In week 5 of the UFL season, the St. Louis Battlehawks dominated the rival D.C. Defenders for their fourth consecutive win. The Battlehawks won 45-12 to stay atop the XFL conference at 4-1 and 3-0 in conference.

St. Louis got the ball first and drove down inside the red zone thanks to a 58-yard kick return by Blake Jackson. That’s when quarterback A.J. McCarron fumbled and D.C. recovered. However, things switched back into the Battlehawks’ favor after that, as former St. Louis quarterback Jordan Ta’amu was picked off by cornerback Brandon Sebastian. The Battlehawks capitalized on this with a 13-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Hakeem Butler, followed by a 2-point conversion to give the Battlehawks an early 8-point lead.

For the Defenders, things weren’t getting any better, as a blocked punt by Nico Bolden set St. Louis up inside the 10-yard line. However, the Battlehawks did not finish the drive in the endzone and settled for a field goal.

D.C.’s first quarter woes weren’t done, as Ta’amu threw another pick which bounced off the hands of wide receiver Chris Rowland and into the hands of defensive back Kameron Kelly. This yet again set up St. Louis with a short field and obtained yet another field goal. The Battlehawks took a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter, as their defense only allowed 9 yards the entire quarter.

Going into the 2nd quarter, the Battlehawks were able to get their offense going a bit on their own, driving inside the D.C. 10. But the offense stalled out again and settled for another field goal to take a 17-0 lead.

The Defenders made a push with two touchdowns.  a methodical drive was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown rush by running back Cam’Ron Harris to cut the lead to 12. Then D.C. stopped the Battlehawks offense after 27 seconds of game time.  D.C. marched down the field, capping their drive off with a 15-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Kelvin Harmon, cutting the lead down to just 5 heading into the half.

St. Louis pushed the lead back to eight after three quarters thanks to another field goal. While the offense stayed sputtering, the defense was revving, allowing 0 points and just 40 total yards in the quarter.

The Battlehawks offense gained momentum as running back Wayne Gallman II punched in a touchdown to extend their lead to 14. 

After a quick stop, McCarron found Butler for an 80-yard touchdown in a one-play drive. Then the defense forced their 4th turnover of the day to set up the offense inside the Defenders’ 10-yard. The offense capitalized with a 9-yard rushing touchdown by running back Jacob Saylors and a 1-point conversion to take a 39-12 lead.

St. Louis blocked their 2nd punt of the day to set the offense up inside the 10 for the third time. Backup quarterback Manny Wilkins dove into the endzone after a 5-yard rush to put 45 up on the board for St. Louis. Finally the clock hit zeroes, as the Battlehawks defeated the Defenders 45-12.

St. Louis forced four turnovers along with blocking two punts to frustrate the D.C. offense. This resulted in 8 red zone trips for the Battlehawks, but only 4 of these trips resulted in a touchdown. 

McCarron finished the game 14-24 for 213 yards, while the rushing offense had some decent production of 95 yards led by Saylors with 52. 

One offensive standout was Butler who pulled in 6 catches for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day. 

The Battlehawks will try and extend their win streak to 5 next week hosting the 1-4 Houston Roughnecks.

Edited by Dylan Heinrich

Edited by Hannah Taylor

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com