this one from 13 yards, four minutes into the third quarter, and then Rowland caught the touchdown pass that would give the Storm enough cushion. Corbin wound up with 66 yards on 15 carries.
The Storm defense had a number of big plays by several players, including Minkins, 7 tackles; defensive end Keshawn Banks, 2 sacks and a pass break-up; linebacker Andrew Parker, 9 tackles; and safety Nate Meadors, 8 tackles.
“Our defense, it’s hard. You gotta get off the field. They didn’t convert a lot of third downs, but they made some big plays and got a lot of yards,” Becht said. “But it was bend-don’t-break today. I think they were 1-of-5 in the red zone. That was critical for us. …. (we) were killer in the red zone.”
Orlando Storm quarterback Jack Plummer during the Orlando Storm’s debut UFL game Sunday night, March 29, 2026, at Inter&Co Stadium. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
Plummer had a terrific debut after getting the quarterback nod over Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, while Badger had 4 catches for 132 yards.
“(Plummer) was phenomenal. He made some passes in some tough situations with pressure,” Becht said. “Completed 77% of his passes, that’s huge. That’s how you win football games.”
Becht and the players were pleased with the atmosphere at Inter&Co. The small venue provided for a noisy crowd at times, and everyone was presented with orange Storm T-shirts when they walked into the stadium gates.
“First game in Orlando was just an awesome sight to see,” Becht said. “The fanbase was incredible tonight. If everybody just brings one friend next game, we’re gonna have a great environment, but tonight was great, with the orange T-shirts and all that stuff.”
Rowland agreed.
“It was good. … I think the fans showed up and showed out,” Rowland said. “It was very exciting to see, running through that tunnel, seeing all that orange on [the fans]. … we definitely fed off of it.”
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.