The St. Louis Battlehawks got their 2025 campaign off to a hot start, outscoring their opponents 57-15 to go undefeated in their first two weeks of play. However, this momentum did not continue into the next two weeks, as the Battlehawks lost two straight games and fell to 2-2. St. Louis began its slump with a home loss to the DC Defenders 27-15. The Battlehawks followed that up with another double-digit loss to the Arlington Renegades 30-15.
Offensive woes
The Battlehawks led the league in total offense, all-purpose yards, scoring, touchdowns, first downs, third-down conversions and time of possession for two weeks, which made it more surprising when the offense could hardly get anything going for two weeks straight.
St. Louis had three of the top five leading rushers in the league through the first two weeks and led the league in rushing yards with 437 yards. In weeks three and four, the Battlehawks only produced 167 yards on the ground.
This lower production was mainly thanks to the fall-off of running back Jacob Saylors’ production. He went from the second leading rusher in the league to gaining only a single yard on seven carries in week three and 61 yards on 20 carries in week four.
It wasn’t just the rushing game that set the Battlehawks back, however, as quarterback Manny Wilkins went from having the most total offensive yards in the league through the first two weeks with 452 total yards, to gaining just 186 total yards in week three with three interceptions. Things got worse from there, as Wilkins was carted out of week four’s game against the Renegades with a serious leg injury just five snaps into the matchup. Even worse, on the same play that Wilkins was injured, Arlington forced Wilkins to fumble and carried the ball into the endzone for a touchdown.
This injury forced former Texas Christian University standout quarterback Max Duggan to step in. Duggan could not replicate his college success, completing just eight of his 17 passes for 78 yards with two interceptions, including a game-sealing pick-six.
Defense still holding strong
While the offense may have faltered, the Battlehawks’ defense still showed signs of success. The defense allowed 45 points in the two weeks and were forced into numerous precarious situations thanks to the offense’s lack of production.
Of their week three and four opponents’ 24 total drives, St. Louis relinquished points on only eight of those, and only five of them ended in the endzone. This was a solid success rate of 66% for the defense. On top of this success, six of these drives started in St. Louis territory.
The defense kept the team in the game, not only thanks to their stops, but also through their forced turnovers. St. Louis forced only one turnover on downs and three interceptions, including a pick-six that pulled the team within one point of Arlington in the third quarter.
Standout performances
While Saylors got stuffed at the line of scrimmage, he still made a mark through his receiving game, with 107 receiving yards over the last two weeks. As a result, Saylors still leads the team with 179 receiving yards.
A majority of the standouts over the last two weeks come from the defensive side of the ball. One of these players is safety Qwynnterrio Cole, who racked up 14 total tackles with one tackle for loss and one pass deflection.
2024 All-UFL team linebacker Willie Harvey also made his mark, racking up 12 total tackles, two tackles for loss and one interception. Fellow linebacker Travis Feeney also showed out with 10 total tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass deflection.
Finally, kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has been perfect this entire season so far, making 10 out of his 10 attempted field goals so far this season. Three of these kicks were from 50+ yards away, and his farthest came from 56 yards out.
Next week
The Battlehawks will head home for their next matchup on Saturday at 6 p.m. on April 26 against the Michigan Panthers.
Edited by Colin Simmons l [email protected]
Copyedited by Claire Bauer and Natalie Kientzy | [email protected]
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | [email protected]
