On Sunday, April 13th the Battlehawks played their second home game this season but with the stakes much higher since they were going against another undefeated team. The advertisements and story of the whole game was simply who will remain the only team to boast a perfect record so far into the season. With that and the added tension of it being an interconference rivalry, this game should have been a fun one to watch and cheer for your local hawks. Unfortunately, watching a tire burn would have been more entertaining and almost enjoyable use of time than to watch the Battlehawks and their lack luster performance on Sunday afternoon.
D.C. started the game strong with boasting two field goals and a touchdown in the first quarter alone, scoring on 75% of their drives to start the game. St. Louis however, responded by turning the ball over twice, once by fumble and once by interception, and punting the ball away. The second quarter was where STL finally picked up some steam and started to remember how to play with grit as they scored on 75% of their drives and even getting an interception to help level the playing field just a little further.
Going into the half the scoreline read D.C. 18 to St. Louis’s 12. The game was not lost, but St. Louis would have to kick it into high gear to beat D.C. and come away with not just their 3rd win of the season, but also their 2nd home win in back-to-back weeks. Coming back into the third quarter though, both teams showed an ice-cold performance that was just dragging out for another 15 minutes. The most to come out of it was a D.C. interception which led to a St. Louis field goal to now make the score 18-15 and close the gap ever so slightly more. The fourth quarter though is when, if you are a St. Louis fan, you would be better off to go watch anything else than to keep watching the game.
STL had the ball to start but would only get 17 yards in 6 plays to where they would be forced to punt the ball away and hope D.C. did not get far. Thankfully the Defenders response was more or less the same as the Battlehawks with going for 24 yards in 6 plays. Now St. Louis gets a second drive and they make the most of it with 4 plays producing 46 yards. However, this would ultimately lead to D.C. intercepting the ball on the next play. D.C. would then take the ball 77 yards in 10 plays and capitalize off of the Battlehawks error and score a touchdown to now further distant the score to 24-15. St. Louis now has the ball and a chance to tie the game since a nine-score difference is still only one score in the UFL. This would not matter though because St. Louis again would turn the ball over in just 44 seconds where D.C. would go to score a field goal right after.
That was the end of the game and it ultimately was just a beat down of the home team on home turf in spectacular fashion. Now, while it was not a good game for the Battlehawks fan base, there is a lesson to be learned here. We can dominate and be the best, we just need to fix the issue of turning the ball over because there is no excuse for turning the ball over 5 times.
St. Louis plays the Arlington Renegades next on April 19th at 11:30 A.M. CST at Choctaw Stadium.
