Wayne Gallman II (30) makes a catch during Saturday’s Battlehawks game against the Arlington Renegades. (Photo courtesy: TheUFL.com)
| United Football League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Battlehawks (6-3) | 0 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 22 |
| Arlington Renegades (2-7) | 8 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 36 |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, TX — One week after posting an impressive win to clinch a spot in the United Football League playoffs, the St. Louis Battlehawks delivered a thud of a performance in its final road game of the 2024 regular season.
The Battlehawks, who came into the game with a 6-2 record and were tied for first place in the XFL Conference with the San Antonio Brahmas, lost 36-22 to the 1-7 Arlington Renegades.
A number of misplays, including four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble), plagued St. Louis throughout the game. Despite that, the Battlehawks held the lead for a brief period in the third quarter. Unfortunately, Arlington quickly regained its edge and didn’t let go to earn its second win of the season.
“They played well for four quarters and didn’t waiver,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said of Arlington. “We looked good at times and really bad at times, and that’s on me. Balls on the ground, missing tackles. We talk about all of these little details that make us better and make us great. We have to go out and live up to that.”
Combined with San Antonio’s win later in the day over previously unbeaten Birmingham, St. Louis fell out of first place and into second place. The Brahmas are 7-2, while the Battlehawks are 6-3.
But St. Louis still has a prime chance to host the XFL Conference Championship Game, which will be played on Sunday, June 9. If the Battlehawks can defeat the Brahmas next week, in a game that will be played in St. Louis at The Dome at America’s Center, both teams will finish the regular season with 7-3 records. But St. Louis will own the tie-breaker by having beaten San Antonio in both head-to-head matchups.
Next week is a must-win game for the Battlehawks.
St. Louis will hope to have its regular starting quarterback, A.J. McCarron, back for that game. He sat out for the second straight week due to an ankle injury. McCarron was dressed for Saturday’s game against the Renegades, but his role was as the backup QB and he was only going to play if replacement QB Manny Wilkins got hurt.
Wilkins had an up-and-down day under center for the Battlehawks. He threw for 179 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 51 yards and two more touchdowns. But he also threw three fourth quarter interceptions that prevented St. Louis from pulling off any kind of comeback.
“Any time there are interceptions it’s inexcusable,” Wilkins said. “As the quarterback of this football team, my job is to take care of the ball. You have to give them credit, but that’s on me for turning the ball over.”
Running back Jacob Saylors had a big day for the Battlehawks, rushing for 104 yards and scoring his UFL-leading eighth touchdown of the season. But nothing the Battlehawks did offensively was enough to make up for their weak defensive effort.
St. Louis gave up 345 total yards, with 257 of them and three touchdowns coming through the air. The Battlehawks also missed a number of tackles throughout the day, which allowed the Renegades to extend plays and gain more yardage than they probably should have. It was by far, St. Louis’ worst defensive performance of the season.
“We really didn’t execute properly today,” Becht said. “There were a lot of little errors. We talked about three areas. On momentum plays we had to crush them all, and Arlington did that. On situational focus, Arlington did that. And in one-on-one battles, again, Arlington did that.”
Kickoff for next Sunday’s game at The Dome is slated for 3 p.m., and will be broadcast on FOX.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Team | Qtr | Clock | Score | Type | Play | Drive | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARL | 1 | 3:58 | TD | PASS | Cannella, Sal 46 yd reception thrown by Perez, Luis (2PT ATT PASS caught by Isaiah Winstead GOOD) | 1/46/00:09 | 8-0 |
| STL | 2 | 13:05 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 20 yd Field Goal | 11/57/5:53 | 8-3 | |
| ARL | 2 | 5:22 | FG | Garibay, Jonathan 38 yd Field Goal | 14/42/7:43 | 11-3 | |
| STL | 2 | 3:49 | TD | PASS | Saylors, Jacob 11 yd reception thrown by Wilkins, Manny (2PT ATT RUSH by Wayne Gallman II FAILED) | 3/50/1:33 | 11-9 |
| ARL | 2 | 1:25 | TD | PASS | Winstead, Isaiah 27 yd reception thrown by Perez, Luis (2PT ATT RUSH by Isaiah Winstead GOOD) | 7/76/2:24 | 19-9 |
| STL | 2 | 00:00 | TD | RUSH | Wilkins, Manny 1 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to Jacob Saylors FAILED) | 8/57/1:25 | 19-15 |
| STL | 3 | 11:53 | TD | Wilkins, Manny (1PT ATT RUSH by Wayne Gallman II FAILED) | 7/65/3:07 | 19-21 | |
| ARL | 3 | 6:28 | TD | PASS | Green, Seth 5 yd reception thrown by Perez, Luis (2PT ATT PASS caught by Seth Green GOOD) | 10/77/5:25 | 27-21 |
| ARL | 4 | 11:45 | FG | Garibay, Jonathan 26 yd Field Goal | 11/67/5:52 | 30-21 | |
| ARL | 4 | 1:31 | TD | INT | Powell, Joe 49 yd interception return | 36-22 | |
| STL | 4 | 1:31 | PAT | INT | Keylon Kennedy 100 yd interception return | 36-22 |