The St. Louis Battlehawks triumphed over the Arlington Renegades, 12-6, at The Dome at America’s Center in front of 26,684 fans. The Battlehawks held the Renegades scoreless through the first three quarters and recorded three forced fumbles including a league single game high two from DE Pita Taumopenu.
The game started out with five penalties, two on St. Louis and three on Arlington, through the first drive of the contest, with the Battlehawks forcing the Renegades to third down four times. Arlington ended the drive with a missed 44-yard field goal after 12 plays.
On Arlington’s next drive, DE Pita Taumopenu recorded a sack to force a fumble by Renegades QB Luis Perez, which was also recovered by Taumopenu. Arlington Head Coach Bob Stoops used his super challenge, arguing for roughing the passer. The call on the field was upheld and the ball was turned over to St. Louis. The Battlehawks started the second quarter on the resulting drive. St. Louis QB Max Duggan was sacked twice in back-to-back plays for a loss of 13 yards and forcing fourth down.
On St.Louis’ sixth drive, Duggan scrambled for 37-yards before being tackled on the ARL 2. The Renegades were able to hold the Battlehawks off in the Red Zone, forcing a turnover on downs at the ARL 2 with 5:18 left in the first half. The Battlehawks’ held Arlington within 6 yards of the Renegades endzone in the following drive, forcing a punt from the ARL 2.
St. Louis got the ball back on the ARL 34 after a 48-yard punt by Arlington P Marquette King and a 16-yard punt return by WR Jahcour Pearson. Duggan then threw a pass to WR Hakeem Butler for a 30-yard touchdown reception on the third play of the drive, making the score 6-0.
The Battlehawks continued their dominance on Arlington’s next drive, forcing them into a turnover on downs once again after a sack by DT Isaiah Mack on fourth down with 00:54 left. K Rodrigo Blankenship came in for a successful 48-yard field goal making the score 9-0 as the clock hit zero in the first half.
St. Louis returned for the third quarter with CB Chris Payton-Jones intercepting the throw from Perez during Arlington’s first drive of the second half. The Battlehawks continued to hold the Renegades scoreless through the rest of the third quarter despite Arlington holding the ball for 10:55.
Arlington scored their first points of the game on a 46-yard field goal from K Lucas Havrisik on the first play of the fourth quarter to finish off a 12 play drive and make the score 9-3. On the following St. Louis drive, Duggan fumbled the ball allowing a recovery by Arlington’s CB Jamar Summers at the STL10. Arlington was forced into fourth down once again, bringing out Havrisik for a 26-yard field goal making the score 9-6.
St. Louis returned the favor on the next drive with a 53-yard field goal by Blankenship to extend his perfect kicking record to 14/14 on the season and increase the Battlehawks’ lead to 12-6. Shortly after, SS Qwynnterrio Cole forced a fumble from Arlington’s WR JaVonta Payton that CB Nick Whiteside II then recovered to return the ball to the Battlehawks with 5:00 left in the contest. On the next Arlington drive, Taumopenu continued his strong showing by forcing another fumble by Perez with Chris Garrett recovering to cement a 12-6 Battlehawks win.
The Battlehawks will go back on the road next week as they take on the Memphis Showboats at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, May 11 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN. Tickets are available at UFLBattlehawks.com/tickets.