The St. Louis Battlehawks season ended at the hands of the cinderella story Louisville Kings. Both teams came into the playoff game with a record of 6-4 but, the difference between the teams though was that St. Louis was coming out of two nasty home losses, while the Kings were 6-1 out of their last seven.
This spelled trouble for the Battlehawks as they would need to play their most aggressive but clean ball that they have all season to have a shot at making the championship game for the first time in its franchise history. Louisville would also be looking to make the same feat, but as a brand-new franchise, this would be a true turn around from what was once an 0-3 bottom of the barrel team.
Just 18,111 people attended the game, making it the least attended game all season for St. Louis for their biggest game of the year.
The game started with Louisville deferring to the second half and Battlehawks getting an early chance to strike and it looked good until St. Louis got stalled near their own 45 and only a yard to go, where the coaches elected to punt the ball away instead of possibly going for it. This caused an eruption of boos and disdain from the crowd as it was the exact opposite of what St. Louis needed to do. Louisville would make them feel that mistake as they would hand the ball to their star running back James Robinson who ran the ball 53 yards for a Louisville touchdown.
St. Louis would only be able to respond with a field goal six minutes after to slightly help lessen the early lead. Not to be outdone though, Louisville kicker Tanner Brown drilled a 4-point field goal through the uprights to close out what looked like a scary beginning to St. Louis’s championship hopes.
Going into the second quarter the crowd was mostly silent as they had felt that this would be yet another home loss with no fight from the home team. That would change early into the quarter as the offense marched down the field, and with the help of a defensive pass interference in the end zone, the Battlehawks were on the one-yard line. Luis Perez then handed it off to the rushing leader in the UFL Jarveon Howard for a one-yardrushing touchdown. The St. Louis defense would then take center stage for a vast majority of the quarter so that the Kings didn’t have a moment to breathe and develop anything. St. Louis’s offense would take advantage of that again with a little less than two minutes left where Luis Perez would throw a 12-yard pass to Blake Jackson to take a 17-11 lead going into halftime and breathing some much-needed life into the fan base and the team itself.
The third quarter started and with Louisville getting the ball first, the stadium was hoping to see a quick three and out. This was pretty much the case as the first points were not scored until the 5:23 mark in the third. Unfortunately, though this would be a Louisville touchdown where Chandler Rogers would complete a seven-yard pass to Isaiah Winstead. Now St. Louis would do their best to mitigate the damage by giving Ramiz Ahmed an opportunity to kick afield goal and help the Battlehawks keep the lead, no matter how small. Now we are going into the final quarter with a trip to D.C. on the line and the score being 20-18 with it barely being in favor of the Battlehawks. All that was needed was a St. Louis defensive hold on the fourth quarter and they would punch their ticket to the championship for the first time.
The fourth quarter started and it led to yet another four and out from the Battlehawks with Luis Perez seeming to get less and less comfortable as the game went on. Louisville knew it was their time to strike and strike they did with yet another 53 yard rush, this time from Ian Wheeler, giving the Kings the lead. While St. Louis was attempting a comeback, the penalties were killing all momentum where if St. Louis had gained 5 yards, there would be a penalty that would push them back 10. Then, with less then five minutes left, Louisville put the game in a nailbiting score situation as Tanner Brown kicked his second 4-point field goal of the game to make it 29-20 with 4 minutes and 41 second left. That is still one score as St. Louis could get a touchdown and go for a three-point conversion, but first they would have to make it that far. Luis and company took the field to attempt what seemed like the impossible, but were making good throws. The key players in this drive would be Sal Cannella and Steven McBride as they were the primary targets and pushed every last play to its max. The Battlehawks had managed to make it too the red zone with a minute and a half left and the hopes alive. Luis Perez would attempt a pass straight to Hakeem Butler in the end zone where he was in double coverage and unfortunately got picked off.
This spelled the end of the game and end of hopes of the Battlehawks making the United Bowl as the Louisville Kings would just kneel out the remaining time and send the brand-new team to face the reigning D.C. Defenders in the championship game. This would make the Battlehawks now 0-3 in the playoffs as well as losing three straight at home to close out the season.
“I feel the frustration, not for me personally, for our fans, because we’ve got the best fans in the UFL and they come and support us year in and year out. You know, I was here four years ago, and it was amazing.” Coach Proehl said about his first year as head coach, “We’re gonna get it corrected, we’re gonna get it right. I believe that you know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, we’re gonna make some changes, we’re gonna do some things, but I’m excited with the opportunity that I have, and what I’ve learned this year, and what the things that we need to do to become a better football player, football team and just what you need to be successful in this league and I think I’ve learned a great deal.”
For now the UFL is accepting deposits on 2027 season tickets for the Battlehawk but the 2026 season is officially over and we look forward to the United Bowl on June 13 at Audi Field in Washington D.C. and on the ABC Network at 2 P.M., where the Louisville Kings go against the reigning champions the D.C. Defenders.
