Battlehawks tight end Jake Sutherland dives toward the end zone during Saturday’s United Football League game against San Antonio at The Dome at America’s Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| United Football League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio Brahmas (7-3) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| St. Louis Battlehawks (7-3) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
ST. LOUIS, MO — The 34,379 fans who attended Saturday’s United Football League game at The Dome at America’s Center got the tense battle from the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas that everyone expected.
It was a defensive battle all day, which saw both teams struggle to move the ball against the other’s top-rated defense.
St. Louis led the entire game, but with 12 seconds to go, saw San Antonio lining up for a field goal that could have given the visitors the lead.
Fortunately for the Battlehawks, San Antonio kicker Ryan Santoso’s 51-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, giving St. Louis a hard-fought 13-12 win and home-field advantage when the teams meet again next Sunday in the XFL Conference championship game.
“Just a hard fought ballgame by two tough teams that didn’t want to back down and let this game get away,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said.
The final scenario was set up by a set of circumstances unique to the UFL. San Antonio scored a touchdown with 1:56 left in the game and elected to go for two points on the conversion, to possibly take the lead and set itself up for a win.
The Brahmas attempted a pass that was completed, but was originally ruled unsuccessful because the receiver was tackled short of the goal line. After review though, the call was overturned and the two points were awarded to the Brahmas.
On the same play though, St. Louis used its Super Challenge. A UFL rule that allows teams to challenge any call or non-call of any play on the field.
St. Louis challenged that San Antonio lineman Julie’n Davenport was illegally downfield on the pass and that the penalty would negate the successful two-point conversion. After a second review, it was determined that the Battlehawks were correct, so a penalty was called and the two points were taken away.
The penalty nullified the play, but didn’t eliminate San Antonio’s chance to attempt it, so the Brahmas were given another chance. That play was unsuccessful, so St. Louis was able to keep its lead.
“I finally got one right,” Becht said of the challenge. “That’s been a struggle, trying to find the right play to use it on. Upstairs, the coordinators are looking at that stuff. People were saying there might have been a lineman downfield, and there was time for us to look at it and challenge.”
St. Louis got the ball back and tried to run out the clock, but had to punt with 50 seconds to go. San Antonio drove the ball to St. Louis’ 33-yard line and with what seemed like enough time to run another play and possibly get closer, the Brahmas elected to try the field goal with 12 seconds left.
Santoso had one kicked blocked earlier in the game and some in the building thought Battlehawks 6-foot-6 receiver Hakeem Butler may have gotten a piece of the game-winning try. Replays couldn’t confirm that, but it didn’t matter. The kicked sailed wide and St. Louis won the game.
“That explained a lot about who we are,” Battlehawks linebacker Willie Harvey said. “We’ve been putting in the work and sometimes make mistakes. But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Due to that finish, both clubs completed the regular season with 7-3 records and because St. Louis won both head-to-head meetings, the Battlehawks will host next Sunday’s playoff game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on FOX.
Another key factor in the Battlehawks win was the return of quarterback A.J. McCarron, who was injured near the end of a game three weeks ago and had to sit out the last two. St. Louis lost two of those three games. Having its leader back played a big part in winning on Saturday.
McCarron threw for 115 yards, a touchdown, a one-point conversion, and an interception. The touchdown went to receiver Steven Mitchell, on a 22-yard pass play in the second quarter that gave St. Louis its first lead. McCarron then hit tight end Jake Sutherland for a one-point conversion that made the score 7-0. St. Louis never trailed.
“A.J. has an ankle injury and it was my decision to hold him back for a couple of weeks,” Becht said. “He wanted to play two weeks ago. It’s not something that’s going to heal. We’re just trying to manage it. I thought he looked great. The reason he played is we don’t want rust in the playoffs, and this game meant a lot to us.”
The Battlehawks went ahead 10-0 on a 32-yard field goal by kicker Andre Szmyt just before the two-minute warning in the second quarter. San Antonio scored its first touchdown early in the third to make the score 10-6.
Both teams struggled to move the ball after that, with St. Louis adding a field goal with just under four minutes left in the game. That chance was set up by a 47 yard punt return by Darrius Shepherd that gave the Battlehawks the ball at the Brahmas’ 33.
St. Louis led 13-6 before San Antonio’s final touchdown set up the two-point conversion drama that proved to be the difference in the game.
“They have a great defense and we didn’t execute real well most of the day,” Becht said. “We’ve got work to do if we’re gonna be able to handle them again next week with only a week to get ready. We’ve got work to do, for sure.”
SCORING SUMMARY
| Team | Qtr | Clock | Score | Type | Play | Drive | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 2 | 11:54 | TD | PASS | Mitchell Jr., Steven 22 yd reception thrown by McCarron, AJ (1PT ATT PASS caught by Jake Sutherland GOOD) | 3/43/1:06 | 7-0 |
| STL | 2 | 2:03 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 32 yd Field Goal | 13/82/7:16 | 10-0 | |
| SA | 3 | 10:39 | TD | RUSH | Ellison, Morgan 6 yd rush (2PT ATT PASS to Justin Smith FAILED) | 8/75/4:21 | 10-6 |
| STL | 4 | 3:19 | FG | Szmyt, Andre 38 yd Field Goal | 5/13/2:46 | 13-6 | |
| SA | 4 | 1:56 | TD | PASS | Kirklin, Jontre 37 yd reception thrown by Dormady, Quinten (2PT ATT PASS caught by Jontre Kirklin GOOD) | 3/51/1:23 | 13-12 |