Pita Taumoepenu (7) and members of the Battlehawks defense celebrate following a quarterback sack in the third quarter of Friday’s UFL game at The Dome at America’s Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

United Football League	1	2	3	4	Final
Columbus Aviators (2-5)	0	7	7	6	20
St. Louis Battlehawks (5-2)	14	10	7	0	31

ST. LOUIS, MO — The St. Louis Battlehawks made a change at quarterback this week and that changed proved to be a magnificent move by head coach Ricky Proehl, as new starter Luis Perez led his new club to a 31-20 victory over the Columbus Aviators in a United Football League game, Friday night at The Dome at America’s Center.

“I liked a lot of things we did tonight,” Proehl said afterward. “We threw the ball well. We made a lot of big plays, especially in that first half. We played well in the second half too. It was a good night.”

The Battlehawks were especially good in that first half, when they scored points on each of their first four possessions. New quarterback Luis Perez, known as the “Spring King” because of his many successful years playing spring professional football, ran for a score and threw for another to help St. Louis jump out to a 24-7 halftime lead.

Columbus took advantage of a Perez interception early in the third quarter to get back within 10 points (24-14), but that was as close as the Aviators would get, as the Battlehawks added a touchdown of their own later in the third to go back up by three scores.

Battlehawks WR Steven McBride celebrates scoring a touchdown in Friday night’s UFL game at The Dome at America’s Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

Perez finished his night with 16 completions on 30 attempts for 204 yards, with the one touchdown pass and one interception. Running back Jarveon Howard, who came into the night as the UFL’s leading rusher, had 59 yards on 12 carries, while teammate Kylin James added 41 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.

On defense, safety Jordan Mosley led the way with seven tackles (four solo), to go with a 0.5 sack and an interception. That pick stopped a Columbus drive just before halftime, and helped the Battlehawks preserve their first half lead.

“The defense was fantastic tonight,” Proehl said. “They have been all season. They were all over the place and causing Columbus all kinds of problems.”

One of those problems was a number of penalties the Aviators committed on the night. The visitors from Ohio finished 14 total penalties, nine of which were committed by their offense.

That forced Columbus to play behind the chains all night and allowed St. Louis to stay in attack mode on offense and defense as much as it wanted.

“We’re just trying to be aggressive out there,” Mosley said. “We know we’ve got a strong group, a fast and quick group, all over the defense. So when we’re out there, we’re just trying to attack wherever we can and force the other offense to make quick decisions and try to force them into mistakes.”

Battlehawks RB Kylin James breaks away from a Columbus defender for a touchdown during Friday’s UFL game at The Dome at America’s Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

The St. Louis offense, on the other hand, seemed to be in control of what it wanted to do all night. That began on its first drive, when the Battlehawks drove 78 yards on eight plays for a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.

Perez scored on a fourth down quarterback sneak to cap that first drive. Then, after the defense stopped Columbus for the second time, the Battlehawks drove 70 yards on eight plays for its second touchdown.

That drive ended when Perez hit Steven McBride for a 14-yard touchdown that, along with the point-after, made the score 14-0.

Columbus responded with a touchdown drive of its own to get on the board, but St. Louis went right down the field again, for a 38-yard field goal by Ramiz Ahmed that put the Battlehawks up 17-7.

Battlehawks TE Tyler Neville leaps over a defender during Friday night’s UFL game at The Dome at America’s Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

The Battlehawks defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, which St. Louis quickly turned into a touchdown on two plays, when Perez hit tight end Tyler Neville for a 26-yard gain, then James broke loose for a 14-yard run for his first score of the night.

“It felt good to get back out there,” Perez said, after beginning the season as the backup quarterback for the Dallas Renegades before being traded to St. Louis three weeks ago. “I’m still learning the offense and still working on getting my timing right with these receivers. But I thought we had a good night and I know we’re only going to get better.”

The Battlehawks, who are now 5-2 on the season and tied with the DC Defenders for first place in the UFL standings, will be back home again next week, when they’ll host the Houston Gamblers in a game on Saturday, May 16.

Kickoff at The Battledome next Saturday is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

SCORING SUMMARY

Team	Qtr	Clock	Play	Score
STL	1	6:26	TOUCHDOWN – Luis Perez 1 yd run (PAT good)	0-7
STL	1	00:19	TOUCHDOWN – Luis Perez 14 yd pass to Steven McBride (PAT good)	0-14
CLB	2	12:42	TOUCHDOWN – Jalen Morton 15 yd run (PAT good)	7-14
STL	2	7:16	FIELD GOAL – Ramiz Ahmed 38 yard field goal	7-17
STL	2	4:05	TOUCHDOWN – Kylin James 14 yd run (PAT good)	7-24
CLB	3	11:18	TOUCHDOWN – Jalan McClendon 12 yd pass to Tay Martin (PAT good)	14-24
STL	3	7:10	TOUCHDOWN – Kylin James 18 yd run (PAT good)	14-31
CLB	4	7:21	TOUCHDOWN – Jalan McClendon 10 yd pass to Keke Chism (PAT good)	20-31

2026 ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS SCHEDULE

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV	Results
March 28, 2026 (Saturday)	11 am	Home	DC Defenders	The Dome at America’s Center		W, 16-10 (1-0)
April 7, 2026 (Tuesday)	7 pm	Away	Dallas Renegades	Toyota Stadium / Frisco, TX		L, 31-15 (1-1)
April 12, 2026 (Sunday)	2 pm	Home	Birmingham Stallions	The Dome at America’s Center		W, 34-30 (2-1)
April 18, 2026 (Saturday)	11:30 am	Away	DC Defenders	Audi Field / Washington, DC		L, 28-22 (2-2)
April 25, 2026 (Saturday)	6 pm	Away	Orlando Storm	Inter&Co Stadium / Orlando, FL		W, 25-17 (3-2)
April 30, 2026 (Thursday)	7 pm	Away	Louisville Kings	Lynn Family Stadium / Louisville, KY		W, 16-3 (4-2)
May 8, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Home	Columbus Aviators	The Dome at America’s Center		W, 31-20 (5-2)
May 16, 2026 (Saturday)	2 pm	Home	Houston Gamblers	The Dome at America’s Center
May 24, 2026 (Sunday)	6 pm	Away	Houston Gamblers	Shell Energy Stadium / Houston, TX
May 29, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Home	Dallas Renegades	The Dome at America’s Center