QB A.J. McCarron runs away from a defender in Saturday’s Battlehawks loss to the Birmingham Stallions. (Photo courtesy: Yahoo Sports)
| United Football League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis (5-2) | 0 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 26 |
| Birmingham (7-0) | 6 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The top two teams in the United Football League played an incredible game, Saturday afternoon at Protective Stadium.
The league’s top two offenses and top two defenses engaged in a back-and-forth battle that saw the lead change hands seven times.
Unfortunately for the St. Louis Battlehawks, they needed one more lead change, but weren’t able to get it, as the host Birmingham Stallions stayed unbeaten and held off the Battlehawks for a 30-26 win.
“Wow, what a great game,” Stallions head coach Skip Holtz said after his team rallied twice in the fourth quarter to take the lead. “We talked about before the game that this was two good football teams that were going to battle all the way down.”
Two third-down completions by quarterback A.J. McCarron and a roughing-the-passer penalty got the Battlehawks in position for running back Jacob Saylors’ third touchdown of the game – a 7-yard run with 7:34 to play.
McCarron’s 2-point conversion pass to wide receiver Jahcour Pearson was nullified by a holding penalty, and St. Louis couldn’t connect the second time around, leaving the Battlehawks with a 26-23 lead.
A seemingly overlooked, but big play in the game came on the ensuing kickoff, when St. Louis kicker Andre Szmyt kicked the ball out of bounds. In leagues like the NFL and NCAA, when that happens the offense gets the ball on their own 20 or 25. But in UFL, the offense gets the ball at midfield and that made it very easy for Birmingham to drive right downfield to score and re-take the lead.
Birmingham responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Adrian Martinez to wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. with 5:23 remaining. Martinez threw a 1-point conversion pass to tight end Jace Sternberger to put the Stallions up by four points. That was key, because it meant St. Louis couldn’t tie the game with a field goal.
The Battlehawks were stuffed on their next drive, but managed to get the ball back when they stopped the Stallions on their next drive and then blocked the ensuing punt of fourth down. St. Louis got the ball back at the Birmingham 47 yard line with 41 seconds remaining.
That seemed like more than enough time for the UFL’s top offense to drive downfield and potentially score a game-winning touchdown. Birmingham stood strong and stopped St. Louis on fourth down to preserve its lead and win the game.
“I wish we could have made a few more plays early in the game,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “I felt we had a chance. We had the lead going into the fourth quarter and ran out of time. Give them credit for stopping us on four plays. We have a lot of weapons. We’ll see them again down the road. We have to correct our mistakes.”
Saylors scored all three Battlehawks touchdowns and added a two-point conversion run. McCarron finished with 161 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Hakeem Butler, the UFL’s leading receiver, had seven catches for 89 yards, including a 44-yarder that helped set up St. Louis’ first touchdown — a 1 yard run by Saylors.
That was the first lead change of the day and made the score 11-9. Birmingham produced the next lead change on its next drive, on a touchdown pass from Martinez to Deon Cain. That was the first of Martinez’s three touchdown tosses and gave the Stallions a 17-11 lead.
Szmyt hit a 61-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to send the game into halftime with a score of 17-14.
“We were lucky all they got was a field goal there,” Holtz said. “They looked like they were in rhythm a little bit. Fortunately for us, there wasn’t much time to do anything more than kick a field goal there.”
Saylors scored his second touchdown, on an 8-yard throw from McCarron, midway through the third to give the Battlehawks back the lead. But they didn’t have it long, as Martinez threw his second touchdown, minutes into the fourth quarter, to put Birmingham up 23-20.
Each team scored midway through the fourth, as the lead changed hands again and again, before Birmingham finally closed the game out with its fourth down stop with 15 seconds left.
Birmingham, which won the USFL championship last season, are now 7-0 and have already clinched a spot in the UFL playoffs this season. St. Louis fell to 5-2 on the year. The Battlehawks will finish the weekend in first place in the XFL Conference, but they will be scoreboard watching to see what happens in Sunday’s San Antonio/Houston game.
If San Antonio wins, it would tie St. Louis for first place. If San Antonio loses, the Battlehawks will maintain sole possession of first place.
“Everyone felt there was a reason they were 6-0 and we were 5-1,” Becht said. “That team is good and has not been beaten. One thing Birmingham hadn’t had is adversity, and they fought through it. That’s what good teams do.
“We’ll see them again down the road. I’m excited about that.”
Because the teams are in different conferences -– the Stallions in the USFL and the Battlehawks in the XFL –- they could only square off again this season in the UFL Championship Game on June 16 in St. Louis.
The Battlehawks will be back home next Sunday, when they’ll host the DC Defenders in an 11 a.m. contest at The Dome at America’s Center. That game will be televised nationally on ABC.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Team | Qtr | Clock | Score | Type | Play | Drive | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BHAM | 1 | 6:32 | TD | RUSH | Marable, C.J. 1 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to Kevin Austin Jr. FAILED) | 3/34/2:17 | 6-0 |
| STL | 2 | 13:43 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 38 yd Field Goal | 13/60/7:49 | 6-3 | |
| BHAM | 2 | 5:11 | FG | Ahmed, Ramiz 27 yd Field Goal | 13/47/8:32 | 9-3 | |
| STL | 2 | 2:06 | TD | RUSH | Saylors, Jacob 1 yd rush (2PT ATT RUSH by Jacob Saylors GOOD) | 6/59/3:05 | 9-11 |
| BHAM | 2 | 00:16 | TD | PASS | Cain, Deon 5 yd reception thrown by Martinez, Adrian (2PT ATT RUSH by Marlon Williams GOOD) | 9/69/1:50 | 17-11 |
| STL | 2 | 00:00 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 61 yd Field Goal | 3/8/00:16 | 17-14 | |
| STL | 3 | 6:17 | TD | PASS | Saylors, Jacob 8 yd reception thrown by McCarron, AJ (2PT ATT RUSH by Jacob Saylors FAILED) | 3/11/1:24 | 17-20 |
| BHAM | 4 | 12:20 | TD | PASS | Williams, Marlon 4 yd reception thrown by Martinez, Adrian (2PT ATT PASS to Deon Cain FAILED) | 15/73/8:57 | 23-20 |
| STL | 4 | 7:34 | TD | RUSH | Saylors, Jacob 7 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to Steven Mitchell Jr. FAILED) | 10/55/6:48 | 23-26 |
| BHAM | 4 | 5:23 | TD | PASS | Austin Jr., Kevin 40 yd reception thrown by Martinez, Adrian (1PT ATT PASS caught by Jace Sternberger GOOD) | 1/40/00:09 | 30-26 |