Spring is here and that means the welcomed arrival of a new season of spring football. The UFL kicked off this weekend and put the St. Louis Battlehawks front and center to jump into the start of its season.
They played Friday night against the Houston Roughnecks down in Houston, but homefield advantage was no where to be found that night. The game started a bit rough with the STL QB1 going three and out on the first drive but was quickly recovered when Qwynnterrio Cole of the Battlehawks intercepted just the second pass of Houston’s first drive. The Battlehawks would turn around and punish the Roughnecks for the error by having Jacob Saylors rush for 34 yards on the return drive for a touchdown. This pattern would only continue as St. Louis in the second quarter would have a touchdown and 2 field goals to have three consistent scoring drives with Houston having another interception and a punt going into the half.
The 3rd quarter was pretty lifeless with either punts or three and outs on either side of the ball reaching a stalemate. The fourth quarter though showed the signs of life we would expect from this gritty team with the Battlehawks scoring another two touchdowns within their first two drives of possession. The second drive was the most impressive though with it only taking 54 seconds and two plays to cover 89 yards. At this point, Manny Wilkins had been pulled from the St. Louis side since they were up 24-0 and was replaced with the TCU graduate Max Duggan now under center. Max would rush for 15 yards himself to get the first down at St. Louis’s own 26 then the next play would be courtesy of Jarveon Howard. Duggan would hand the ball off to Howard where he would shed two blockers off within the first five yards and take it to the house for a 74-yard touchdown making the score 31-0 with only six minutes left in the game.
Houston would then have two possessions back-to-back with a touchdown on the first. The second was a result of a unique UFL rule where, instead of an onside kick, the losing team will get the ball but with it being 4th and 12. They would use this rule and draw a penalty on STL to keep their hopes alive of possibly scoring again. Their hope was short lived though with Houston’s last drive only consisting of two missed passes and two sacks from St. Louis’s Pita Taumoepenu. Max Duggan would kneel the rest of the game out and lead the Battlehawks to a 1-0 record to start not only the 2025 campaign but also to start the UFL season in dominant fashion.
The Battlehawks play next on April 6th at 5:30 PM CDT against the San Antonio Brahmas. The game will be at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, MO and available to watch on FS1.
