BattleHawks return to St. Louis for Sunday showdown against D.C. Defenders
by Mark Jurgena
COLLINSVILLE — I gotta say it, shout out to all those in section 127 at the Dome.
With that said, the St. Louis BattleHawks are back for a third season of professional spring football this time with the United Football League.
The UFL is a merger of the B-Hawks old league, the XFL and the United States Football League (USFL).
This year the UFL is an eight team lead with teams split into two divisions one called the XFL conference and one called the USFL conference.
St. Louis sits at 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in the XFL conference with three games remaining in the regular season. Those records put STL in first place in the XFL side of the equation.
Two of those remaining three games will be at The Dome at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis.
This Sunday the B-Hawks kick off against their rival the D.C. Defenders at 11 a.m.
Next Saturday they play an 11 a.m. game at the Arlington Renegades from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.
Finally, the BattleHawks will host the second place San Antonio Brahmas on June 1 at 3 p.m. in downtown St. Louis.
The following week the four qualifying playoff teams will meet and on June 16 in St. Louis at The Dome.
If the BattleHawks can make it that far the crowd may be rather large.
St. Louis broke the modern spring football record for attendance this year on April 6 against Arlington. There were 40,317 fans at The Dome to see STL kicker Andre Szmytz kick a 22-yard field goal as time expired to propel STL to a 27-24 win.
But that large crowd hasn’t been the only one to fill The Dome, the B-Hawks have the top nine largest attendance in modern spring football.
Season results
Both of the B-Hawks losses occurred in heartbreaking fashion.
In the week one opener, STL lost 18-16 at the Michigan Panthers.
Michigan kicker Jake Bates hit a game-winning 64-yard field goal (yes 64 yards) with two seconds remaining in the game to take the victory.
STL then ripped off five straight wins over Arlington, San Antonio, Memphis, D.C. and Houston.
Last weekend in a highly anticipated matchup against the undefeated and two-time USFL defending champion Birmingham Stallions, the BattleHawks blocked a punt with 40 seconds remaining in the game to set themselves up for a possible win but it wasn’t to be as the Stallions continued their undefeated ways winning 30-26.
Players
Former Alabama star QB A.J. McCarron is back for his second season with the BattleHawks. However his status for Sunday is in question due to an ankle injury suffered late in last weeks game.
St. Louis is considered by many to have the best wide receivers in the league in Hakeem Butler, Marcel Ateman, and Jahcour Pearson. They have a dangerous return man in Darrius Sheppard as well.
Defensively the B-Hawks are led by LBs Travis Feeney, Willie Harvey and Mike Rose.
Sunday’s game
Tickets are still available for both remaining home games this season. If you can’t make it across the river, the game will be broadcast Sunday morning at 11 on ABC-30, ESPN +, and simulcast on Sirius/XM satellite radio.
