Battlehawks WR Gary Jennings catches a touchdown pass in the first quarter of Sunday’s XFL football game against the Houston Roughnecks. (Photo courtesy: XFL.com)

XFL FOOTBALL 2023	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
St. Louis Battlehawks (5-2)	6	11	0	7	24
Houston Roughnecks (4-3)	0	9	0	6	15

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

HOUSTON, TX — A.J. McCarron, the XFL’s leader in touchdown passes, threw for three more scores Sunday afternoon, in leading the St. Louis Battlehawks to a 24-15 road victory over the host Houston Roughnecks.

McCarron, who now has 19 touchdown passes in St. Louis’ seven games this season, helped the Battlehawks build a 17-9 halftime lead by throwing two touchdowns in the first half. Then added the game-clincher in the fourth quarter, as the Roughnecks had pulled to within 17-15 early in the fourth.

Both teams committed two turnovers, the second of which for St. Louis led directly to Houston’s second touchdown. It came on a fumble by running back Brian Hill — his second of the game — and was recovered by William Likely, who returned it 35 yards for a score that brought the Roughnecks to within two points.

The Battlehawks defense held on the two-point conversion try to could have tied the game. But Houston had all the momentum and a riled up home crowd that seemed ready to push them to a big victory.

But McCarron kept his club poised and drove right down the field, and capped off an 11-play, 73-yard drive, with a 10-yard touchdown toss to Darrius Shepherd that gave St. Louis back its comfortable lead. Hill banged in the one-point conversion, on a run up the middle, to put the Battlehawks back up by nine.

McCarron finished the day with 26 completions on 34 passes for 222 yards and the three touchdowns.

That proved to be the edge St. Louis needed, as it held Houston at bay for the final four minutes of the game to close out its final regular season road game with a big-time win.

The victory lifted St. Louis’ record to 5-2 and moved the club back into a second-place tie with the Seattle Sea Dragons in the XFL North Division. Seattle won its game the day before against Arlington, and now both the Battlehawks and Sea Dragons trail the D.C. Defenders, who lead the division with a 6-1 record.

St. Louis owns a slight tie-breaker over Seattle due to its victory over that club back in Week 2. That game was played in Seattle, but the teams will meet again in St. Louis in two weeks, in a contest many believe will serve as a playoff elimination game.

Next week though, the Battlehawks will host the first of three straight home games at the Dome at America’s Center.

On Saturday, St. Louis will play the Vegas Vipers. That contest is scheduled to kick off at noon and will be televised live on ESPN.

Scoring Summary

1ST QUARTER		STL	HOU
	4:18 – TD – Gary Jennings 14 yd pass from AJ McCarron (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)	6	0

2ND QUARTER		STL	HOU
	13:34 – TD – Deontay Burnett 1 yd pass from Cole McDonald (One-Point Run Conversion Failed)	6	6
	8:22 – TD – Hakeem Butler 5 yd pass from AJ McCarron (AJ McCarron Pass to Hakeem Butler for Two-Point Conversion)	14	6
	3:11 – FG – Hunter Duplessis 25 yd field goal	14	9
	0:01 – FG – Donny Hageman 59 yd field goal	17	9

4TH QUARTER		STL	HOU
	10:44 – TD – William Likely 35 yd fumble return (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)	17	15
	3:54 – TD – Darrius Shepherd 10 yd pass from AJ McCarron (Brian Hill Run for One-Point Conversion)	24	15

St. Louis Battlehawks Upcoming XFL Football Schedule

Sat., April 8 — vs. Vegas Vipers — 12 pm (ESPN)

Sun., April 16 — vs. Seattle Sea Dragons — 2 pm (ESPN)

Sat., April 22 — vs. Orlando Guardians — 11 am (ESPN)

All Battlehawks home games will be played at The Dome at America’s Center.