A sincere thank you to all who have already helped with the various COMMUNITY HUSTLE initiatives to help the tornado relief efforts.
Don’t forget, St. Louis Area Foodbank will have their truck at the official St. Louis Battlehawks tailgate in Baer Plaza to collect non-perishable food items, utensils, containers, and cleaning supplies before the XFL Conference Championship.
–Game Captains this week are Max Duggan, Jacob Saylors, Willie Harvey, Pita Taumoepenu, and Rodrigo Blankenship.
–Congratulations to the St. Louis Battlehawks players voted to the ALL-UFL squad this season:
K Rodrigo Blankenship, OG Steven Gonzalez, LB Willie Harvey, LS Alex Matheson, C Mike Panasiuk, RB Jacob Saylors, and Edge Pita Taumoepenu.
“Just extremely grateful and blessed to be in this position and be on this team,” said Saylors, who stressed this was not a solo honor. “We talk about this all the time, this is a ‘team’ environment–emphasis on team. That’s how important it is for every player and coach.”
The Battlehawks offense ranked first in the UFL with an average of 4.8 yards per carry, 1444 rushing yards, and 16 TDs on the ground.
“Hats off to the offensive line, it’s a collective effort as a running back to get that accolade because I rely on my offensive line, my quarterbacks, coaches,” continued Saylors. “I definitely couldn’t do what I’ve done consecutive years without my running backs coach Kyle Caskey. He has a lot on his plate too with special teams, he’s still able to coach me, Jarveon, and Kevon up. It’s a team accolade.”
Saylors set new franchise records with 113 carries and 499 rushing yards. His 118-yard performance in Week 8’s victory over Birmingham also set a new single-game high for the Battlehawks.
Although he led the UFL with a 55.4 yard rushing average per game, Jacob was among the regulars who dressed but cheered from the sidelines in the regular season finale at DC. He finished with 399 rushing yards, just fifteen behind San Antonio’s Jashaun Corbin, who played in all 10 games this season. But that doesn’t concern Saylors.
“I just can’t help but think–-last year I got All-UFL, but this year the main thing on my mind is that championship. I was happy to see it, but I’m not going to be whatsoever satisfied until we get that championship.”
--Kickoff is at 5pm CT for the XFL Conference Championship. Great seats still remain and don’t forget that $10 for every ticket purchased at TheUFL.com/battlehawkstornadorelief goes to the United Way of Greater St. Louis to help tornado relief efforts.