Battlehawks RB Jarveon Howard celebrates after a key first down run during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s UFL game against the Houston Gamblers. (Photo courtesy: TheUFL.com)

United Football League1234Final
St. Louis Battlehawks (6-3)0108321
Houston Gamblers (2-4)636015

HOUSTON, TX — A week after suffering a tough home defeat that could have clinched the team a spot in the United Football League playoffs, the St. Louis Battlehawks went on the road and avenged that loss with a 21-15 victory over the Houston Gamblers, Sunday night at Shell Energy Stadium.

With the win, St. Louis is now officially one of the four teams who have qualified for the UFL playoffs. The Battlehawks are 6-3 this season and with one game left in the regular season, the team is assured of finishing no worse than fourth in the league standings.

“It was a good win for us,” Battlehawks head coach Ricky Proehl said. “We didn’t like how we played last week. We made too many mistakes and didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had to take control of the game. Tonight, we did a much better job. Offense was solid. Defense was fantastic. It was a really good win. I’m proud of how these guys played tonight.”

Battlehawks DE Pita Taumoepenu celebrates as his team clinched a spot in the UFL playoffs with its win over Houston on Sunday. (Photo courtesy: TheUFL.com)

Houston, which grabbed an early lead last week and held on as time ran out on the Battlehawks, jumped out early again, when it got a touchdown pass from Hunter Dekkers to receiver JaVonta Payton and then turned a St. Louis missed field goal into a field goal of its own to take a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Battlehawks responded with dominant play throughout the second quarter, which led to a short field goal by kicker Ramiz Ahmed and a thrilling 38-yard touchdown pass with 1 second left in the half from quarterback Luis Perez to receiver Hakeem Butler.

St. Louis had just gotten the ball back with less than a minute to go before halftime on an interception by Michael Ojemudia. Perez completed two short passes to get the Battlehawks to a 3rd-and-1, with a chance to maybe get the ball into field goal range.

But on the third down play, running back Jarveon Howard broke loose for a 21-yard gain that put the ball at Houston’s 38-yard line with less than 10 seconds remaining. St. Louis called timeout to set up a play that would give them one shot at the end zone, before taking that field goal attempt.

And on that play, Butler beat his defender down the left sideline and Perez hit him with a deep strike that Butler caught on one knee at the 4-yard line.

Then before any Gambler defender could touch him or tackle him, the 6-foot-6 playmaker got back on his feet and snuck into the end zone for a touchdown, that along with Ahmed’s extra-point gave St. Louis a surprising 10-9 halftime lead.

“We had a chance to take a shot,” Butler said. “The original play was for a shorter throw to try to improve our field goal range. But then we saw them rotate to a (man-to-man) coverage. So we decided to take a shot deep… I was open and made a play for the ball. Touchdown, baby.”

Houston regained the lead early in the third quarter, the Battlehawks responded with a 12-play, 69-yard drive, which was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run by Kylin James and a powerful two-point conversion run by Howard.

After stopping the Gamblers three times in the fourth quarter, St. Louis added another Ahmed field goal to go up by six. That forced Houston into needing at least a touchdown to tie the score. And the Battlehawks defense wasn’t allowing that, as it pressured Gamblers QB John Rhys Plumlee into several tough throws and incompletions.

St. Louis eventually stopped Houston a fourth time, before running out the final 1:21 to seal the game.

“Like I said, it was a great win,” Proehl said. “Just a great team effort. We all knew we had to play better than we did last week and I felt like the whole team took on that challenge and got it done out here tonight.”

The Battlehawks will finish off the regular season with a chance to clinch home-field advantage for its playoff game, when it hosts the Dallas Renegades, Friday night at The Dome at America’s Center.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on FOX.

SCORING SUMMARY

TeamQtrClockPlayScore
HOU17:07TOUCHDOWN – Hunter Dekkers 4-yd pass to JaVonta Payton (PAT no good)0-6
HOU212:11FIELD GOAL – John Hoyland 28-yd field goal0-9
STL24:20FIELD GOAL – Ramiz Ahmed 36-yd field goal3-9
STL2:01TOUCHDOWN – Luis Perez 38-yard pass to Hakeem Butler (PAT good)10-9
HOU310:33TOUCHDOWN – Kirk Merritt 4-yd run (2-pt conversion attempt no good)10-15
STL33:55TOUCHDOWN – Kylin James 2-yd run16-15
STL33:55TWO-POINT CONVERSION – Jarveon Howard run18-15
STL400:21FIELD GOAL – Ramiz Ahmed 34-yd field goal21-15

2026 ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS SCHEDULE

DateTimeAtOpponentLocationTVResults
March 28, 2026 (Saturday)11 amHomeDC DefendersThe Dome at America’s CenterW, 16-10 (1-0)
April 7, 2026 (Tuesday)7 pmAwayDallas RenegadesToyota Stadium / Frisco, TXFS1L, 31-15 (1-1)
April 12, 2026 (Sunday)2 pmHomeBirmingham StallionsThe Dome at America’s CenterABCW, 34-30 (2-1)
April 18, 2026 (Saturday)11:30 amAwayDC DefendersAudi Field / Washington, DCABCL, 28-22 (2-2)
April 25, 2026 (Saturday)6 pmAwayOrlando StormInter&Co Stadium / Orlando, FLW, 25-17 (3-2)
April 30, 2026 (Thursday)7 pmAwayLouisville KingsLynn Family Stadium / Louisville, KYFS1W, 16-3 (4-2)
May 8, 2026 (Friday)7 pmHomeColumbus AviatorsThe Dome at America’s CenterFOXW, 31-20 (5-2)
May 16, 2026 (Saturday)2 pmHomeHouston GamblersThe Dome at America’s CenterABCL, 23-16 (5-3)
May 24, 2026 (Sunday)6 pmAwayHouston GamblersShell Energy Stadium / Houston, TXW, 21-15 (6-3)
May 29, 2026 (Friday)7 pmHomeDallas RenegadesThe Dome at America’s CenterFOX