By Jo Ganzer
ST. LOUIS – May 17, 2025 – The St. Louis Battlehawks triumphed over the Birmingham Stallions, 29-28, at The Dome at America's Center in front of 30,114 fans. The lead changed six times, with both teams turning the ball over twice via fumble and a combined 105 penalty yards. The Battlehawks rushed for 173 yards, their most since Week 1 vs HOU, including two rushing touchdowns by QB Max Duggan and one by RB Jacob Saylors giving them a tie for the most rushing touchdowns on the team with five.
After being shut down by the Battlehawks in three plays to start the game, Birmingham was able to score on their second drive with a 65-yard pass by QB J’Mar Smith to WR Deon Cain to make the score 6-0. On the following kick return, Gary Jennings fumbled which was recovered by Birmingham’s CB Mario Goodrich. The St. Louis defense held strong, bringing in K Harrison Mevis for a successful 45-yard field goal to increase Birmingham’s lead, 9-0.
St. Louis looked to put their own points on the board on their next drive, starting with a pass from QB Max Duggan to TE Jake Sutherland for 13-yards. The Battlehawks kept their forward progression with a combination of 14-rushing yards by RB Jacob Saylors and 25-penalty yards against the Stallions, with Duggan rushing to score the first Battlehawks touchdown of the game to make the score 9-6.
St. Louis started the second quarter with LB Travis Feeney sacking Smith to force a fumble that was then recovered by LB Pita Taumoepenu at the BHM 22 and returned for 15-yards. Duggan then rushed for 12-yards for another Battlehawks touchdown. He then completed a pass to Saylors for a successful one-point conversion attempt, putting the Battlehawks in the lead, 13-9.
Birmingham wasted no time, responding with a 14-play drive to get Mevis in field goal range, where he knocked in a 34-yarder to make the score 13-12 with 4:42 left in the first half. The Stallions made it down to the STL 16 before Smith was sacked on 3rd and 10 by LB Chris Garrett. St. Louis regained possession with 1:13 left in the first half, recording a 6-play, 44-yard drive before passing the ball off to K Rodrigo Blankenship without a clock stoppage. Blankenship missed his first field goal of the season on the 58-yard attempt as the clock ran out in the first half.
Coming back after halftime, Duggan threw an interception to Birmingham SS A.J. Thomas on the BHM 45. The Stallions used the chance to score a touchdown on a 50-yard pass to Cain to recover the lead, 18-13. The Battlehawks tried to respond, making it down to the BHM 20 on a 22-yard rush by Saylors before WR Jarveon Howard fumbled the ball on his following rush attempt. Birmingham LB Kyahva Tezino recovered the fumble. The Stallions once again brought in Mevis for a successful 36-yard field goal to make the score 21-13.
Saylors recorded a 14-yard rush on the next drive, followed by a 12-yard scramble by Duggan to move into Birmingham territory with 46 seconds left in the third. The Battlehawks made it to the BHM 31 before bringing in Blankenship for a successful 49-yard field goal to shrink the Birmingham lead, 21-16.
Birmingham’s Cain fielded the kickoff, returning the ball to the BHM 35 with an offensive holding call on Thomas, knocking them back to the BHM 17. Smith then threw a pass intercepted by MLB Callahan O’Reilly on the BHM 18, who returned the ball for a St. Louis Pick-Six to put the Battlehawks back on top, 22-21.
With 5:21 left on the game clock, Smith threw a pass to WR Cade Johnson for a 47-yard touchdown reception and followed it with a pass to Cain for a successful one-point conversion, once again flipping the lead back in Birmingham’s favor, 28-22.
The Battlehawks returned the favor, with a 9-yard rush by Saylors followed by a 30-yard pass from Duggan to WR Hakeem Butler. Saylors wasn’t done, running for another 23-yards to the BHM 5 before another 4-yard rush into the endzone. The team turned to Saylors again for a successful 1-yard rush to score the one-point conversion attempt and switch the lead back to St. Louis, 29-28. The Stallions’ attempt to rally was thwarted when Feeney forced a fumble on RB C.J. Marable that was recovered by CB Myles Jones with 28 seconds left in the game.
The Battlehawks will return to the “Battledome” next week as they take on the San Antonio Brahmas at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, May 23 at The Dome at America’s Center for the final home game of the regular season. The game will be televised on FOX. Tickets are available at UFLBattlehawks.com/tickets.