Battlehawks receiver Hakeem Butler (88) celebrates with teammates after scoring his second touchdown of the day in Sunday’s win over the D.C. Defenders. (Photo courtesy: TheUFL.com)
| United Football League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis (4-1) | 14 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 45 |
| D.C. (2-3) | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
WASHINGTON, DC — The St. Louis Battlehawks scored 28 unanswered points in the second half and ran their franchise-record winning streak to four straight games on Sunday, when the club defeated the host D.C. Defenders, 45-12, in a United Football League game at Audi Field in the nation’s capital.
A crowd of 16.058 watch St. Louis dominate D.C. from start to finish in what was the Battlehawks’ first ever win against the Defenders. The teams had played three times previously and D.C had won them all.
That changed on Sunday, as St. Louis moved the ball almost at will with its offense, forced four turnovers on defense — including three interceptions of former Battlehawks QB Jordan Ta’amu, and blocked two punts on special teams. For good measure, St. Louis also almost ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, had a key punt return to produced good field position, and saw kicker Anre Szmyt made four field goals as well.
“If you’re a head coach watching all of that for four quarters, you sit back and take it in,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “I love this team. They deserve to be 4-1.”
That 4-1 mark has St. Louis tied with San Antonio for first place in XFL Conference of the UFL. The season is only half over, but the Battlehawks would own the tiebreaker over the Brahmas, since they defeated them three weeks ago in a game in San Antonio.
“This group is playing well,” Becht said. “We feel like we’ve got a nice rhythm with how we’re doing things. Guys are playing hard and making plays and it’s coming from everywhere. It’s exciting to see so many of our guys showing off their ability.”
That was definitely the case on Sunday, beginning with the opening play of the game, when Battlehawks return man Blake Jackson returned the opening kickoff 58 yards to the D.C. 25-yard line. Jackson was one ankle tackle away from going all the way, but his return gave St. Louis excellent field position.
Unfortunately, the Battlehawks wasted it, as quarterback A.J. McCarron was stripped of the ball on a sack and D.C. recovered it to get the ball and not allowed St. Louis to score. That was one of only a few bad plays of the day for the Battlehawks, who got the ball back just three plays later, when C. Rowland intercepted a Ta’amu pass on D.C.’s third play of the game.
Seven plays later, McCarron hit receiver Hakeem Butler for a 13 yard touchdown to put St. Louis on the board. McCarron then found Marcell Ateman for a two-point conversion that made the score 8-0.
After forcing a three and out on D.C.’s next possession, the Battlehawks blocked the punt attempt and recovered it inside the D.C. red zone. That led to the first of Szmyt’s field goal makes. Another turnover on D.C.’s next possession gave St. Louis the ball again. That drive also resulted in a Szmyt field goal that put the Battlehawks up 14-0.
D.C. got back into the game in the second quarter, when it scored a couple of touchdowns around Szmyt’s third field goal to take the game into halftime at 17-12.
Neither team had much success in the third quarter, until a 27 yard punt return by St. Louis’ Stevie Mitchell gave the Battlehawks the ball on D.C.’s 29 yard line. That led to the fourth field goal of the day and a little breathing room for St. Louis at 20-12.
The fourth quarter though, is when the Battlehawks took firm control of the game.
First, a sack and a fumble recovery by William Harvey gave St. Louis the all on D.C.’s 36. Then six plays later, running back Wayne Gallman banged his way into the end zone for a touchdown that made the score 26-12.
The St. Louis defense stopped D.C. on a key fourth down on its next drive to give the ball back to its offense. From there, the Battlehawks produced the play of the day, when McCarron hit Butler for an 80-yard touchdown, deep down the left sideline, that put St. Louis up 32-12. But finished with six catches for 147 yards and the two touchdowns while playing in front of friends and family from the Baltimore area.
“Me being the catalyst is cool,” Butler said. “I always believe with the ball in my hands I’ll do great things but also my teammates. There are dudes that don’t get to play who could go to another team and start. Right now, just stacking up wins is telling about where our team is and where we’re headed.”
St. Louis added touchdowns by Jacob Saylors and Malik Wilkins later in the fourth to turn Sunday’s win into more than a win. It was an absolute trouncing.
Halfway through the season, McCarron leads the UFL with 10 touchdown passes and is second in the league with 1,051 passing yards. He also has thrown a league-low one interception.
Butler is third in the league with 25 catches, but he leads with 344 yards and three touchdowns.
St. Louis also has the top defense, statistically, in the UFL. The Battlehawks allow a league low 223.4 yards per game and has forced a league-high eight turnovers (six interceptions, two fumble recoveries), and also two blocked punts.
“A couple of weeks ago, we had 53 (defensive) mental errors,” Becht said. “I challenged them and said if we’re going to get where we want to be, we can’t have that. I told the team at camp, ‘I’m sick of hearing about the offense. I want this to be the best defense in the league.’”
The Battlehawks (4-1) will be back home next weekend, when they’ll host the Houston Roughnecks on Saturday, May 4. That matchup at The Dome at America’s Center is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. and the game will be televised national on FOX.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Team | Qtr | Clock | Score | Type | Play | Drive | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 1 | 8:07 | TD | PASS | Butler, Hakeem 13 yd reception thrown by McCarron, AJ (2PT ATT PASS caught by Marcell Ateman GOOD) | 7/44/3:58 | 0-8 |
| STL | 1 | 3:37 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 37 yd Field Goal | 4/-12/2:08 | 0-11 | |
| STL | 1 | 00:45 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 51 yd Field Goal | 4/6/1:58 | 0-14 | |
| STL | 2 | 8:08 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 22 yd Field Goal | 9/75/6:01 | 0-17 | |
| DC | 2 | 2:11 | TD | RUSH | Harris, Cam’Ron 1 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to FAILED) | 10/45/5:57 | 6-17 |
| DC | 2 | 00:07 | TD | PASS | Harmon, Kelvin 15 yd reception thrown by Ta’amu, Jordan (2PT ATT PASS to Alex Ellis FAILED) | 6/53/1:37 | 12-17 |
| STL | 3 | 1:20 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 39 yd Field Goal | 4/8/1:53 | 12-20 | |
| STL | 4 | 11:41 | TD | RUSH | Gallman II, Wayne 1 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to FAILED) | 6/36/3:12 | 12-26 |
| STL | 4 | 9:00 | TD | PASS | Butler, Hakeem 80 yd reception thrown by McCarron, AJ (2PT ATT PASS to Marcell Ateman FAILED) | 1/80/00:12 | 12-32 |
| STL | 4 | 8:10 | TD | RUSH | Saylors, Jacob 9 yd rush (1PT ATT PASS caught by Hakeem Butler GOOD) | 1/9/00:07 | 12-39 |
| STL | 4 | 00:36 | TD | RUSH | Wilkins, Manny 5 yd rush (1PT ATT RUSH by Wayne Gallman II FAILED) | 3/7/1:21 | 12-45 |